Schools in Jacksonville
Duval County Public Schools (DCPS) earned its first-ever statewide A rating in 2025, a genuine and dramatic improvement, though third-party proficiency aggregators still show the district trailing Florida's statewide averages in some measures -- both things can be true at once, and this page discloses that tension rather than picking a side.
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Learn moreA Historic District-Wide A Rating
Duval County Public Schools earned an A district rating from the Florida Department of Education for the 2024-25 school year -- the first A rating in the district's history, and an improvement from a B grade in 2024, per multiple 2025 local reports (Jacksonville Today, News4Jax). More than 99% of DCPS schools received a grade of A, B, or C, and the district reached its highest point total on record. Florida DeSantis administration officials publicly recognized the achievement.
Real, Documented Proficiency Gains
By the district's own reporting, grades 3-8 math proficiency improved from 53% to 55% and reading proficiency improved from 49% to 54% year-over-year heading into the 2025-26 school year. The district also reports a 95.3% graduation rate for 2025, a strong figure by any state comparison.
A Third-Party Aggregator Tells a More Cautious Story
PublicSchoolReview's aggregation of state data (2025-26) shows Duval County Public Schools with an average math proficiency of 50% (vs. Florida's statewide average of 52%) and reading proficiency of 46% (vs. 52% statewide) -- below the state average on both measures, which sits in tension with the A-rating and improvement narrative above. This may reflect different reference years, grade-band scope, or methodology between the district's own reporting and a third-party aggregator; this research pass could not fully reconcile the two, so both are presented rather than one being silently dropped.
Middle School Remains a Known Weak Point
Even amid the district-wide A rating, local reporting (Action News Jax, 2025) specifically flagged that many middle school students continue to struggle -- a useful reminder that a district-level letter grade can mask real variation by grade band, not just by individual school.
A Very Large District Means School Choice Matters
Because DCPS covers the entire consolidated city-county footprint (~874 square miles) and includes a substantial number of magnet and charter options alongside traditional zoned schools, families should research the specific school tied to an address rather than relying on the district-wide A grade or any aggregator average -- performance varies meaningfully by school and by grade band even within a district that improved dramatically at the aggregate level.
Key takeaways
- DCPS earned its first-ever district-wide A rating for 2024-25 (up from a B in 2024), with more than 99% of schools graded A, B, or C and a reported 95.3% graduation rate.
- District-reported grades 3-8 proficiency improved to 55% math and 54% reading year-over-year -- but a third-party aggregator (PublicSchoolReview) separately shows Duval below Florida's statewide averages (50% vs. 52% math; 46% vs. 52% reading). Both figures are disclosed here rather than reconciled into one.
- Local reporting specifically flags middle school as a continued area of struggle even amid the district-wide improvement.
- Given the district's ~874-square-mile footprint and mix of zoned, magnet, and charter schools, check the specific school tied to any address rather than relying on district-wide figures.
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