St. Peter's Academy, Gifford

St. Peter's Academy is a public charter school for kindergarten through grade 6 at 4250 38th Ave., listed under the Indian River County school district, not a private school.

The federal Common Core of Data record for St. Peter's Academy gives NCES School ID 120093003409, state school ID FL-31-5002, the Indian River district, Type: Regular school, Status: Open and Charter: Yes, with a grade span of KG - 6 (NCES school record). The state's grades workbook carries the Gifford school as ST. PETER'S ACADEMY, school 5002 in district 31, INDIAN RIVER, with YES in its Charter School column (FLDOE 2025-26 school grades workbook).

State law, not the school's own policy, defines what that charter label means for a family in Gifford. Under section 1002.33, a Florida charter counts as a public school within the state's public education program; its programs, admissions, hiring and operations must stay nonsectarian; and it may collect only the kinds of fees other public schools normally collect, with no tuition or registration charge (Florida Statutes section 1002.33).

For a charter such as St. Peter's Academy, the same statute lets a district school board sponsor a charter school in the county over which it has jurisdiction, and it makes a charter school accountable to its sponsor for performance (sponsor provisions in s. 1002.33).

St. Peter's Academy earned an A for 2025-26 on 81 percent of total possible points, its second straight A after a D in 2024.

In the workbook titled 2025-26 School Grades as of September 1, 2026, the Gifford school's row holds A under Grade 2026, A under Grade 2025 and D under Grade 2024, with 484 Total Points Earned across 6 Total Components and 98 under Percent Tested (FLDOE row for school 5002). The same row marks Title I YES and Alternative/ESE Center School N, and 100 is entered as the Percent of Economically Disadvantaged Students.

The School Type cell for St. Peter's Academy reads 04, which the workbook legend defines as Combination. The file note grades high and combination schools on one scale: A=65% of points or greater, B=60% to 64%, C=45% to 59%, D=35% to 44% and F=34% of points or less (grading scale note in the FLDOE file).

The Indian River County district reported the 2026 results in a July 1, 2026 release, which states that every charter school within the School District of Indian River County earned an A (School District of Indian River County news release). NCES lists St. Peter's Academy as a charter school in the Indian River district (NCES district listing).

Six cells were graded for St. Peter's Academy, from 59 for reading learning gains up to 93 for third grade reading.

The table copies those Gifford school cells under the workbook's own labels (FLDOE school grades workbook). The two lowest 25% learning gains columns are blank for this school, and so are social studies, middle school acceleration, graduation rate and college and career acceleration.

Within the St. Peter's Academy row, English Language Arts Achievement reads 85, Mathematics Achievement reads 82 and English Language Arts Learning Gains reads 59 (component cells for school 5002).

The Gifford charter's row prints I for 2005 and 2006, C for 2007, 2008 and 2017, B for 2019 and 2022, D for 2024, and A for every other graded year from 2009 on.

Each letter below is copied from the St. Peter's Academy row as printed; empty cells are marked blank (FLDOE school grades workbook, row 5002). The workbook has no 2020 column and labels 2023 and 2015 as Informational Baseline Grade.

Columns for Grade 2004 back to Grade 1999 are empty in the St. Peter's Academy row (earliest grade columns for school 5002).

NCES counts 120 students at St. Peter's Academy for 2024-2025, taught by 5.00 full-time-equivalent classroom teachers, a ratio the record gives as 24.00.

The NCES record breaks the Gifford school's 2024-2025 enrollment out by grade, reproduced in the table below (NCES enrollment by grade). By gender the same record lists 50 male and 70 female students.

All 120 St. Peter's Academy students are listed as free lunch eligible, 0 as reduced-price eligible, and 117 as free lunch eligible by direct certification (NCES lunch eligibility counts). NCES adds that starting in 2022-23 its release no longer includes Title I status.

The FLDOE Title I school list fills that gap for the Gifford school: it shows 31 INDIAN RIVER, 5002 ST. PETER'S ACADEMY, Elementary, with 99 total students ages 5-17, 99 children from low-income families and 100.00%, under program type SW (FLDOE Title I school list).

St. Peter's Academy uses a Vero Beach mailing address, 4250 38th Ave., Vero Beach, FL 32967, but the Census Bureau geocoder places it in the Gifford census designated place.

A geocoder query for 4250 38th Avenue returned the match 4250 38TH AVE, VERO BEACH, FL, 32967, with Gifford CDP, GEOID 1225925, as the census designated place and no incorporated place (Census Bureau geocoder result). The NCES record describes the locale as Suburban, Midsize (22) in Indian River County (NCES locale and county).

Families can reach St. Peter's Academy at (772) 562-1963, the phone number in the NCES directory for 2025-2026, which lists the same 38th Avenue address as both mailing and physical address (NCES directory information).

Last verified: October 22, 2026, through new reads of the St. Peter's Academy row in the FLDOE grades workbook, its FLDOE Title I list entry, its NCES record, the Indian River district's July 2026 grades release, section 1002.33 of the Florida Statutes, the district's 2026-2027 Parent Guide and a geocoder match for 4250 38th Ave. in Gifford.

Under Florida law a charter school such as St. Peter's Academy must enroll an eligible student who applies on time unless applications exceed capacity, in which case a random selection process decides.

Section 1002.33 says a charter school shall enroll an eligible student who submits a timely application, unless the number of applications exceeds the capacity of a program, class, grade level or building, and that in such a case all applicants shall have an equal chance of being admitted through a random selection process (eligible students rules in s. 1002.33). It also states that students with disabilities and students served in English for Speakers of Other Languages programs shall have an equal opportunity of being selected, which applies to applicants for the Gifford school as to any Florida charter.

Bus riders are handled differently at a charter. The School District of Indian River County's 2026-2027 Parent Guide counts 5 charter schools in the district and says students attending choice, charter or magnet schools must contact the Department of Transportation for a designated depot stop location; its routing line is 772-978-8801, option 2 (SDIRC 2026-2027 Parent Guide).

A charter school may be exempt from the requirements of section 1002.31 if it is open to any student covered in an interdistrict agreement and any student residing in the school district in which it is located, according to the statute (Florida Statutes section 1002.33, subsection 10). Application dates and forms for St. Peter's Academy can be confirmed at (772) 562-1963, the phone number in the NCES directory record.