For the eighth year in a row, the Okaloosa County School District received an overall “A” grade from the Florida Department of Education, as the latest reports were released on Monday.

Fourteen schools in Okaloosa also earned “A” grades this year: 

• Niceville Senior High School
• Laurel Hill School
• Collegiate High School at Northwest Florida State College
• Ruckel Middle School
• Okaloosa STEMM Academy
• Destin Elementary School
• Destin Middle School
• Edge Elementary School
• Plew Elementary School
• Florosa Elementary School
• Bluewater Elementary School
• Antioch Elementary School
• Liza Jackson Preparatory School (Charter)
• Northwest Florida Ballet Acadamie

“I could not be more proud of our students,” Chambers said during Monday night’s board meeting. “But also our teachers, staff, and administrators at the school level who work so hard each and every day.”

The district earned 68% of the possible points this year, representing a 5 percent increase over 2022, according to Chambers’ remarks. The superintendent credited the growth to the “OCSD family” of students, teachers, staff and administrators working together toward students’ betterment.

Chambers emphasized that no schools dropped a letter grade this year. Ten schools increased their grade, with Laurel Hill, Edge and Florosa improving from a “B” to an “A,” and Bob Sikes, Riverside, Wright, Shalimar, Elliott Point, Mary Esther and Kenwood moving up from a “C” to a “B.”

Learning gains were not factored into school grades for 2023 because of the implementation of a new state assessment. Chambers indicated that area has been a strength for district schools in the past.

• “When the ‘learning gains’ are a part of the calculation, we’ll see even greater success for our students,” Chambers said. “And again, this is on the backs of our students and our teachers and staff and administrators of what they do each day in this school district.”

Additionally, five schools received an incomplete “I” grade — Fort Walton Beach High School, Choctawhatchee High School, Destin High School, Eglin Elementary School and Crestview High School. Chambers explained that the state requires schools to test at least 95% of students to receive a regular A-F letter grade.

• The district will appeal the incomplete grades, as it successfully did last year for schools facing similar situations, according to Chambers.

“We talk up here about the OCSD family and it takes everybody together working to do things as a school district,” Chambers said. “I always say that we’re definitely not a perfect school district, but we definitely strive to work hard.”