TAVARES — For the first time since 2008, Lake County Schools has earned an “A” grade from the Florida Department of Education.
The grade, announced by the department today, is based on test scores from the 2024-25 school year.
“I am so proud of our teachers, administrators, support staff, and students for putting the 'A' in Lake again,” Lake County Schools Superintendent Diane Kornegay said. “We are going to build on this momentum and enter the new school year stronger than ever: focused, inspired, and committed to continued excellence.”
Lake students showed improvement in all tested areas: English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. Among the most notable achievements was a 15 percentage point increase in Algebra 1 proficiency. Also noteworthy was a 7 percentage point increase in English Language Arts in grades 9 and 10 and an overall increase in English Language Arts of 4 percentage points. These results reflect the district’s focused efforts on learning, standard by standard and student by student.
Students showed a 4 percentage point increase on the civics end-of-course exam.
The district attributes the success to several key initiatives:
Teacher collaboration through Professional Learning Teams
An intensive focus on grade and/or course standards that define what a student must know and be able to do to achieve mastery
Data-driven instruction to identify and address learning gaps.
“This ‘A’ belongs to all of us, especially to our students who put in the hard work and kept their focus on academic achievement,” Superintendent Kornegay said. “Congratulations, Lake County. We earned our A, a reflection of how we are elevating learning in Lake.”