Jan. 9, 2020 – For the sixth consecutive year, Duval County Public Schools has earned its highest federal graduation rate in the district’s history.
Approximately 86.5% of our students are graduating. This is an increase of 1.4 percentage points over last year, and over 28 percentage points in the last 10 years.
This makes Duval County the leader in graduation improvement among the state’s seven largest school districts over the last ten years.
“I hope all of Jacksonville will join me in celebrating our students, educators and schools as they continue to break records and become a point of pride for our community,” said Superintendent Dr. Diana Greene. “This is just one more great example of how we are successfully preparing students for success in college and career and producing a well-equipped workforce for Jacksonville.”
Within the story of the district’s continued record-breaking rise, are individual schools who are making history of their own.
Ribault High School climbed more than 8 percentage points to earn a 95.9% graduation rate, an increase of more than 22% since the 2011-12 school year. This is also the school’s first time since that year in achieving a rate above 90%.
“This is tremendous news for Trojan Nation,” said Ribault High School Principal Dr. Gregory D. Bostic. “Our school is showing what can happen when, despite enormous odds, you have the support of unbelievably dedicated educators, talented students, and a fiercely-supportive school community.”
Success stories abound. Ribault is among 17 of the district’s 21 traditional high schools to exceed the 90% graduation rate. Darnell-Cookman School of the Medical Arts achieved a graduation rate of 100% for the sixth year in a row. Five high schools achieved a graduation rate increase of 2 percentage points or more including Baldwin (+5.1); Sandalwood (+3.8); Atlantic Coast (+2.7); and First Coast (+2.3).
The results released Thursday, Jan. 20 by the Florida Department of Education include other important highlights such as:
- The gap between the state and district graduation rates narrowed from 6.8 percentage points in 2011-12 to 0.4 percentage points for 2018-19.
- In Duval, record high sub-group graduation rates were seen among African-American students (84.5%); Hispanic students (87.5%); Low Socioeconomic students (81.7%); and Students with Disabilities (84.6%).
- The district exceeded the state graduation rate for subgroup performance for African American students, Hispanic students, Students with Disabilities, and English Language Learners.
“From narrowing the graduation rate gap between the state and the district, to continuing to achieve educational equity for all students, these graduation rates show we are heading in the right direction,” Greene said. “Our trajectory continues to rise toward brighter and brighter futures for our children.”
