2024-25 School Grades Are Out & Two New Tampa Schools Improved 

Source: Florida Department of Education

New Tampa’s Hillsborough County public schools continue to earn impressive grades from the Florida Department of Education, which released its 2024-25 School Grades Report earlier this month. 

All but one of New Tampa’s elementary and middle schools earned an “A” grade, with Tampa Palms earning a “B” for the second year in a row, after many years of consistent A ratings. 

Two New Tampa schools improved from a B to an A. Heritage Elementary earned an A after dipping to a B in 2023- 24. Turner Bartels K-8 earned an A after several years of earning Bs. 

“We are so proud of everyone’s hard work,” says Heritage Elementary principal Mary Booth. “It’s a true team effort from teachers and staff, plus our students work so hard and our families are supportive.” 

The six schools that maintained their A status include Chiles, Clark, Hunter’s Green and Pride elementary schools and both Benito and Liberty middle schools. 

Both of New Tampa’s high schools again earned a “C” grade, as both schools have consistently, going back to 2016. 

“But, we’re making growth,” says Taryn Anello, the principal at Wharton High. “Across the board, we’ve made gains in every category, and we’re on an upward trend. We’ve improved 22 points over last year.” 

She says she hates for teachers, students and families to feel disheartened because the school’s grade did not improve to a B, when the students, teachers and staff are all working so hard to make gains that they hope will show up in the school’s rating. 

“With the storms and the chaotic year we had, sometimes it’s a heavy lift to maintain that focus,” Anello says. “It wasn’t just the adults who went through those hardships, but our kids went through that, too.” 

Even those schools that earn an A recognize that boiling so many measurements into just one letter can be problematic, and may not be representative of all of the complexities of an entire school and all of the students within it. The letter grades take into account various measurements to represent student achievement, learning gains, graduation, acceleration success and maintaining a focus on students who need the most support. 

For example, Heritage lost just a slight percentage in 2023-24 and dipped an entire letter grade. “It depends on the students in front of you and their needs,” explains Booth. “We look at student learning gains, for example, but sometimes the tests don’t accurately measure the gains we’ve seen.” 

Hillsborough County received an overall B grade from the state, which Hillsborough Superintendent of Schools Van Ayres said in an email to families was only one percentage point away from an overall A rating for the District. 

“These achievements are a result not only of the hard work of our students, teachers, support professionals and school administrators, but also of our laser-like focus on high-quality core instruction in every classroom and intentional progress monitoring to drive these impressive results,” Superintendent Ayres said in a media release. 

For more info about school grades, visit FLDOE.org/accountability/accountability-reporting/school-grades/.

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. 

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

The chart above shows all of the letter grades received by all 18 public and charter schools located in Wesley Chapel after both the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years. 

The Florida Department of Education released school grades for the 2023-24 school year on July 24, assigning a B grade for Pasco County Schools. Pasco has maintained a B rating since 2017. 

Superintendent Kurt Browning said in a release, “We are incredibly proud of our students, teachers, and staff for their hard work and dedication. These grades show that we are on the right track, and our efforts are paying off.” 

All of Wesley Chapel’s schools earned an “A,” “B” or “C” letter grade, along with 85 percent of schools throughout the county. 

While the vast majority of Wesley Chapel schools maintained the same grade as last year (14 of the 18 schools stayed the same from 2023), only one improved by a letter grade — Pinecrest Academy K-8 school, which improved to an A from last year’s B, while three dropped a letter grade, with Quail Hollow and Veterans elementary schools moving from a B to a C, and Sand Pine moving from an A to a B. 

In a letter to Sand Pine families, principal Angie Shauger explained the disappointing change. “We missed the A grade by just one point, scoring 61 when the cut score for an A was 62,” she wrote. “While this news is disappointing, it is important to recognize the hard work and dedication that our staff and students have shown throughout the year.” 

She said she’s “very proud of all the progress we have made and the commitment everyone has shown” and is optimistic that Sand Pine will earn an A again next school year. 

Five schools maintained their A status, including Seven Oaks Elementary, Union Park Charter Academy, John Long Middle School, Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation, and Wiregrass Ranch High School. While Kirkland Ranch has earned an A both school years since opening in 2022, Wiregrass Ranch’s history of A ratings goes back to 2018. 

Principal Robyn White says it’s a team effort that creates such consistent excellent performance. “The teachers work really hard and the kids are very motivated to do well,” she says. “They take what the teachers are providing them and make use of that.” 

She says the grade is maintained by encouraging success across the board, not in just one area, but in English, math, social studies, science and more. One area of measurement is the school’s graduation rate, which was an impressive 97 percent for 2022-23, the year that was evaluated for this year’s school grade. 

White says that her goal has always been to get a 100-percent graduation rate. She plans to retire from Wiregrass Ranch at the end of the 2024-25 school year, so she has one last chance to hit that mark. 

“We look at each individual student and do what’s best for kids,” she says. “I firmly believe that’s why we’re an A school.” 

For more information about school grades, visit FLDOE.org/accountability/accountability-reporting/school-grades/.

Seven of 11 New Tampa schools get As

Despite a number of serious challenges the past few years, New Tampa’s schools continue to be among the best performing in the state.

The Florida Department of Education (FDOE) released its school grades for the 2021-22 academic year, and seven of the area’s 11 schools received “A” grades.

New Tampa’s elementary schools went 6-for-6 when it came to receiving A grades, thanks to two schools that haven’t received the top grade for a while.

Heritage Elementary, which ended a string of four straight years with C grades, received its first A grade since 2012. And, Hunter’s Green Elementary received its first A grade since 2011.

The other four elementary schools — Chiles, Clark, Pride and Tampa Palms — also received A grades, continuing their long-term trends. 

Pride and Chiles have never received less than an A, beginning with their first grades in 2002 and 2003, respectively. Clark has received As every year since 2001, while Tampa Palms incredibly has earned all As since 1999.

Benito Middle School received its 19th straight A, and its total score of 610 was tops among all of New Tampa’s schools. The total scores are determined by adding the testing scores in a variety of categories — including English Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies and others. 

Liberty Middle School got a B grade, down from last year’s A, while Turner-Bartels K-8 School received its fifth straight B.

Both area high schools, Wharton and Freedom, received C grades for the fifth consecutive year.

Grades were up throughout Hillsborough County, which achieved top-20 status among Florida’s 67 school districts following the release of school accountability data, as 100% of the schools that graded F in 2019 improved their grades in 2022.

NOTE: No grades were given in 2020, and 2021 grades were optional.

Wesley Chapel School Grades

Once again, every school in Wesley Chapel but one received either an A or B grade from the state, including John Long Middle School (an A school for the 13th consecutive year, and Sand Pine Elementary (an A school for the 19th time in 21 years). Also, Wiregrass Elem. earned its first-ever A & the Union Park Academy charter school has received an A after its first full school year.