Middle Schools in Nassau

The three middle schools in the highly-ranked Nassau County school district—Yulee Middle School, Fernandina Beach Middle School, and Callahan Middle School—serve grades 6 through 8 and are all strong performers, but each has a distinct profile. Callahan Middle School stands out for its exceptional math scores, achieving 96% proficiency in 6th grade and 98% in 7th grade, and it holds the highest state ranking at 99th out of 1,216 schools with a 5-star rating. However, it also has the highest chronic absenteeism rate at 40.9% and the highest percentage of students on free/reduced lunch at 40.06%, creating a paradox of high performance despite significant challenges. In contrast, Yulee Middle School is the most consistently high-performing school, meeting or exceeding the district average in every subject for the 2025-2026 school year, and it boasts the lowest chronic absenteeism rate at 30.3% and the lowest free/reduced lunch percentage at 32.2%.

A key finding across all three schools is a dramatic drop in 8th-grade math proficiency, which the analysis calls the "8th Grade Math Cliff." For the 2025-2026 school year, Yulee falls from 89% in 6th grade to 68% in 8th grade, Fernandina Beach drops from 85% to 57%, and Callahan declines from 96% to 79%. While this suggests a systemic challenge with the 8th-grade math curriculum, Callahan manages this transition far better than its peers. Fernandina Beach Middle School shows a notable weakness in math, with its 8th-grade score of 57% falling below the state average of 61%, though it performs well in Civics and Science.

Per-student spending is consistent across the district, ranging from $10,714 at Callahan to $10,881 at Yulee, and student-teacher ratios are similar, from 16.7:1 at Callahan to 18.4:1 at Fernandina Beach. Overall, Yulee offers the most balanced and stable learning environment, while Callahan excels in math despite higher absenteeism, and Fernandina Beach is a strong choice but requires extra attention to math support.