The top reported proficiency rate is 50% in English language arts. The lowest is 11% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Crescent City Jr-sr High School
Crescent City Jr-Sr High School sits on the southern edge of Crescent City along US Highway 17, serving students from seventh grade through twelfth in a community that reads as quiet, car-dependent, and deeply rooted in old-Florida character. The town sits on a wooded bluff between two lakes, has a walkable historic downtown along Central Avenue, and is publicly reported to have been designated a Florida Main Street community since 2022. For most daily needs, though, including getting to and from school, a car is essentially required.
The school draws from a community where a substantial majority of households qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places it among higher-need schools by that measure. The student body is majority Hispanic, with meaningful shares of white and Black students and smaller multiracial and other populations. IEP and English learner rates were not available in the data provided.
On Florida's FAST assessments, the academic picture is uneven and warrants honest attention. Seventh-grade math proficiency is low by any reasonable standard, while eighth-grade math is considerably stronger, suggesting meaningful variation across grade levels rather than a flat pattern. ELA proficiency in both seventh and eighth grade falls roughly in the middle range, neither strong nor deeply weak. The eighth-grade science result, however, is quite low, and that is the kind of gap a parent would want to ask the school about directly, including what supports are in place and how the school is responding. Multi-year trend data was not available, so it is not possible to say whether these results are improving or holding steady.
Graduation rate data was not reported in the data provided. Chronic absenteeism data was also absent. Putnam County has only one district, so no meaningful within-county comparison could be drawn for the school's performance metrics.
Program and course access information was not available. Whether the school offers AP courses, dual enrollment, career and technical pathways, or other structured academic tracks is not something this data can answer, and those are questions worth putting directly to the school.
The district context is one of significant transition. Putnam County voters approved a large general obligation bond referendum in 2022 to replace aging facilities, and publicly reported sources indicate the district had among the oldest school buildings in Florida. A new elementary school is under construction in Crescent City itself, expected to open in the 2026-27 school year to replace an existing campus. The high school is part of a separate state-funded facilities plan. Property taxes have risen to service the bond debt, and residents have publicly raised concerns about the burden on local property owners. Families buying into this market should factor that into their cost picture. Housing values here are well below both the Florida and national medians, which makes the area accessible by price, and recent values have been roughly flat to slightly declining year over year.
Crescent City as a place has genuine anchors: public boat launches on both lakes, a recently renovated library branch, proximity to Dunns Creek State Park, and a small downtown with active restoration work underway. Employment is concentrated in public-sector, health care, and service roles, with the school district itself among the larger local employers. There is no fixed-route public transit; the town runs on cars and pickups.
This is a school embedded in a small, economically modest, agriculturally rooted community undergoing real physical reinvestment in its schools. The academic data shows areas of genuine concern, particularly in seventh-grade math and eighth-grade science, and a parent considering this school would be well served by a direct conversation with school leadership about what targeted supports look like for students who arrive below grade level and what the high school program offers beyond the base curriculum.
See more original research from School Decision →