Warrington Preparatory Academy has pushed back the addition of a ninth-grade class until fall 2026.
“We are excited to bring a ninth-grade option to Warrington Prep, but after much consideration, decided to move that opening to 2026-2027 school year after we’ve had a chance to properly market it to the entire community,” Dr. Eddie Ruiz, state superintendent for Charter Schools USA, said Friday in a prepared statement to the Pensacola News Journal.
Ruiz said the decision to delay the expansion has nothing to do with Warrington Prep’s school grade. The charter school was 2 points from a C last year. The school earned a 42 but needed a 44 for a C grade.
Warrington Prep Academy opened in 2023, after operating as Warrington Middle School under the Escambia County School District. The school changed hands at the state’s direction following years of poor academic performance. Charter Schools USA had four years to get the school’s grade up to a C. If the grade improves from a D any time within that time, Charter Schools USA will earn a 15-year renewal.
“Based on what we are seeing, we expect the school to get a ‘C’ grade this year, but our decision to delay has nothing to do with the grade. We’ve been laser focused at raising the grade and continuing to improve the culture at Warrington,” Ruiz said in his statement.
The school currently has 581 students – 214 eighth-graders, 219 seventh-graders and 148 sixth-graders.
Delvin Vick, Warrington Prep principal, recently notified parents of the delay in a letter.
Dear Rocket FamilyWe are so proud of our students and staff for all their hard work this year. It is because of their relentless commitment to student greatness in school and in life that we expect to raise our grade this year as promised. We have made the difficult decision to pause opening our new ninth grade program until fall of 2026. Although we are super excited to bring this opportunity to our school and community, we want to take some more time to get the word out to appropriately promote this great new option for ninth grade. We still plan to move forward with the expansion and look forward to making Warrington Preparatory Academy the number one choice for innovative learning. Thank you for your understanding and support.
In December, Ruiz announced the school would accept applications for 125 to 150 ninth-graders early this year. The expansion included having ninth-graders choose from three curriculum tracks in Charter School USA’s newly developed Workforce, Prototyping and Academic Program. The school would also hire four to six teachers and additional staff for the ninth-graders. Warrington Prep currently has 50 faculty staff members.
Ruiz praised Vick, stating “he has done a tremendous job of bringing stability while increasing school pride and building strong minds and good hearts.”
“Our teachers are more determined than ever and have fully embraced our mission, which is a relentless commitment to student greatness in school and in life. We didn’t want to rush into expanding and want to make sure everyone knows about the opportunities this new option will present,” Ruiz said in his statement.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Warrington Prep delay 9th grade expansion