SCPS Again Ranked No. 1 in Florida for College STEM Preparation

A statewide STEM-prep index ranks Seminole County Public Schools the top district in Florida for preparing high school students for college-level STEM majors for the 2025-26 school year. The district announcement says the ranking is based on Fall 2025 enrollment in key college-preparatory courses and on an index released February 4, 2026.

Superintendent Serita Beamon credited students, families and staff. “Seminole County Public Schools has long set a standard for academic preparation in STEM fields, and maintaining our #1 ranking again this year is a testament to the dedication of our students, families, teachers, and administrators,” said Serita Beamon, Superintendent of Seminole County Public Schools. “Our focus on rigorous instruction, enhanced course offerings, and meaningful real-world learning experiences ensures that students are ready for competitive college STEM programs and the high-demand careers of tomorrow.”

The ranking is drawn from an index that tracks participation in four courses: chemistry, physics, precalculus and calculus. The district statement framed the result this way: “According to the most recent STEM Prep Index released on February 4, 2026, Seminole County leads all 67 Florida school districts in student participation in key college-preparatory STEM courses, including chemistry, physics, precalculus, and calculus, based on Fall 2025 enrollment data from the Florida Department of Education.”

Materials accompanying past index work describe the metric as a simple sum of course participation percentages. “The STEM Career Prep Index is the sum of the percentages of each district’s high school students taking chemistry, physics, precalculus and calculus.” That earlier description also reported course-level trends: “During the last two years, the district’s physics enrollment has increased by 6.1%. During the same two years, the physics enrollment in all of Florida’s public high schools has declined by 10.1%.” Outreach programs tied to the district’s STEM push include a fleet of mobile demonstrations described as three Physics Buses that visit elementary and middle schools to broaden early exposure to physical science.

Seminole County’s top placement arrives amid broader district recognition. SCPS remains an A-rated district for 2023-2024 and received a $5.8 million Magnet Schools Assistance Program grant in October 2024 to reimagine South Seminole Academy. The district cut the ribbon on the Student Success Express mobile resource vehicle in July 2024, was named the Number One public school district in Florida by an external ranking in October 2024, and previously earned a $1 million Re-think Award to support an experimental high school program. Historic metrics cited by the district include a 94.5 percent graduation rate for 2019-2020 and long-running SAT performance above state and national averages.

Public materials use both the labels STEM Prep Index and STEM Career Prep Index and cite Fall 2025 and Fall 2023 data in different places, creating a variation in naming and time frame that merits clarification from the index publisher and the Florida Department of Education’s enrollment portal. For Seminole County families, the ranking reinforces access to advanced science and math pathways that feed competitive college programs and local high-demand careers; the district’s continued investments in course offerings and outreach - part of its STEMinole County identity - will determine whether the district sustains that edge in coming years.