2023-24 School Grades Are In — So, How Did New Tampa’s Schools Fare? 

The chart above shows the letter grades received by all eleven public schools located in New Tampa after both the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years. 

As the 2024-25 School Year gets under way, schools are learning how they fared last year, according to state measurements. 

The Florida Department of Education (FDoE) released school grades for the 2023-24 school year on July 24, assigning a “B” grade for Hillsborough County Schools as a whole. Hillsborough has maintained a B rating since 2016. 

All of New Tampa’s schools earned either an A, B, or C grade. 

While eight of the 11 New Tampa public schools maintained the same grade as last year, Liberty Middle School improved from a B to an A. Two schools dropped a letter grade, with both Heritage and Tampa Palms Elementary (TPE) schools moving from an A to a B. 

TPE principal Angela Gluth explained the disappointing letter grade change. 

“While we look forward to the results of state testing, we were disappointed to have missed an A grade by 1 percentage point,” she says. “However, the scores that make up the state grade do not fully represent the growth and progress we have seen our students make throughout the course of the school year.” 

She explains that TPE actually showed gains in proficiency for math students in grades 3-5 and also in 5th grade science, when compared with the previous school year. She says the school also, “celebrates the growth of student learners in primary grades, which are not reflected in the school grade report.” 

Gluth adds, “We are excited to start this new school year and can’t wait to build on the achievements our students have made.” 

Five New Tampa schools maintained their A status, including Benito Middle School, Chiles Elementary, Clark Elementary, Hunter’s Green Elementary and Pride Elementary. 

Benito’s history of As goes all the way back to 2002. 

Principal Brent Williams says it’s definitely a team effort that helps create such consistently excellent performance. 

“I’m extremely proud of the kids,” he says, “and we also have an awesome staff here. They work extremely hard and we always try to provide opportunities for kids to think outside the box and make school fun.” 

Williams says a new opportunity for student growth this year is that Benito is now a Cambridge Lower Secondary School. This is an affiliation that already had been established at Liberty. 

The Cambridge Lower Secondary designation helps prepare students to take Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE) courses in high school. Upon completion of an AICE diploma, which is offered at both of New Tampa’s high schools, a student receives a Florida Bright Futures scholarship, which can pay for up to 100% of college tuition. 

Williams says the hard work of teachers and students at Benito, and the support of families, is what helps the school continue to grow and improve every year. 

Hillsborough County Superintendent of Schools Van Ayres echoes this sentiment in a statement about school grades. 

“We couldn’t have done this without the Hillsborough County community,” he says. “We are excited with our momentum and are ready for the new year to start so we can continue our work.” 

More information about school grades not just in Hillsborough County but across Florida is available online at FLDoE.org/accountability/accountability-reporting/school-grades. 

Six New Tampa Public Schools Earns ‘A’ Grades For The Second Straight Year

School grades for the 2017-18 school year were released by the Florida Department of Education on June 27, and New Tampa’s schools continue to perform well.
Considering just the letter grades, all of the schools in New Tampa received the exact same grade as the previous year.

“The grades remained as they were,” says Anna Brown, Ph.D., the area superintendent for Hillsborough County Public Schools. Dr. Brown, who oversees all of New Tampa’s public schools, says, “We had no declines, but, within those grades, many schools actually increased their grade point, turning out an even stronger A.”
One such school was Chiles Elementary in Tampa Palms, which has had an A rating every year since opening in 2001. Principal Terri Evans says this year’s scores may be the highest ever achieved at the school.

“We have 32 points more than we had last year,” says Evans. “We had a big jump in learning gains and in the bottom quartile, and we’re especially excited about that.”

School letter grades are based on the compilation of individual scores on statewide tests, called Florida Standards Assessments (FSAs), at each grade level.
Learning gains describe how much each individual student gained from one year’s test to the next, and the bottom quartile describes the students who scored the lowest on their FSAs at the school.

“I think a letter grade is a bit of an overgeneralization,” Evans continues, “but I also think that to maintain that A every year, we have to be a really great school in a lot of ways. I’m hopeful that it reflects all that we do — that we have that kind of a school where kids want to go to school and learn and families want to be involved.”

The area’s other A schools are Clark, Pride and Tampa Palms elementary schools, and Benito and Liberty middle schools.
Turner/Bartels K-8 School earned a B, while four schools earned a C: Heritage and Hunter’s Green (HGE) elementary schools, as well as both of our area’s high schools, Freedom and Wharton.

While the consistency in grades is encouraging for the schools that continue to earn As, those that earned Cs are once again disappointed.

“For as hard as we work and what a wonderful school we have,” says HGE principal Gaye Holt proudly, “the letter grade doesn’t show what everyone expects of us.”
Dr. Brown agrees. “School grades are created by the state, with their definition of one way to categorize schools,” she says. “When you walk on the campuses, the grade of C is not reflective of the quality of teaching in each classroom or the quality of the relationships we have with our students and families.”

Despite some high-profile challenges at Wharton High, Dr. Brown says she is encouraged that its letter grade did remain the same, and didn’t drop.
She says that all of the schools in New Tampa have many very high-achieving students and excellent teaching and that all of our area schools are positioned well to provide excellent service to the students of New Tampa.

“The bottom line is, this is how we’re measured,” says Dr. Brown, “so we need to dig in and make sure we’re meeting every student’s needs at their individual level.”

Parents of Hillsborough County public school students who want to view their child’s FSA scores, including FSA End of Course exams, can view them at https://testscores.sdhc.k12.fl.us.

The complete DOE report is online at FLDOE.org/accountability/accountability-reporting/school-grades/.