High Schools in Duval

The Duval County Public School District oversees 38 high schools serving grades 9-12, a diverse area ranging from large traditional schools with over 2,800 students to specialized centers with fewer than 100, and the district itself ranks 54th out of 70 in Florida, earning a 1-star rating.

The district is defined by a stark "two Duval" system. On one end, elite magnet schools like Stanton College Preparatory (ranked 11th in Florida, 99th percentile) and Samuel W. Wolfson High School (12th in Florida) achieve 100% graduation rates and near-perfect test scores, with very low chronic absenteeism (11-17%). On the other end, schools like Lone Star High School (4th percentile) and Duval Mycroschool Of Integrated Academics And Technologies (1st percentile) face severe challenges, with graduation rates as low as 55% and chronic absenteeism exceeding 99%. The strongest traditional schools, such as Mandarin High School (70th percentile) and Duncan U. Fletcher High School (77th percentile), offer solid performance with graduation rates near 99% and lower poverty levels, but they still lag far behind the magnets.

Chronic absenteeism is the most powerful predictor of success, with the district average of 44.8% far exceeding the state's 31.4%. Notably, higher per-student spending does not guarantee better outcomes—the lowest-spending traditional schools like Fletcher ($7,749 per student) outperform higher-spending ones like Westside High School ($9,314). There are glimmers of hope, however: Jean Ribault High School jumped from the 30th to the 59th percentile, and Andrew Jackson High School improved from the 33rd to the 55th percentile, suggesting targeted interventions can drive turnaround even in high-poverty schools.