Terry Parker High School

Terry Parker High School in Jacksonville, FL, is a large traditional public high school serving 1,539 students in grades 9-12 within the Duval County district, where over half of students (55.3%) qualify for free or reduced lunch.

The school faces a significant challenge with chronic absenteeism, which at 60.9% is nearly double the rate at nearby Sandalwood High School (41.6%) and far exceeds the district average of 44.8%. This attendance crisis is likely the main driver behind consistently low academic proficiency scores. For example, only 29% of students are proficient in Algebra 1, compared to 48% at Sandalwood and 63% statewide. Similarly, just 37% are proficient in 10th-grade English Language Arts, versus 56% at Sandalwood. The school's only relative academic strength is in US History, where 70% of students are proficient, close to the state average of 74%. Notably, Andrew Jackson High School, which serves a similar student population, significantly outperforms Terry Parker in nearly every subject and has a much lower chronic absenteeism rate (34.5%), suggesting that these struggles are not inevitable.

Despite these academic hurdles, Terry Parker has achieved a remarkable improvement in its graduation rate, rising from 78.3% to 96.8% over the past few years—now exceeding both the district and state averages. However, this positive trend is undermined by the fact that a large portion of the student body is missing significant instructional time. The school's per-student spending of $9,021 is in line with higher-performing peers, indicating that financial resources are not the primary issue. For parents, the most critical takeaway is that while the school shows promise in getting students to graduate, its most urgent priority must be addressing the severe attendance problem to improve overall learning and academic outcomes.