School grades: Amid charter conversion battle, Newberry Elementary jumps from 'C' to 'A'

The Alachua County School District received an overall "B" grade following the release Wednesday of district and individual school grades by the Florida Department of Education.

It is the Alachua County School District's third consecutive "B" grade, with its last "A" grade coming in 2019. No grade was given in 2021.

This year's school grades are based on a new scale approved just before their release by the state education board. It is the first year grades take into account the new Florida Assessments of Student Thinking (FAST) test that students take. The grading scale also increased for all schools except elementary schools.

Principals on the move Here's a list of changes announced at Alachua County Public Schools

Of note in this year's rankings is the improvement of Newberry Elementary from a "C" to an "A" school. The future of the school remains unclear following a vote in April spearheaded by the nonprofit group Education First for Newberry (EFN) and supported by city officials to convert the school into a charter school.

Based on EFN's initial presentation and a state statute, for the charter conversion to happen the school needed a majority of teachers to vote in favor of the initiative. In the end, the initiative came up one vote short due to a ballot being thrown out for being submitted in the wrong envelope.

EFN and Newberry city officials, however, have continued to fight, backtracking on the initial statement that a majority of teachers needed to vote for the initiative for it to pass and instead saying that only 50% of teachers needed to approve the measure.

To further complicate matters, the Mainstreet Daily News reported that 14 of the school's teachers have transferred, as well as its principal, Vicki McAlhany, who took the same position at Terwilliger Elementary. She is being replaced by Emery Bishop, who previously served as assistant principal at High Springs Community School.

Other highlights from the report include Lake Forest Elementary raising its grade from a "D" to a "C," which means it won't be required under state rules to be run by an outside organization, and Metcalf Elementary jumping from an "F" to a "C" grade.

“I’m so pleased by the performance of schools that either increased their grades or held steady despite the change in the grading formula,” said Superintendent Shane Andrew in a news release. “Obviously, there was a lot of hard work put in by teachers, administrators and staff at the schools. We also appreciate the efforts of the students and families, who stepped up to the challenge of a new testing system.”

On the opposite end of the grading spectrum, Rawlings and Alachua elementary schools both received "D" grades. It is the third consecutive "D" grade for Rawlings Elementary, which is taking part in a new pilot program for year-round instruction . Its school year began July 16, while the rest of the district begins Aug. 12.

Here are the Alachua County school grades for 2024 ( 2023 grades in parenthesis):

Elementary schools

Littlewood - B (B)

Lake Forest - C (D)

W. A. Metcalfe - C (F)

Joseph Williams - B (C)

Alachua - D (C)

Archer - C (B)

Carolyn Beatrice Parker - B (B)

Chester Shell - C (D)

Myra Terwilliger - C (C)

Idylwild - C (C)

Glen Springs - B (B)

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings - D (D)

Hidden Oak - A (A)

Kimball Wiles - A (A)

Lawton M. Chiles - B (A)

Meadowbrook - B (A)

Newberry - A (C)

C. W. Norton - C (C)

Stephen Foster - C (C)

William S. Talbot - A (B)

The One Room School House Project - C (B)

Micanopy Area Cooperative School Inc. - A (B)

Caring & Sharing Learning School - B (B)

Expressions Learning Arts Academy - A (A)

Alachua Learning Academy Elementary - A (A)

Healthy Learning Academy Charter School - A (A)

Boulware Springs Charter - A (A)

Alachua Virtual Instruction Program (district provided ) - I (I)

Middle schools

Abraham Lincoln - A (B)

Howard W. Bishop - C (B)

Westwood - C (C)

A. L. Mebane - C C)

Fort Clarke - B (C)

Kanapaha - B (B)

Alachua Learning Academy Middle - A (A)

Resilience Charter School Inc. - I (I)

High schools

Gainesville - B (B)

Newberry - B (B)

Santa Fe - C (B)

Professional Academy Magnet at Loften - A (A)

Eastside - I (C)

F. W. Buchholz - A (A)

Combination schools

Hawthorne Middle/High School - C (C)

High Springs Community School - A (A)

Oak View Middle School - B (B)

Micanopy Academy - I (A)

Alachua ESchool (Virtual Franchise) - I (I)

P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School - A (A)

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: School grades: Amid charter conversion battle, Newberry Elementary jumps from 'C' to 'A'