Middle Schools in Hernando

The middle schools in Hernando, Florida serve students in grades 6-8 and include a mix of traditional public and public charter schools. Two schools stand out in the district - Gulf Coast Academy of Science and Technology, a high-performing public charter school, and Brooksville Engineering Science and Technology (B.E.S.T.) A, another charter school that also ranks among the top middle schools in the state.

Gulf Coast Academy consistently earns a 5-star rating and boasts exceptional test scores, with 95% proficiency in Algebra 1 and over 80% proficiency in English Language Arts and Math. In contrast, the traditional public middle schools in Hernando have more varied academic performance, with chronic absenteeism rates ranging from 33% to 50.8%, significantly higher than the state average. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch also varies widely, from 35.38% at Gulf Coast Academy to 68.91% at Fox Chapel Middle School, indicating a diverse socioeconomic student population across the district.

While the top-performing charter schools are excelling, there is room for improvement at the lower-performing middle schools in Hernando. Identifying and replicating the successful strategies used at the high-performing schools could benefit the entire district and help address the significant performance gaps observed between the charter and traditional public schools.