MATTHEW W. GILBERT MIDDLE SCHOOL

MATTHEW W. GILBERT MIDDLE SCHOOL is an intimate junior high in JACKSONVILLE, Florida, part of DUVAL. The school enrolls 555 students in grades 6 through 8. That puts it 30% smaller than the typical public school in Florida, which averages around 794 students.

DUVAL comprises 206 schools with combined enrollment of 131,562 students; MATTHEW W. GILBERT MIDDLE SCHOOL is among them.

Demographically, MATTHEW W. GILBERT MIDDLE SCHOOL reports that the student body is overwhelmingly Black (81%). Beyond that, the school lists 10% Hispanic, 5% White, 3% multiracial. That is noticeably more Black than the county at large, where the share is closer to 29%.

On the resource side, On paper, MATTHEW W. GILBERT MIDDLE SCHOOL has 25 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 22.2:1. The state averages around 19.6:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. Roughly 79% of students at MATTHEW W. GILBERT MIDDLE SCHOOL qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. By comparison, Duval County runs at roughly 47%, so the school's eligibility rate is somewhat above the surrounding baseline.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, MATTHEW W. GILBERT MIDDLE SCHOOL performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 41.8%, the actual is 28.8%, a residual of -13.1 points.

In the broader community, community-level numbers for Duval County indicate median household income runs about $71,277, 34% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 10%. Across Duval County's 220 public schools (combined enrollment of about 141,209 students), MATTHEW W. GILBERT MIDDLE SCHOOL is one campus in the mix.

R L BROWN GIFTED AND TALENTED ACADEMY is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.1 miles from this campus. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 6 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), MATTHEW W. GILBERT MIDDLE SCHOOL ranks 6th on composite proficiency, behind the local average of 51.9%.

The campus sits in an inner-city setting.

Five-year trend. MATTHEW W. GILBERT MIDDLE SCHOOL's enrollment has increased 28% since 2018, when it stood at 435 (now 555). Black enrollment moved from 88% to 81% across the same window. Class-load math has grew: from 16.7:1 in 2018 to 22.2:1 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, posts here usually surface around sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.