From Orange County Public Schools
In Summary:
OCPS announced that 96% of its VPK sites met one of the state’s two highest performance categories for the 2025-26 school year. Statewide and across six other large urban school districts, 88% of public-school VPK sites received those ratings. Florida evaluates the programs using measures that include quality, student learning gains and student achievement.
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Orange County Public Schools’ Voluntary Prekindergarten programs outperformed comparable programs statewide in the Florida Department of Education’s latest accountability ratings, according to results announced Thursday.
Related: OCPS moves student enrollment online, making registration easier for families.
The district said 96% of its 91 VPK sites received ratings of either “above expectations” or “excellent” for the 2025-26 school year.
By comparison, 88% of public-school VPK sites statewide and within Florida’s other large urban school districts earned one of those two ratings, according to OCPS.
The comparison included programs in Broward, Duval, Hillsborough, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Pinellas counties.
Florida’s VPK accountability system evaluates providers using several measures, including program quality, student learning gains and student achievement. The ratings assess how effectively individual programs prepare children for kindergarten and future academic work.
OCPS attributed the results to the district’s efforts to provide high-quality early-learning experiences across its VPK locations.
Voluntary Prekindergarten is a free state program designed to prepare eligible 4-year-olds—and some 5-year-olds—for kindergarten. Participating public schools and private providers offer programs.
Five key points:
- OCPS operates 91 VPK sites.
- Ninety-six percent were rated above expectations or excellent.
- The comparable statewide and large-district figure was 88%.
- The state evaluates program quality, learning gains, and student achievement.
- VPK programs are intended to prepare children for kindergarten and continued academic success.
