Franklin Academy Palm Beach Gardens, 5651 Hood Road: tuition-free K-8 charter school, 860 students on Aug. 24, admission by lottery, an A in 2026.

Last checked Oct. 10, 2026. Sources: the school’s campus page and enrollment page, the School District of Palm Beach County’s charter school directory and 11th Day Enrollment Report, Palm Beach County’s address records, the Florida Department of Education’s 2026 school grades file and the federal NCES school directory.

Franklin Academy Palm Beach Gardens is a public charter school for kindergarten through eighth grade on Hood Road, inside city limits according to Palm Beach County’s address records. It is tuition-free and sponsored by the School District of Palm Beach County, but it is run by its own governing board, the Franklin Academy Foundation, according to the district’s charter school directory. It has no attendance zone: any family may apply, and seats are filled by lottery.

Who to call
Address 5651 Hood Road, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33418
Phone 561-348-2525
Grades Kindergarten to 8
School day 7:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (elementary); 8:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (middle)
Type Public charter school

Principal

Principal Deborah Torres, according to the school’s campus page, which also lists an assistant principal and a director of school operations.

Enrollment and teachers

  • District count: 860 students on the 11th day of the 2026-27 school year (Aug. 24, 2026), according to the district’s 11th Day Enrollment Report.
  • Federal count: 960 students in the 2023-24 school year, with 48 full-time-equivalent teachers, according to the NCES directory. That works out to about 20 students per teacher.

The campus page describes a 10-acre campus with a 100,185-square-foot building, a gymnasium, athletic fields and science labs.

How admission works

From Franklin Academy’s enrollment page:

  • Apply online for each child. Each Franklin Academy campus runs its own random lottery, and families may apply to more than one campus.
  • Siblings of current students get a preference in the lottery.
  • The page says the school is still accepting applications for the 2026-27 school year and that applications for 2027-28 open in December.
  • Families who will not live in the same county as the campus are enrolled under the state’s Controlled Open Enrollment rules.
  • Registration documents are needed only after a family accepts an offer.

Because there is no zone, living near the school does not guarantee a seat. Students who are not admitted keep their zoned district school; check it on the district’s Find My School map.

State report card

Charter schools receive Florida’s A to F school grades like district schools.

School year Grade
2025-26 A (75% of possible points)
2024-25 A
2023-24 A
2022-23 B (informational baseline)

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: 75%
  • Third-grade English language arts: 77%
  • Math: 70%
  • Science: 68%
  • Social studies: 95%
  • Middle school acceleration: 92%

The full report card is on the state’s Florida school report cards site, an interactive dashboard; the figures above come from the downloadable file.

Programs

Franklin Academy says it was the first charter school organization in the nation to have each of its campuses designated an International Baccalaureate World School. The Palm Beach Gardens campus page lists IB and Middle Years Programme pages, along with athletics, chess, enrichment clubs, honor societies and after-school care.

Calendar

Charter schools set their own calendars. Franklin Academy’s 2026-27 Palm Beach County calendar (PDF) lists these next dates:

  • Monday, Oct. 12: no school, teacher planning; the second quarter starts Tuesday, Oct. 13
  • Friday, Oct. 23: report cards issued
  • Tuesday, Nov. 3: no school, teacher planning
  • Wednesday, Nov. 11: no school
  • Nov. 23-27: no school, Thanksgiving week
  • Friday, Dec. 18: early release
  • Dec. 21 to Jan. 1, 2027: no school; Monday, Jan. 4, is a teacher planning day and classes resume Tuesday, Jan. 5

More on Palm Beach Gardens schools

Frequently asked questions

Is Franklin Academy Palm Beach Gardens free?

Yes. It is a tuition-free public charter school sponsored by the School District of Palm Beach County and run by its own governing board.

How do you get into Franklin Academy Palm Beach Gardens?

Apply online. Franklin Academy says each campus holds its own random lottery, with a preference for siblings of current students. It says applications for the 2027-28 school year open in December.

What grades does Franklin Academy Palm Beach Gardens serve?

Kindergarten through eighth grade.

What is Franklin Academy Palm Beach Gardens’ school grade?

It earned an A in Florida’s 2026 school grades, with 75% of possible points, its third A in a row.

What time does Franklin Academy Palm Beach Gardens start?

The district’s charter directory lists 7:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for the elementary grades and 8:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. for middle school.