Middleburg Elementary School, Middleburg FL

Original Research by School Decision on Middleburg Elementary School

Middleburg Elementary sits on Main Street in the heart of Middleburg, a sprawling, unincorporated corner of Clay County where longtime rural character and Jacksonville-metro growth are pressing against each other. The school serves prekindergarten through sixth grade, which means a child can spend their full elementary run here before moving on. Enrollment places it in a comfortably mid-sized range for its grade band.

The student body is predominantly white, with Hispanic students making up the next largest share and smaller populations of students who are Black, multiracial, Asian, and American Indian. A majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a meaningful share and reflects the mixed economic character of the surrounding community. Data on English learners and students with IEPs was not available in what was provided.

Florida's FAST assessments give a grade-by-grade picture of reading and math. The story at Middleburg Elementary is genuinely strong at third, fourth, and sixth grades in math, where proficiency rates sit well above the midpoint of what you'd expect statewide. ELA at third, fourth, and sixth grades is solid as well, with roughly seven in ten students reaching proficiency. Fifth grade stands out differently: both ELA and math proficiency rates drop noticeably compared to the other tested grades, and science at fifth grade lands just above half. The gap between how fifth graders perform relative to the other grades is real and worth asking the school about directly. Whether that reflects a particular cohort, instructional transition, or something else is not something the data alone can answer. Multi-year trend data was not available, so it isn't possible to say whether fifth-grade results have been consistent or are changing.

No program offerings data was available for this school, so dual-enrollment pathways, specialized curricula, or enrichment programs could not be characterized. As a PK-6 school, graduation rate does not apply here, and AP course data is not relevant at this level.

The housing picture around Middleburg is one of relative affordability by Florida standards. Home values here run below the state benchmark, and while they've dipped slightly over the past year, the broader trend has been one of growth as Jacksonville-area demand reaches inland Clay County. Rent costs are more moderate than in many Florida metro-adjacent communities, though rent-to-income ratios still reflect the tightening of the past few years. The ongoing extension of the First Coast Expressway is publicly reported as a driver of new development interest, with new exit junctions planned for Middleburg and nearby communities. A new mixed-use retail and restaurant development, Clay Town Center, began opening tenants through 2025 and 2026 and is projected to bring jobs and economic activity to the corridor.

Daily life in Middleburg is organized around the car. Blanding Boulevard carries most retail and services, and a cluster of small businesses and Victorian-era homes near the Black Creek boat ramp gives the historic core of Main Street a different, quieter feel. The school sits within that Main Street corridor. Outdoor life is genuinely accessible here: Black Creek and its parks anchor recreation, with a paved trail, boat ramp access to the St. Johns River, and Camp Chowenwaw nearby. The Middleburg-Clay Hill Branch Library serves the community. Major employers for residents are largely outside Middleburg itself, with healthcare systems, the school district, and Jacksonville-area employers drawing commuters.

The district brief for Clay County returned no confirmed recent parent-relevant changes before the research window closed, so that context was left out rather than estimated.

For a family with children in the early and upper elementary grades, Middleburg Elementary shows real academic strength in most tested years. The fifth-grade picture is the one area where a parent would reasonably want a direct conversation with the school about what supports are in place.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 382%

School 82% · District 66% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Grade 477%

School 77% · District 63% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 551%

School 51% · District 55% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 4 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 681%

School 81% · District 77% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 370%

School 70% · District 65% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 471%

School 71% · District 59% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Grade 556%

School 56% · District 56%

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 671%

School 71% · District 67% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Science

Grade 553%

School 53% · District 61% · ▼ 8 pts below district

even with state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

This schoolCLAY, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income66%Higher-income79%13 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income71%Higher-income70%0 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income53%Higher-income61%8 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income69%Higher-income76%7 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income78%Higher-income88%10 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income75%Higher-income82%7 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income44%Higher-income61%17 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income82%Higher-income80%2 pp gap