Middle Schools in St. Johns

The seven middle schools in the St. Johns County School District, serving grades 6 through 8, present a clear picture of two distinct educational experiences within a top-ranked Florida district.

The northern corridor schools—Alice B. Landrum Middle School, Switzerland Point Middle School, and Fruit Cove Middle School—are the district's academic powerhouses. Landrum is the top performer, ranking 56th in the state with exceptional test scores, including 90% proficiency in 6th-grade ELA and 92% in 8th-grade math. Switzerland Point is a model of consistency, maintaining a 5-star rating and the lowest poverty rate (7.1% free/reduced lunch). In contrast, the St. Augustine area schools—Gamble Rogers Middle School, R.J. Murray Middle School, and Sebastian Middle School—face greater challenges. They have higher poverty rates (up to 55.9% at Gamble Rogers) and chronic absenteeism (as high as 32.5% at Gamble Rogers), which correlates with lower overall test scores. Pacetti Bay Middle School, the largest school with 1,481 students, sits in the middle with moderate poverty but a declining state rank.

A key finding is that higher spending does not guarantee higher performance. The three lowest-performing schools (Gamble Rogers, R.J. Murray, and Sebastian) actually spend the most per student (over $10,500 each), suggesting that funding is being used to address socioeconomic challenges rather than as a direct driver of academic excellence. Another notable trend is a district-wide drop in math proficiency between 6th and 7th grade, with Sebastian seeing a dramatic fall from 60% to 25%. However, a bright spot is that all schools achieve near-perfect scores (98-100%) on advanced high school EOC exams like Geometry and Biology, showing that rigorous coursework can level the playing field for motivated students regardless of the school's overall demographics.