Apopka Memorial Middle School capped its first week back in school by celebrating getting a “B” grade from the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) for the 2024-25 school year.  

Sixth, seventh and eighth graders took turns going to the school gymnasium on Friday, Aug. 15, to jump in bounce houses, dance to music and enjoy refreshments at the Schoolwide “B” Celebration. Since there are about 300 students in each grade, almost 300 students were in the gymnasium at a time.  

Orange County Public Schools’ (OCPS) first day back for students was Aug. 11.  

“This celebration is in honor of our students who worked diligently for our school to achieve this great accomplishment,” Antoinette Taylor-Dolvin, Apopka Memorial Middle School secondary engagement liaison, said in an email to The Apopka Chief. “Without their efforts … our superb teachers, faculty and staff, wouldn’t have been able to achieve this school grade. This accomplishment is under the direction of our great leader Principal Lisa James.” 

The school’s “B” grade is an improvement over 2023-24, when the FDOE gave the school a “C” grade. 

“It’s very exciting,” Hollie Pearce, Apopka Memorial Middle School assistant principal, said about the climbing grade. “We’re on the right track. We wanted to honor the teachers as well as the students, because it’s a partnership.” 

Pearce credited the school’s higher grade to narrowing the focus on what the students needed to learn and making instruction of that subject a priority.  

 To further enhance its grade, Apopka Memorial Middle School teachers and students will have data chats so that children will know how to improve their performances and teachers will see what do to fill those gaps, Pearce said.   

On July 7, the FDOE announced the 2024-25 school grades of K-12 institutions throughout the state. This list included 14 Apopka area schools.  

Kelly Park School and Wolf Lake Elementary were the Apopka schools that earned “A” grades in 2024-25.  

Besides Apopka Memorial Middle School, community schools that received “B” grades were Lakeville Elementary, Apopka Middle, Zellwood Elementary, Dream Lake Elementary, Apopka Elementary, Apopka High, Piedmont Lakes Middle and Wolf Lake Middle.  

Apopka schools that received “C” grades were Clay Springs Elementary, Rock Springs, Phillis Wheatley Elementary and Wekiva High School. 

Overall, Orange County Public Schools achieved an “A” grade for the second year in a row from the FDOE.  

Ninety-six OCPS traditional schools received an “A” grade, up from 88 in the 2023-24 school year. Seventy-six percent of traditional schools earned an “A” or “B,” which is a jump from 2023-24’s 69 percent. No traditional schools in the district got a “D” or “F” grade.