Students at Lennard High School, East Bay High School and Apollo Beach K-8 walked into classrooms Monday, Aug. 10, in a district that just posted its strongest academic performance in more than a decade.

Hillsborough County Public Schools earned an A grade from the Florida Department of Education for the first time since 2014. Superintendent Van Ayres shared the numbers to WFLA on the first day of school: "We had 74 schools grading an A, 53 a B, 40 went up a letter grade."

Those 74 A-rated schools represent about 32 percent of the district. The district also starts the year with zero F-rated schools, according to Fox 13. At an Aug. 5 press conference, Ayres went further, saying all of the district's historically lowest-performing "transformation schools" earned an A, B or C for the first time ever, as Bay News 9 reported.

The gains showed up in classrooms, too. Third-grade English proficiency reached 57 percent districtwide, an eight-point jump year over year.

Fewer empty classrooms

Teacher vacancies dropped from more than 650 two years ago to roughly 200 open positions. A voter-approved millage referendum helped the district fill hundreds of those slots, Fox 13 reported.

Less screen time for youngest learners

Parents of kindergartners through second graders at Apollo Beach K-8 will notice a shift this year. Three programs that had been part of daily instruction, i-Ready, Amira and Imagine Learning, are gone. In their place: printed books, handwriting practice, classroom discussion and hands-on activities, the district announced in July.

The district said the change is grounded in research supporting hands-on learning experiences for young children. The district also eliminated 82 semester exams for middle and high school students, building on earlier efforts to reduce redundant testing at the elementary level.

What's next for families

Hillsborough is expanding its full-day Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten program for the 2026-27 school year, with free seats available across the district. Families with 4-year-olds can contact HCPS for enrollment information.

A new referendum-funded field trip program also launches this year, giving every student in pre-K through eighth grade a grade-level field trip at no cost to families or schools. That includes students at Apollo Beach K-8.

The district welcomed more than 200,000 students Monday as the new school year got underway.