39 School Districts Among Florida’s Best In New Rankings

FLORIDA — The St. Johns County School District ranked No. 1 among Florida school districts in the education platform Niche’s 2023 Best Schools and Districts rankings released Tuesday.

The St. Johns district in St. Augustine was among 39 Florida school districts included in Niche’s ranking of 11,820 school districts nationwide.

Niche gave the St. Johns County School District a letter grade of A. Grades in specific categories were:

Academics: A
Teachers: B+
Clubs and activities: A-
Sports: A+
Resources and facilities: B
Diversity: B
College prep: A
Administration: B+
Food: B+

The school district, which has 44,550 students, received high marks from students, parents and teachers.

The top 25 school districts in Florida and the letter grades assigned by Niche include:

1. St. Johns County School District, A
2. Sarasota County Schools, A
3. Okaloosa County School District, A-
4. Seminole County Public Schools, A-
5. Clay County School District, A-
6. Collier County Public Schools, A-
7. Leon County Schools, A-
8. Alachua County Public Schools, A-
9. Martin County School District, A-
10. Nassau County School District, A-
11. Lafayette School District, B+
12. Indian River County School District, B+
13. Sumter School District, B+
14. Pinellas County Schools, B+
15. Walton County School District, B+
16. Calhoun County School District, B+
17. Monroe County School District, B+
18. Santa Rosa County School District, B+
19. Palm Beach County School District, B+
20. Orange County Public Schools, B+
21. Broward County Public Schools, B+
22. Charlotte County Public Schools, B+
23. Columbia County School District, B+
24. Hillsborough County Public Schools, B+
25. Pasco County School District, B+
26. Brevard Public Schools, B+
27. Flagler County Public Schools, B+
28. Gilchrist County School District, B+
29. Miami-Dade County Public Schools, B+
30. Hernando County School District, B
31. Manatee County School District, B
32. Lee County Public Schools, B
33. Wakulla County School District, B
34. Jackson County Schools, B
35. Bay District Schools, B
36. Marion County Public Schools, B
37. Suwannee County Public Schools, B
38. Dixie School District, B
39. Volusia County Schools, B

Niche also ranked 92,743 public schools and 30,112 private schools in the 2023 report. The platform said its rankings were created to provide families with valuable information — both quantitative and qualitative — on schools in their area or in a neighborhood they’re not familiar with yet.

Related: Florida's Best Public, Private High Schools: New Rankings Released

The rankings differ from others that rely almost exclusively on test scores and academic performance in that it also includes input from students, alumni and parents, as well as quantitative data from sources such as the U.S. Department of Education to evaluate teachers, resources and facilities.