St. Johns School District gets another A grade

Once again, the St. Johns County School District has been awarded an A grade by the Florida Department of Education.

The grade is for the 2020-21 academic year. The district has unfailingly earned an A as far back as 2004. This year, the district placed second only to Lafayette County School District, which also had the highest graduation rate of 98%.

St. Johns County School District tied for second place with Seminole and Columbia districts with a graduation rate of 95%.

Within the district, only St. Johns Virtual School had a 100% graduation rate. Of high schools with on-campus instruction, the graduation rates were: Creekside 99%, Ponte Vedra and Bartram Trail 98%, Nease 97%, Pedro Menendez 89% and St. Augustine 88%.

The district had 39 schools in 2020-21. It adds two to that number this year, including Pine Island Academy in Nocatee. Next year, the district is on track to add an additional high school.

The state recently released end-of-course and Florida Standards Assessments results, as well as school grades.

Schools receiving an A grade were: Cunningham Creek, Durbin Creek, Hartley, Hickory Creek, R.B. Hunt, Julington Creek, Otis Mason, Ocean Palms, PV/PV Rawlings and Timberlin Creek elementary schools; K-8 schools: Liberty Pines Academy, Mill Creek Academy, Patriot Oaks Academy, Valley Ridge Academy, Palm Valley Academy and Freedom Crossing Academy; Fruit Cove, Landrum, Pacetti Bay and Switzerland Point middle schools; Bartram Trail, Creekside, Nease and Ponte Vedra high schools; and St. Johns Virtual School.

Schools receiving a B grade were: Crookshank, Ketterlinus, Palencia, Osceola and Wards Creek elementary schools; Gamble Rogers, Murray and Sebastian middle schools; St. Augustine High School; the Webster School; and St. Augustine Public Montessori School.

Schools receiving a C grade were: Picolata Crossing and South Woods elementary schools; and Pedro Menendez High School.

St. Johns County School District had no failing schools.

The district schools scoring the highest in assessments were:

• English language arts: St. Johns Virtual. Top on-campus schools were Ocean Palms and Timberlin Creek elementary schools. PV/PV Rawlings tied for second with Julington Creek Elementary.
• Mathematics: Julington Creek Elementary. In second place, Landrum Middle School tied with Valley Ridge Academy and Durbin Creek Elementary.
• Science: Creekside High School. Ponte Vedra High School ranked second.
• Social studies: St. Johns Virtual. Patriot Oaks Academy ranked second. Among high schools, Ponte Vedra finished first. Among middle schools, Landrum was at the top.

If the state Legislature approves a proposal by Gov. Ron DeSantis, this will be the final year that the FSA will be administered.