Watson B. Duncan Middle, 5150 117th Court North: grades 6-8, 855 students on the district's Aug. 24 count and a B in Florida's 2026 grades.

Last checked Oct. 10, 2026. Sources: the school’s website, the School District of Palm Beach County’s Schools & Principals list, zone maps and feeder reports and start times, the Florida Department of Education’s 2026 school grades file and the federal NCES school directory.

Watson B. Duncan Middle is the School District of Palm Beach County’s middle school for grades 6 to 8 on 117th Court North, next door to Timber Trace Elementary and inside city limits, according to the district’s municipal boundary map. Its zone covers more Palm Beach Gardens homes than any other middle school’s. The teams are the Panthers; the school opened in 1990, according to the district’s school information.

Who to call
Address 5150 117th Court North, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33418
Phone 561-776-3500
Grades 6 to 8
School day 9:30 a.m. to 4:05 p.m.
District School District of Palm Beach County

Principal

Principal Corey Ferrera, according to the district’s Schools & Principals list, which the school’s website links from its menu.

Enrollment and teachers

  • District count: 855 students on the 11th day of the 2026-27 school year (Aug. 24, 2026). The district rates the building for 1,409, so it is at 61% of capacity, according to its 11th Day Enrollment Report. The district says its October count gives a steadier figure for planning.
  • Federal count: 1,134 students in the 2023-24 school year, with 68 full-time-equivalent teachers, according to the NCES directory. That works out to about 17 students per teacher.

State report card

Florida grades every public school A to F, from the share of possible points it earns on state test results, learning gains and, for middle schools, how many students pass high school courses and industry certifications early (middle school acceleration).

School year Grade
2025-26 B (63% 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: 62%
  • Math: 71%
  • Science: 59%
  • Social studies: 79%
  • Middle school acceleration: 87%

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.

Attendance zone and feeder schools

Check any address with the district’s Find My School map or the Duncan zone map (PDF). Matching the district’s boundary map against Palm Beach County’s address records, about 62% of the homes inside Palm Beach Gardens city limits are zoned for Duncan. About 26%, on the east side of the city, are zoned for Howell L. Watkins Middle, and about 6% in the far west, including Avenir, for Osceola Creek Middle. The rest are split between John F. Kennedy and Western Pines middle schools.

Under the district’s 2026-27 feeder report, which follows each planning area from elementary to middle to high school, Duncan takes students from these elementary zones, and they go on as follows:

Elementary zone Planning areas Next stop
Timber Trace 12 Palm Beach Gardens High (8), Dwyer High (4)
Marsh Pointe 5 Dwyer High
Palm Beach Gardens Elementary 4 Palm Beach Gardens High
Jupiter Farms 4 Jupiter Community High
Grove Park 2 Palm Beach Gardens High
Washington 1 Palm Beach Gardens High

No rezoning approved for 2026-27 changes the Duncan zone. The School Board’s only boundary change, Boundary Study RB-1, adopted March 11, 2026, moved part of the Bethune Elementary zone in Riviera Beach to Washington Elementary, according to the district’s enrollment and boundaries page.

Calendar and bell times

From the district’s 2026-27 key dates:

  • Monday, Oct. 12: no school for students; the second quarter starts Tuesday, Oct. 13
  • Tuesday, Nov. 3: no school for students
  • Wednesday, Nov. 11: fall holiday
  • Nov. 23-27: Thanksgiving break
  • Dec. 21 to Jan. 1, 2027: winter break; Monday, Jan. 4, is also a day off for students

The district’s start and end times list Duncan’s day as 9:30 a.m. to 4:05 p.m.

Programs

The district’s 2026-27 Choice and In-House Programs guide (PDF) lists two choice programs at Duncan:

  • Literary and Fine Arts, in five strands: instrumental music, theater, visual art, vocal music, and writing and literature. The school’s choice academies page says students may apply to one or two strands.
  • Pre-Finance, which the school says links coursework to careers in business and finance.

Choice programs take applications through the district’s school choice office.

Sports and activities

The school’s sports page lists baseball, softball, cheer, girls volleyball, boys and girls soccer, boys and girls basketball, boys volleyball, and boys and girls track. The athletic director is Julio Vega.

More on Palm Beach Gardens schools

Frequently asked questions

What grades does Watson B. Duncan Middle serve?

Grades 6 through 8. It is a School District of Palm Beach County middle school at 5150 117th Court North, inside Palm Beach Gardens city limits.

What is Duncan Middle’s school grade?

Watson B. Duncan Middle earned a B in Florida’s 2026 school grades, with 63% of possible points. It earned an A in 2025 and 2024.

Which high school does Duncan Middle feed into?

It depends on the address. Under the district’s 2026-27 feeder report, most Duncan planning areas go on to Palm Beach Gardens Community High; the Marsh Pointe Elementary areas and some Timber Trace areas go to William T. Dwyer High, and the Jupiter Farms areas go to Jupiter Community High.

What time does Duncan Middle start?

The district lists the school day as 9:30 a.m. to 4:05 p.m.