Duval County Public Schools: 2026 Grades and Enrollment

Duval County Public Schools is the countywide public school district for Jacksonville, led since July 1, 2024 by Superintendent Dr. Christopher Bernier and governed by a seven member school board with one member per district.

The district office is at 1701 Prudential Drive, Jacksonville, FL 32207, and the main number is 904-390-2000 (Duval County Public Schools, About DCPS). The About DCPS page calls Duval one of Florida's seven major metropolitan school districts.

Dr. Bernier was sworn in on July 1, 2024, after serving as Superintendent of Schools for the School District of Lee County, which the biography says supported over 100,000 students (DCPS, Superintendent biography). The School Board of Duval County is chaired by Charlotte D. Joyce of District 6, with April A. Carney of District 2 as vice chair; the other members represent Districts 1, 3, 4, 5 and 7 (DCPS, School Board Members). Board meetings, seats and elections are covered in the Duval County School Board guide.

Duval County Public Schools' own count is 197 schools and 126,596 students, including 44 charter schools with 26,404 students, served by 11,560 employees.

Staff numbers on the same page are 10,500 full time and 1,060 part time (DCPS, About DCPS). The table carries no school year. The district's own pages do not agree on size: the same About DCPS page says over 125,000 students and 11,000+ employees in its summary, while the superintendent biography describes Duval as the sixth largest district in Florida and 18th largest in the United States with over 124,000 students and over 12,000 staff members (DCPS). None of these Jacksonville figures is labeled with a school year.

The About DCPS page says Duval school buildings are among the oldest in the state and that the Master Facility Plan, now in implementation after voters approved the half-penny tax, aims to remove most portable classrooms and over $1 billion in deferred facility maintenance over the next 15 years (DCPS).

Duval County earned a district A for 2025-26, with 775 points or 65 percent of those possible, its second straight A after a B in 2024.

The Florida Department of Education file dated September 1, 2026 shows Duval's grade history: A in 2026 and 2025, and B or C in every other year with a grade from 2010 to 2024, with 2015 and 2023 marked as informational baseline grades and no grade shown for 2020 or 2021 (FDOE 2025-26 District Grades). District grades use the combination school scale, where an A takes 65 percent of points or more, so Duval cleared the line exactly (FDOE district grading scale note).

The counts come from the Duval rows of the FDOE 2025-26 School Grades file. No Duval school received an F. The two district-run D schools were Biltmore Elementary, at 37 percent (FDOE), and Highlands Estates Academy, at 39 percent (FDOE); both were graded C in 2025. Duval Virtual Instruction Academy was listed as incomplete.

Graduation figures tell a similar story for Jacksonville. The district reports that the graduation rate among traditional Duval high schools reached 97.6 percent in 2025, more than 2 points above the year before, and that the comprehensive rate including charter and alternative schools is 94.3 percent (DCPS, About DCPS). The state file's own graduation component for Duval, which covers the 2024-25 cohort, is 94 (FDOE). The About DCPS page also says more than 99 percent of Duval schools achieved an A, B or C; the 2026 state file conflicts with that, since 167 of the 172 Duval schools with a letter grade, charters included, earned an A, B or C, about 97.1 percent.

Wolfson High School scored highest among Duval's district high schools in 2026 with 90 percent of points, ahead of Stanton College Preparatory at 87 percent and Paxon School for Advanced Studies at 79 percent.

Wolfson posted 90 percent (FDOE, Wolfson row), Stanton 87 percent (FDOE, Stanton row) and Paxon 79 percent (FDOE, Paxon row). Douglas Anderson School of the Arts reached 72 percent (FDOE). Admission to the magnet and dedicated schools is covered in the magnet programs guide and the Stanton College Prep guide.

Andrew Jackson High and Jean Ribault High were both graded C in 2024 and earned A grades in 2025 and again in 2026 at 69 percent (FDOE, Andrew Jackson row; FDOE, Jean Ribault row). Frank H. Peterson Academies moved from B to A at 65 percent (FDOE), while Riverside High (59 percent) and Westside High (55 percent) stayed at C (FDOE, Riverside row; FDOE, Westside row).

A Jacksonville student who did not win a lottery seat can apply for a different Duval County school through Controlled Open Enrollment, which opens in short quarterly windows and places students first come, first served where space exists.

The district says controlled open enrollment applicants are placed when a space is available at a school on a first-come, first-served basis, and placement is not guaranteed (DCPS, Controlled Open Enrollment). Middle and high school students are advised to transfer only in quarter three, since transferring in the second or fourth quarter could hurt a student's schedule and progress toward graduation. Students in ESE programs placed through the lottery or open enrollment are not guaranteed access to ESE services at the new school. Residents of other Florida counties may also apply.

With the quarter two move done on October 14, the next Duval window is December 7 to 9. Help comes from District Enrollment Services at (904) 390-2082 or in person at the Parent Resource Center, 4037 Boulevard Center Dr., Jacksonville, open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday (DCPS).

The 2026-27 Duval County school year began August 10, 2026 and ends May 28, 2027, with Thanksgiving week, December 21 to January 1 and March 15 to 19 off for students.

The district calendar lists November 23 to 25, 2026 as schools closed and November 26 to 27 as schools and offices closed, giving Jacksonville students the full Thanksgiving week off (DCPS, Academic Calendar 2026-2027). The School Board approved that change on April 7, 2026, after input from the district calendar committee, which includes the PTA and Duval Teachers United (DCPS news, April 8, 2026). Spring break falls March 15 to 19, 2027, and the calendar sets aside March 29, April 26 and June 1 to 2, 2027 as weather days for storm closures.

One small trap: on October 15, 2026 the duvalschools.org 2026-27 calendar page, titled Academic Calendar 2026-2027, still carried the heading Academic Calendar 2025-2026 above dates that run from July 2026 to June 2027 (DCPS). The district says it no longer produces calendar PDFs for public distribution, though a PDF sits in the April 2026 Board agenda, where the approved version is labeled Draft Version A (DCPS news).