Achieve Academy at Mcmillian, Pensacola FL

Original Research by School Decision on Achieve Academy at Mcmillian

Achieve Academy at McMillian is an alternative school operated by the Escambia County district, located on Owen Bell Lane in Pensacola, Florida. It serves students from kindergarten through grade twelve, which is an unusually wide span for an alternative setting. The enrollment is concentrated heavily in the middle grades, with relatively few students in the elementary years and a sharp taper at the upper end of high school, where by twelfth grade the population is very small. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, making this one of the higher-poverty school populations in any context. The student body is predominantly Black, with smaller shares of white and Hispanic students. Data on English learners and students with IEPs was not available in what we received.

The state assessment results here need to be read carefully. Across every tested grade in both math and ELA on Florida's FAST assessments, proficiency rates are extremely low, in most cases at or near zero, with science results similarly low. These numbers are stark on their face, but they reflect something important about what this school is and who it serves. Alternative schools typically enroll students who have been referred due to disciplinary reasons, academic credit recovery needs, behavioral health circumstances, or other factors that place them outside the typical school pathway. Standard proficiency benchmarks measure a very different starting point than the one most students here are coming from. A parent asking "how is this school doing academically" should direct that question to the school itself to understand what growth and progress look like for this population, because the raw proficiency figures alone do not capture what the school is actually attempting to do or how students are moving.

No graduation rate data was available in what we received, and the enrollment pattern by grade suggests that relatively few students reach the final year on campus. A parent with a student approaching graduation age would want to ask directly about the school's credit recovery timeline and how students transition out. No information on course access, staffing ratios, attendance patterns, or specific program offerings was provided.

Pensacola itself is a mid-sized Gulf Coast city shaped by the military, healthcare, and higher education. Naval Air Station Pensacola is a dominant presence in the local economy. Navy Federal Credit Union and Baptist Health Care are among the largest civilian employers, alongside healthcare systems, the University of West Florida, and Pensacola State College. The historic downtown around Palafox Street has been undergoing a sustained transformation, with new housing and street improvements including a major reconstruction project that widens sidewalks, adds trees, and improves pedestrian access. The broader city and county have seen steady residential growth, with large numbers of new homes approved in recent years. The local housing market sits close to the state and national median in home values, with prices roughly flat to slightly down year over year. Rents in the area have been rising modestly. At current mortgage rates, estimated monthly ownership costs fall in a range that, relative to local incomes, is manageable but not insignificant.

At the district level, Escambia County voters recently renewed a dedicated half-cent sales tax that funds school construction, renovations, and technology, locking in that stream for years ahead. Publicly reported coverage also notes that the school board has removed a substantial number of books from school libraries, including several commonly taught literary classics, under state policy requirements and updated local materials standards. District governance is also in a period of uncertainty, with a ballot question placing before voters whether to return to electing the superintendent rather than appointing one. These are district-wide realities that apply to families across Escambia County schools.

For a family whose student has been assigned or referred to Achieve Academy at McMillian, the right questions to bring to the school are about individualized support, the pace of credit recovery, what the transition plan looks like, and what student services are available on site. The data we have describes demographics, assessment results, and the community setting; it does not tell us what the daily environment feels like, what staff structures exist, or what outcomes look like for students who complete a full year here.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

21-39%Cohort of 19 students · Class of 2021

The federal source publishes a banded range instead of an exact rate when the graduating cohort is small enough that an exact number could risk identifying individual students.

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

867 schools plotted. 183 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grade 30%

School 0% · District 58% · ▼ 58 pts below district

▼ 63 pts below state median · ▼ 52 pts below county median

Grade 40%

School 0% · District 60% · ▼ 60 pts below district

▼ 61 pts below state median · ▼ 60 pts below county median

Grade 62%

School 2% · District 52% · ▼ 50 pts below district

▼ 60 pts below state median · ▼ 50 pts below county median

Grade 70%

School 0% · District 34% · ▼ 34 pts below district

▼ 49 pts below state median · ▼ 31 pts below county median

Grade 83%

School 3% · District 52% · ▼ 49 pts below district

▼ 48 pts below state median · ▼ 47 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 30%

School 0% · District 53% · ▼ 53 pts below district

▼ 56 pts below state median · ▼ 41 pts below county median

Grade 40%

School 0% · District 55% · ▼ 55 pts below district

▼ 54 pts below state median · ▼ 49 pts below county median

Grade 58%

School 8% · District 53% · ▼ 45 pts below district

▼ 46 pts below state median · ▼ 43 pts below county median

Grade 612%

School 12% · District 55% · ▼ 43 pts below district

▼ 48 pts below state median · ▼ 44 pts below county median

Grade 73%

School 3% · District 47% · ▼ 44 pts below district

▼ 52 pts below state median · ▼ 44 pts below county median

Grade 86%

School 6% · District 46% · ▼ 40 pts below district

▼ 48 pts below state median · ▼ 40 pts below county median

Science

Grade 58%

School 8% · District 56% · ▼ 48 pts below district

▼ 45 pts below state median · ▼ 43 pts below county median

Grade 83%

School 3% · District 41% · ▼ 38 pts below district

▼ 43 pts below state median · ▼ 39 pts below county median

This schoolESCAMBIA, 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 7Lower-income3%Higher-income0%3 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income4%Higher-income13%8 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 7Lower-income0%Higher-income0%0 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income4%Higher-income0%4 pp gap