P.k. Yonge Developmental Research School, Gainesville FL

Original Research by School Decision on P.k. Yonge Developmental Research School

P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School sits on the southwest edge of downtown Gainesville, operated by the University of Florida as a laboratory school serving kindergarten through twelfth grade. Its identity is genuinely unusual: it exists to research and demonstrate educational practices, which shapes everything from its staffing to its curriculum philosophy. For a parent evaluating it as a neighborhood school option, the first practical question is whether your child can get in, and right now that question is more complicated than it has been in years.

The school draws students through a lottery system, which by design produces a student body meant to reflect Florida's demographic diversity. White students make up the largest share of enrollment, followed by Hispanic and Black students, with multiracial students and a smaller Asian population rounding out the mix. About a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, which positions the school as serving a range of economic backgrounds rather than concentrating privilege. The IEP and English learner data were not available in what we reviewed, so a parent of a child with identified learning needs may want to ask the school directly how those populations are currently served.

Academic results on the Florida statewide assessments are strong. Math proficiency across the tested grades ranges from solidly high in the elementary years to exceptionally high at the sixth-grade level, with seventh grade also performing very well. The fourth and fifth grade math results are somewhat lower than the others, though still above where many Florida schools land. ELA follows a similar arc: third and fourth grade results are high, with some dip in fifth grade, recovery in sixth and seventh, and a moderate result at eighth grade. Those middle-grade ELA numbers are worth asking about, not alarming, but worth a conversation. Science proficiency at the fifth-grade level is lower than the school's math and reading results and is a clear soft spot relative to the school's overall profile. Eighth-grade science is considerably stronger. Placed against districts in Alachua County, the school's overall proficiency index sits at the top of that comparison set. Multi-year trend data was not available in what we reviewed, so it is not possible to say whether performance is climbing, holding, or shifting.

The school serves a fairly large enrollment for a K-12 lab school, with a structure that has small cohorts in the elementary grades and noticeably larger cohorts from sixth grade onward. No program offerings data was provided, so a full picture of AP access, dual enrollment, arts, or career pathways is not available here. Given the school's research mission and its publicly reported history as a demonstration site for UF, families should ask the school directly about course breadth at the high school level.

Graduation rate data was not available in what we reviewed.

The most consequential thing a family should know before deciding to pursue P.K. Yonge is that its admissions structure is under active public debate. In 2024, university leadership publicly proposed converting high school admissions from the lottery to a selective, achievement-based process, with the stated goal of lifting the school's state ranking. The proposal drew formal opposition from the Gainesville City Commission and the Alachua County Commission, and produced widespread community pushback. Families raised concerns that students with IEPs, 504 plans, or average test scores would be shut out. Following that response, university officials publicly indicated they were reconsidering and exploring a revised application process that would still aim to reflect the state's composition across gender, race, income, disability status, and academic achievement. That process has not been fully resolved. A family whose child would be entering high school in the coming years should get current information from the school about exactly what the admissions pathway looks like, because that is not a question this profile can definitively answer.

Gainesville itself is a university city with a college-town texture, a cost of housing that runs below Florida's statewide median, and a rental market with rents that have been rising. The University of Florida is the area's dominant employer, and the city is adding density near campus and downtown while also permitting new residential development across a wider area. The neighborhood around the school is close to the downtown core and the university, making it part of the most walkable and transit-served part of the city.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

>=95%Cohort of 98 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 393%

School 93% · District 93%

▲ 30 pts above state median · ▲ 37 pts above county median

Grade 480%

School 80% · District 80%

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 581%

School 81% · District 81%

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

Grade 697%

School 97% · District 97%

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 45 pts above county median

Grade 791%

School 91% · District 91%

▲ 42 pts above state median · ▲ 31 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 392%

School 92% · District 92%

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 30 pts above county median

Grade 482%

School 82% · District 82%

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

Grade 576%

School 76% · District 76%

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 26 pts above county median

Grade 689%

School 89% · District 89%

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 30 pts above county median

Grade 783%

School 83% · District 83%

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 30 pts above county median

Grade 878%

School 78% · District 78%

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 28 pts above county median

Science

Grade 556%

School 56% · District 56%

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 878%

School 78% · District 78%

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 28 pts above county median

This schoolUF LAB SCH, 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 3Lower-income91%Higher-income92%1 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income69%Higher-income86%17 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income57%Higher-income81%24 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income83%Higher-income91%8 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income76%Higher-income86%9 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income64%Higher-income85%22 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income91%Higher-income95%4 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income69%Higher-income84%15 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income64%Higher-income85%20 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income92%Higher-income98%7 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income84%Higher-income93%9 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income35%Higher-income80%45 pp gap