Pepin Academies of Pasco County, New Port Richey FL

Original Research by School Decision on Pepin Academies of Pasco County

Pepin Academies of Pasco County is a charter special education school in New Port Richey, serving students from third grade through twelfth grade. Its identity is defined entirely by its mission: every student enrolled has an identified disability, and the school exists to serve that population specifically. A parent considering it should understand that this is not a general-enrollment school where special education services are layered in; it is a school built from the ground up around students with disabilities, which shapes everything from classroom structure to peer environment to how its academic data should be read.

On state assessments, Pepin reports proficiency rates across reading and math that are very low by general population standards, with only a small fraction of students reaching proficiency in any tested grade. Science results follow the same pattern. These numbers are publicly reported and accurately reflect what Florida's standardized assessments show. They should not, however, be read the same way a parent would read scores from a neighborhood elementary or comprehensive high school. The students Pepin serves face learning challenges that standardized tests were not designed to measure in full, and proficiency rates on general assessments are a poor proxy for whether a specialized school is doing meaningful work with its students. A parent evaluating Pepin should ask the school directly about individual student growth, IEP goal attainment, and post-secondary transition outcomes, which are the measures that matter most in this setting and which the available data does not capture.

Notably, the data on IEP rates and English learner rates is listed as missing, which is unusual given the school's classification. A parent would reasonably want to ask the school to clarify how its special education identification and services are documented, since those figures are central to understanding any special education school.

The school's enrollment spans a wide age range, from elementary through senior year, and the total enrollment is modest relative to that full grade span, meaning individual grade levels are quite small. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a student body that skews economically mixed to lower-income. The racial composition is majority white with a sizable Hispanic share and smaller representation of other groups. Graduation rate data was not available in this dataset.

The school sits in New Port Richey, a city in western Pasco County that is part of the broader Tampa metro area. The city has a compact historic downtown along the Pithlachascotee River, with a walkable Main Street that has been publicly reported as experiencing a multi-year revitalization, earning Main Street America accreditation in 2026. Away from downtown, the city is car-dependent. Housing in the zip code runs below both the Florida and national median home values, and has dipped modestly over the past year. Rents have also declined slightly. For families comparing affordability, rent-to-income ratios in this area sit at a level that many households can manage, though the broader mortgage environment remains a factor.

For families across Pasco County, two recent public votes are relevant context. Voters approved a property tax millage in 2022 directed at non-administrative staff salaries, which publicly reported data suggest has meaningfully reduced teacher vacancies across the district. A renewal is heading to the November 2026 ballot. Separately, a renewed penny sales tax funds school construction and capital improvements, relevant as the county's eastern areas absorb rapid growth. Neither of those dynamics directly reshapes what Pepin Academies offers, since it is a charter school with a defined special-education mission, but they reflect the public education environment surrounding it.

For a family whose child has an identified disability and needs a dedicated, specialized school environment rather than inclusion in a general education setting, Pepin Academies represents one of the few options in this county structured entirely around that need. What the data cannot tell a parent is how well it executes on that mission day to day, and a direct conversation with the school about its therapeutic supports, instructional model, and student outcomes over time is the most important next step.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

70-79%Cohort of 34 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 · ▼ 57 pts below county median

Grade 46%

School 6% · District 49% · ▼ 43 pts below district

▼ 55 pts below state median · ▼ 42 pts below county median

Grade 50%

School 0% · District 52% · ▼ 52 pts below district

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

Grade 64%

School 4% · District 57% · ▼ 53 pts below district

▼ 58 pts below state median · ▼ 74 pts below county median

Grade 77%

School 7% · District 48% · ▼ 41 pts below district

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

Grade 810%

School 10% · District 61% · ▼ 51 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 38%

School 8% · District 57% · ▼ 49 pts below district

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

Grade 46%

School 6% · District 54% · ▼ 48 pts below district

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

Grade 50%

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

▼ 54 pts below state median · ▼ 53 pts below county median

Grade 67%

School 7% · District 59% · ▼ 51 pts below district

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

Grade 77%

School 7% · District 57% · ▼ 50 pts below district

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

Grade 83%

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

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

Science

Grade 55%

School 5% · District 49% · ▼ 44 pts below district

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

Grade 85%

School 5% · District 47% · ▼ 42 pts below district

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

This schoolPASCO, 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 6Lower-income6%Higher-income8%2 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income6%Higher-income8%3 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income5%Higher-income0%5 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income0%Higher-income8%8 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income6%Higher-income8%3 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income11%Higher-income10%0 pp gap