Fort Clarke Middle, 9301 NW 23rd Ave.: grades 6 through 8, 888 students in 2023-24 and an A in Florida's 2026 school grades.

Last checked Oct. 9, 2026. Sources: the school’s website, Alachua County Public Schools’ Schools and Centers Directory, zone maps and 2026-27 calendar, the Florida Department of Education’s 2026 school grades file, the Census Bureau’s 2020 census block counts and the federal NCES school directory.

Fort Clarke Middle School is the Alachua County Public Schools middle school for grades 6 through 8 at 9301 NW 23rd Ave.. The address says Gainesville, but the campus sits west of the city limits in unincorporated Alachua County, according to the Census Bureau’s city boundary. The teams are the Falcons and the school colors are blue, white and red, according to the school’s website.

Who to call

  • Front office: 352-333-2800, 9301 NW 23rd Ave., Gainesville, FL 32606
  • School website: alachuaschools.net/o/fort-clarke
  • Which school is my address zoned for? Office of Student Assignment (Zoning), 352-955-7700, zoning@alachuaschools.net
  • Enrolling a new student: the district’s enrollment page; district office 352-955-7300
  • Buses: district Transportation, 352-955-7602
Address 9301 NW 23rd Ave., Gainesville, FL 32606
Phone 352-333-2800
Grades 6 to 8
District Alachua County Public Schools

Principal

Principal Dr. Melissa Pratto, according to the district’s Schools and Centers Directory, which links each school’s website.

Enrollment and teachers

  • Federal count: 888 students in the 2023-24 school year, the latest year in the NCES school directory, with 45 full-time-equivalent teachers, or about 20 students per teacher.

State report card

Florida grades every public school A to F each year. The grade is the share of possible points a school earns on state test results and learning gains and, for middle and high schools, acceleration measures and, for high schools, the graduation rate, according to the Florida Department of Education.

School year Grade
2025-26 A (64% of possible points)
2024-25 A
2023-24 B

From the state’s 2026 school grades file, the share of students scoring on grade level on the state tests in 2025-26:

  • English language arts: 63%
  • Math: 64%
  • Science: 60%
  • Social studies: 79%
  • Middle school acceleration: 85% (students passing high school-level courses or industry certifications)

The full report card, with test results by grade and student group, is on the state’s Florida school report cards site. It is an interactive dashboard; the figures above come from the downloadable grades file.

Attendance zone and feeder schools

Check any address with the district’s Find My School zone maps (instructions on its Find My School page), or ask the Office of Student Assignment at 352-955-7700 or zoning@alachuaschools.net.

On the district’s 2026-27 middle school zone map, about 13% of the people who live in the Fort Clarke Middle zone live inside Gainesville city limits, by 2020 census block counts.

The district does not publish a feeder list: students are zoned by address for each level. The elementary zones that overlap the Fort Clarke Middle zone are Chiles Elementary, Hidden Oak Elementary, Meadowbrook Elementary, Talbot Elementary and Terwilliger Elementary.

For high school, 77% of the zone’s residents live in the Buchholz High zone, and the rest in the Gainesville High and Santa Fe High zones.

These zones are new. The School Board approved a right-sizing plan, announced in a district news release on March 13, 2026, that redrew elementary, middle and high school zones for 2026-27, the first districtwide rezoning since 2003. Details are on the district’s Our Schools, Future Ready page.

Calendar and bell times

From the district’s 2026-27 calendar, which applies to every district school:

  • Tuesday, Oct. 13: end of the first nine weeks
  • Friday, Oct. 16: student holiday, teacher workday
  • Wednesday, Nov. 11: Veterans Day holiday
  • Nov. 23-27: no school for Thanksgiving week
  • Friday, Dec. 18: flex day, no school
  • Dec. 21 to Jan. 1: winter break
  • Monday, Jan. 4: flex day, no school

The district says it will use the two flex days, Dec. 18 first, as makeup days if school is canceled for a hurricane or other emergency.

The school’s website listed the school day as 9:20 a.m. to 3:37 p.m. in April 2026. Call the front office to confirm this year’s times.

More on Gainesville schools

Frequently asked questions

What grades does Fort Clarke Middle serve?

Grades 6 through 8. It is part of Alachua County Public Schools, at 9301 NW 23rd Ave., Gainesville.

What is Fort Clarke Middle’s school grade?

Fort Clarke Middle earned an A in Florida’s 2026 school grades, with 64% of possible points. It earned an A in 2025.

Which high school does Fort Clarke Middle feed into?

The district zones each address separately. On the 2026-27 maps, 77% of the Fort Clarke Middle zone’s residents live in the Buchholz High zone, and the rest in the Gainesville High and Santa Fe High zones.

What time does Fort Clarke Middle start?

The school’s website listed the school day as 9:20 a.m. to 3:37 p.m. in April 2026; call 352-333-2800 to confirm.

Who is the principal of Fort Clarke Middle?

Dr. Melissa Pratto, according to the district’s Schools and Centers Directory.