Clay Charter Academy, Middleburg FL

Original Research by School Decision on Clay Charter Academy

Clay Charter Academy is a kindergarten-through-eighth-grade charter school on Red Apple Road in Middleburg, Florida, sitting within Clay County's growing southwestern fringe of the Jacksonville metro. It draws from a community that is still more rural than suburban in feel, built around Black Creek, commuter corridors, and a tight-knit local identity, even as new construction and road improvements steadily push inland.

The school serves a racially mixed student body. Hispanic and Black students together make up roughly three-fifths of enrollment, white students a bit over a quarter, and the remaining students come from several other backgrounds. A notably small share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places this school well below typical public school rates in Florida. Data on English learner populations and students with IEPs was not available in the records reviewed. The school reports no Title I designation.

On Florida's FAST assessments, the picture across subjects and grades is mixed but generally solid at the elementary level, with some softer spots in the middle grades. In third and fifth grade math, most students tested at proficiency, and fifth grade science posted a similarly strong result. ELA in third grade was also encouraging. Where the numbers cool off is in the middle school grades: seventh grade math and sixth grade ELA were the weakest results reported, with fewer than half of students reaching proficiency in each. Eighth grade science fell right at the midpoint. The upper elementary grades sit in between, with some grades in both math and ELA in the high fifties or low sixties. A parent looking at a child entering the middle grades may want to ask the school specifically about its intervention supports, pacing, and how it tracks student progress from fifth through eighth grade. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say from this data whether performance has been improving, declining, or holding steady.

Because Clay Charter Academy serves only through eighth grade, a graduation rate does not apply to this school.

The comparison data provided covers only one district in Clay County, so a meaningful peer comparison was not possible from the available data set.

Middleburg itself is a car-dependent, spread-out place. Blanding Boulevard handles most retail and daily errands, and a newer mixed-use commercial development is publicly reported to be adding restaurants and retail nearby. The historic cluster near the Black Creek boat ramp on Main Street has a walkable feel in a small area, but the broader community runs on cars and the expanding First Coast Expressway. Families with ties to Jacksonville employers, including publicly reported major draws like NAS Jacksonville, Mayo Clinic, and HCA Florida Orange Park Hospital, make up a significant part of the commuting workforce here. Outdoor life centers on Black Creek and the county park system, including an eight-mile paved trail and multiple water access points.

The housing market in the zip code is currently priced slightly below the Florida statewide benchmark, with values roughly flat to slightly softer year over year. Rents have moved modestly upward. The estimated monthly mortgage payment on a typical home, assuming a standard down payment at current rates, runs noticeably above what a rent payment would cost, which is worth factoring in for families weighing buying versus renting in this corridor.

The district brief turned up no parent-relevant changes before the research budget was exhausted, so district-level initiatives or policy shifts were left out here rather than guessed at.

Clay Charter Academy fits families who want a K-8 school with a genuinely diverse student body, a modest economic footprint among its enrolled families, and solid elementary-level academic results, and who are prepared to look carefully at how the school supports students as they move into the middle grades.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 364%

School 64% · District 66% · ▼ 2 pts below district

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

Grade 455%

School 55% · District 63% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 565%

School 65% · District 55% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

Grade 660%

School 60% · District 77% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Grade 748%

School 48% · District 49% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 853%

School 53% · District 71% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 362%

School 62% · District 65% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 457%

School 57% · District 59% · ▼ 2 pts below district

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

Grade 551%

School 51% · District 56% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 646%

School 46% · District 67% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 760%

School 60% · District 60%

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 862%

School 62% · District 61% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median · even with county median

Science

Grade 563%

School 63% · District 61% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 850%

School 50% · District 60% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▼ 5 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-income0%Higher-income73%73 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income42%Higher-income54%12 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income30%Higher-income64%34 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income46%Higher-income67%21 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income67%Higher-income64%2 pp gap