Branford High School, Branford FL

Original Research by School Decision on Branford High School

Branford High School sits in a small rural town on the Suwannee River in southern Suwannee County, Florida. The school serves grades six through twelve, which means it functions as both the middle and high school for the community. That combined span is the defining structural fact about the place: from the start of sixth grade through graduation, students are all under one roof.

The town itself is quiet and close-knit, publicly reported as rooted in agriculture, timber, and river commerce going back to the 1800s. The local economy leans toward trades and retail, and a notable share of households receive Social Security income. Housing is predominantly owner-occupied with a higher-than-average concentration of mobile homes, and home values here sit well below the Florida statewide median, making this one of the more affordable housing markets in the state. The area around the school is genuinely rural; civic life centers on the Suwannee River, with Ivey Memorial Park, Branford Spring, and a paved greenway trail along a former rail corridor forming the main public gathering anchors. Development trajectory data for the town was not available before the search was exhausted, so it is difficult to say whether the community is growing or contracting.

On academics, the school reports Florida FAST results for its middle grades. In ELA, proficiency in sixth and seventh grade runs at roughly half of students, climbing somewhat by eighth grade. In math, sixth and seventh grade are meaningfully stronger, with most students reaching proficiency, but eighth-grade math proficiency drops considerably, falling to well below half. That dip is worth a parent asking the school about specifically. Eighth-grade science proficiency is more solid, coming in above the ELA results for the same grade. The comparison fact-set for Suwannee County has only a single district, so no peer-district comparisons could be computed. State-level trend data was not available, so it is not possible to say whether these results are moving up or down.

For grades nine through twelve, no state assessment proficiency data appears in the available records, which is typical for Florida high school grades under the current FAST structure. A graduation rate was not reported in the data provided, so a parent interested in that outcome should ask the school or district directly. Program data was also absent from the payload; no AP courses, dual enrollment, or career pathway offerings were confirmed, and rather than guess at what may be available, it is worth asking the school what postsecondary pathways it offers for high schoolers.

Enrollment runs across all seven grade levels with a fairly consistent spread. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic character of the surrounding community. The student body is predominantly white, with Hispanic students making up the next largest group. Data on English learner enrollment and special education rates were not reported.

Discipline, attendance, and chronic absenteeism data were not available, nor were staffing ratios. The school is a regular public school in the Suwannee County School District, not a charter or magnet. No meaningful district-level news or strategic changes were confirmed before the research budget was exhausted.

For a family weighing Branford, the picture is a small, combined middle-high school in an affordable rural river town where school and community life are tightly linked. Middle-grade math in eighth grade and ELA across those years are the areas where the academic record is weaker, and a parent would do well to ask the school what supports are in place for students who arrive at high school below grade level. The affordability of the housing market is real and grounded in the data; what the school offers in academic breadth, particularly for high schoolers, is the question the available data cannot fully answer.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

>=95%Cohort of 92 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 670%

School 70% · District 64% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median

Grade 771%

School 71% · District 59% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 22 pts above state median

Grade 841%

School 41% · District 19% · ▲ 22 pts above district

▼ 10 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 651%

School 51% · District 57% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median

Grade 752%

School 52% · District 50% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 3 pts below state median

Grade 858%

School 58% · District 48% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median

Science

Grade 863%

School 63% · District 55% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 17 pts above state median

This schoolSUWANNEE, 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-income46%Higher-income59%14 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income44%Higher-income62%18 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income57%Higher-income59%2 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income63%Higher-income80%17 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income60%Higher-income83%23 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income29%Higher-income55%26 pp gap