Timber Trace, Marsh Pointe and Palm Beach Gardens Elementary are among 45 Palm Beach County schools the state named 2026 Schools of Excellence.
Three Palm Beach Gardens elementary schools are among 45 Palm Beach County public schools the state has named 2026 Schools of Excellence. They are:
- Timber Trace Elementary, 5200 117th Court North
- Marsh Pointe Elementary, 12649 Ibiza Drive
- Palm Beach Gardens Elementary, 10060 Riverside Drive
The School District of Palm Beach County announced the list Wednesday in a news release on its website. The Florida Department of Education makes the designation.
What the title takes
The designation rewards a run of results, not one good year. Under Florida law, a school qualifies when its school grade score puts it in the 80th percentile or higher among schools of its type statewide. It has to do that in at least two of the last three school years.
The score is the share of possible points a school earns across the state’s grade components, such as reading and math achievement and learning gains. Elementary schools are ranked against elementary schools, middle against middle and so on.
“Achieving success for one year is worth celebrating, but sustaining it year after year is a remarkable accomplishment,” Superintendent Mike Burke said in the release.
How the three scored this year
All three earned an A in Florida’s 2026 school grades, according to the state’s 2026 school grades file. All three also earned an A in 2025 and 2024.
- Timber Trace Elementary earned 80% of possible points, the highest of any district-run school in the city. It has earned an A in every graded year since 2000.
- Marsh Pointe Elementary earned 73%. It has earned an A every graded year since 2009, its first.
- Palm Beach Gardens Elementary earned 73%. It has earned an A every graded year since 2018.
The city’s two other district elementary schools are not on the list. Allamanda Elementary earned an A in 2026 with 69% of possible points. Grove Park Elementary earned a C with 51%. The ranking turns on the points score, not the letter grade, so an A school can miss the cut.
No Palm Beach Gardens middle or high school is on this year’s list. That includes William T. Dwyer High, which earned an A with 66% of possible points.
Two schools just north of the city made it too: Jupiter Farms Elementary, in Jupiter Farms about six miles northwest, and Jupiter Community High, in Jupiter about six miles north.
What it changes at the school
The law gives a School of Excellence some freedom from district and state rules for up to three years. It includes:
- principal autonomy under state law
- an exemption from minimum daily or weekly reading instruction time
- an exemption from district rules on school day start and end times
- class size compliance measured as a school-wide average
- 20 in-service points a year for teachers toward certificate renewal, up to 60 in five years
A school keeps the title only while it holds a B or better. A grade below B during the three years ends the designation and the flexibilities with it.
What it means for you
If your child is zoned for Timber Trace, Marsh Pointe or Palm Beach Gardens Elementary, the school’s results have held near the top of the state for at least two of the last three years. Each school’s page on this site has its zone, enrollment, grade history and calendar.
For every public school in the city, see our guide to Palm Beach Gardens public schools. The district’s choice and career program applications are open now for families looking beyond their zoned school.
The district’s release does not say whether any of the three is newly named or renewing an earlier designation.
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