Palatka Junior - Senior High School

Palatka Junior - Senior High School is a public high school serving grades 7-12 in Palatka, Florida, with 1,606 students. The school is part of the Putnam School District, which is ranked 58 out of 67 districts in the state and has a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger. Palatka Junior - Senior High School has consistently ranked in the bottom half of Florida high schools over the past several years, with a ranking between 470 and 672 out of around 700-800 high schools.

The school faces significant challenges, with consistently low test scores across all grade levels and subject areas, falling below state and district averages. For example, in 2024-2025, only 29% of Palatka Junior - Senior High School students were proficient or better in 10th grade ELA, compared to 58% statewide. The school also has a slightly lower 4-year graduation rate than the state average, ranging from 87.5% to 91.2% in recent years. Additionally, Palatka Junior - Senior High School has very high chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 30.9% to 62.9% in recent years, significantly higher than the state average of around 15-20%. The school also has a very high percentage of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, ranging from 63.64% to 65.63% in recent years, much higher than the state average.

Interestingly, the other high schools in the Putnam School District, Crescent City Junior-Senior High School and Interlachen Junior-Senior High School, perform similarly to Palatka Junior - Senior High School on most metrics, suggesting that the challenges facing the school are systemic issues within the district. However, the nearby Q.I. Roberts Junior - Senior High School, located just outside the Putnam School District, significantly outperforms Palatka Junior - Senior High School and the other Putnam schools, indicating that with the right resources and support, the students in the Palatka area are capable of achieving much higher academic outcomes.