St Johns Classical Academy

St. Johns Classical Academy in Fleming Island, FL, is a high-performing, tuition-free public charter school serving 978 students in grades PK through 12 within the highly-rated Clay district.

This school stands out for its exceptional academic outcomes, driven by its classical education model. It has achieved a perfect 100% graduation rate for three consecutive years, far exceeding the district average of 95%. Students also show remarkable proficiency on End-of-Course exams, with 97% proficient in U.S. History and 92% in Civics, compared to state averages of 71% for both. The school's focus on reading and writing pays off in upper grades, where 9th and 10th graders achieve ELA proficiency rates of 82% and 75%, respectively—roughly 20 points higher than the district. These results are achieved with a low per-student spending of $7,764, indicating efficient resource use. However, there is a notable weakness in middle school math, with only 38% of 8th graders proficient, significantly below the district's 71%.

Comparing the Fleming Island campus to its sister school, St. Johns Classical Academy Orange Park, just 4.4 miles away, reveals stark differences. Fleming Island outperforms Orange Park in nearly every metric, such as 3rd-grade math (78% vs. 52%) and 5th-grade science (59% vs. 37%). This suggests that factors beyond the curriculum, like school culture or implementation, play a critical role. Nearby virtual schools, like Florida Cyber Charter Academy At Clay, serve a higher percentage of economically disadvantaged students and have significantly lower performance, highlighting the effectiveness of SJCA's in-person model. The school has also seen rapid growth in economic diversity, with the percentage of students receiving free/reduced lunch rising from under 1% to 11.55% in just two years.