Fort Caroline Elementary School

Fort Caroline Elementary School in Jacksonville, FL, serves 465 students from Pre-K through 5th grade and is part of the Duval school district, which ranks in the bottom third of Florida districts. The school has historically performed in the bottom 20% of Florida elementary schools, earning a 1-star rating for most of the last decade, and its most recent ranking places it in the 5th percentile statewide—its lowest point in recent years. Over 71% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a high-poverty population.

The most defining challenge at Fort Caroline is an extremely high and persistent chronic absenteeism rate, which reached 59.8% in the 2023-2024 school year—nearly double the state average of 31.4% and significantly worse than the district average of 44.8%. This rate has hovered between 53% and 65% since 2020, making it a systemic issue that directly impacts academic performance. The school consistently scores below district and state averages in every subject and grade, with proficiency rates ranging from 34% in 4th-grade ELA to 44% in 5th-grade science, all well below the state average of 60-66%. Interestingly, the school spends $10,408 per student, which is higher than several higher-performing nearby schools like Lake Lucina Elementary ($9,906) and Parkwood Heights Elementary ($9,582), suggesting that funding is not the primary issue.

Despite these challenges, there are glimmers of hope. In the 2022-2023 school year, 3rd-grade math proficiency reached 50%, close to the state average of 59%, and 5th-grade math scores of 44% in 2025-2026 are the highest for that subject in three years. The school is also geographically surrounded by vastly different performers—just 0.56 miles away, Jacksonville Classical Academy East jumped from the 3rd to the 57th percentile in one year, and Lake Lucina Elementary (1.33 miles away) is a 3-star school with strong math scores. This proximity suggests that Fort Caroline’s struggles are not purely demographic but tied to school-level factors like leadership and the absenteeism crisis. The path to improvement must begin with a comprehensive strategy to boost attendance, as academic performance is a direct reflection of students not being in the classroom to learn.