St. Johns Virtual Franchise, St Augustine FL

Original Research by School Decision on St. Johns Virtual Franchise

St. Johns Virtual Franchise is a public, non-charter school operated by the St. Johns County School District, serving students from kindergarten through twelfth grade entirely in a virtual format. It is administratively located in St. Augustine but has no physical campus students attend daily. The "franchise" model means it operates as a district-run virtual program rather than as a standalone charter or independent virtual school, drawing enrollment from across the county.

The enrollment is small relative to what a K-12 school of that grade span would typically hold, and the distribution tells you something about who chooses it. Elementary-grade cohorts are quite thin, while middle and high school grades, particularly eighth through eleventh, carry the heaviest enrollment. This pattern is common in virtual settings, where families often turn to online schooling after an unmet need surfaces in a traditional school rather than starting there from the beginning.

On state assessments, the picture is uneven and worth reading carefully. Results for third and fourth grade in both math and ELA are suppressed, likely because the groups are too small to report without identifying individual students. Where results are reported, middle school performance in math is genuinely strong, with sixth and seventh grade results that are well above what most schools produce at those levels. Eighth grade math lands in a similarly solid range. ELA in the middle grades shows a wide spread: sixth grade proficiency is quite high, while fifth grade lags noticeably. Science scores at both tested grade levels, fifth and eighth, land in a broadly competent range. Taken together, the school's overall proficiency index places it above the midpoint among the districts in St. Johns County, which is the relevant comparison set here given that only two districts serve the county.

Graduation rate data was not available in the data provided, so a parent of a high school student would want to ask the school directly how its seniors fare on that measure.

Free-and-reduced-price lunch participation data was not reported, so the school's economic profile is difficult to characterize. The student body is predominantly white, with Hispanic students making up roughly one in eight. Disability and English-learner counts were also not reported, and a family with a child who has an IEP or English language needs should ask the school specifically how those services are delivered in a virtual environment, since that is a practical question the data here cannot answer.

The surrounding community is St. Johns County, which publicly reported among the fastest-growing counties in the country. The St. Augustine area mixes a compact, walkable historic downtown anchored by tourism, colonial architecture, and Flagler College with broader suburban growth corridors stretching inland toward I-95. Major employers span hospitality, healthcare through Flagler Health+, aerospace manufacturing through Northrop Grumman, and education through the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind. Home values in the zip code run close to the state median and slightly below the national median, though they have edged down slightly over the past year while rents have held nearly flat. Buyers should factor in that St. Johns County voters approved a new one-mill property tax in late 2024 to fund teacher salaries, school safety, and programs, a recurring annual cost tied to assessed value. Voters also renewed the district's half-cent capital sales surtax through a multi-year extension to fund construction and maintenance as the county absorbs rapid enrollment growth.

For a family weighing this school, the core question is whether a fully virtual K-12 program fits their child's learning style and their own capacity to support that structure at home. The academic results where they exist, especially in the middle grades, suggest the model can work well for students who are ready for it. The sparse elementary enrollment and the absence of several data points mean families of younger children or children with specialized needs should ask more questions before enrolling than the published data alone can answer.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

>=80%Cohort of 26 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 545%

School 45% · District 74% · ▼ 29 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 27 pts below county median

Grade 674%

School 74% · District 81% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 778%

School 78% · District 63% · ▲ 15 pts above district

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

Grade 874%

School 74% · District 83% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 565%

School 65% · District 73% · ▼ 8 pts below district

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

Grade 687%

School 87% · District 76% · ▲ 11 pts above district

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

Grade 777%

School 77% · District 74% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

Grade 878%

School 78% · District 75% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 565%

School 65% · District 71% · ▼ 6 pts below district

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

Grade 870%

School 70% · District 75% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

This schoolST. JOHNS, 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.