- December 4, 2025
For the first time in 16 years, Volusia County Schools is an A-rated district.
The Florida Department of Education released the 2024-2025 school and district grades on Monday, July 7. Grades are calculated using the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking Progress Monitoring and Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking assessment results, as well as achievements in reading, math, science, and social studies, acceleration and graduation rates, according to FDOE guidelines.
The last time VCS attained an "A" grade was the 2008-2009 school year.
"This A is more than a measure of academic success; it is a reflection of a district and a community that chose to come together — with purpose and with heart — to ignite a passion for learning in all students,” said Superintendent Dr. Carmen Balgobin in a press release. “When our School Board, families, staff, and community partners stand together and work hard, our students and community excel."
In a video address, Balgobin added that this was a "special moment more than 15 years in the making."
"An achievement of this magnitude didn't happen by accident," she said. "It truly happened by design. It took a lot of heart, hard work, intentionality and a strong belief in our mission of igniting a passion for learning in all students."
The 2024-2025 school year also marked the first time all of the district's schools earned an A, B or C grade outside the baseline year, Balgobin said, and this year had the highest number of schools that attained an A or B rating in over a decade.
This includes Mainland High School, which earned its first A grade.
The school celebrated the success with a post on its Facebook page.
"This moment is the result of hard work, focus, small groups, dedication, and a beautiful belief in our students and one another," the post stated. "To our amazing teachers and staff, you showed up every day with heart, purpose, and commitment to excellence. ... To our phenomenal students—you believed in yourselves, pushed through challenges, and proved what Buccaneer pride is all about!"
Two other Ormond-area schools are also celebrating becoming "A" schools: Tomoka Elementary and Beachside Elementary. Both thanked their faculty, staff, students and their parents for their efforts on their respective Facebook pages.
Additionally, three other Ormond-area schools kept their "A" grades for the 2024-2025 school year: Pine Trail Elementary, Ormond Beach Elementary and Seabreeze High School.
Two schools went from an "A" to a "B" grade: Pathways Elementary and Ormond Beach Middle School.
Hinson Middle School remained a "B" school.
Overall, VCS had 11 more schools earn an "A" grade for 2024-2025 compared to 2023-2024, going from 17 to 28. It also had two less schools earning a "B" (from 25 to 23) and seven less schools earning a "C" (from 24 to 17). In the 2023-2024, the district had two "D" schools; now it has none.
One of its elementary schools — Starke, located in DeLand — went from a "D" to an "A" this year. It was one of two schools in the state to achieve this.
In the video address, Balgobin also shared that of the 11 districts within the Central Florida Coalition, VCS had the second highest graduation rate at 94%.
The district also saw academic performance increases across all major student subgroups, including white, Black, Hispanic, student with disabilities and English language learners.
"All district grades components have increased over the past three years," Balgobin said. "Seven components reached their highest performance levels since 2015. Every person in this district played a role, as did our amazing community, from our families and volunteers to our partners in education. Thank you, all of you, for being a part of this journey, which we're excited to continue."
