School Starts Monday: Two St. Augustine-Area Schools Move to an 8:40 Bell

St. Johns County students return to class Monday, Aug. 10, and two schools serving St. Augustine families will ring the first bell 15 minutes later than they did last year. South Woods Elementary in Elkton and Mill Creek Academy on State Road 16 west of the city both move from an 8:25 a.m. start to 8:40 a.m., which means new alarm clocks, new bus stop times and a different school-zone rush for the drivers who share those roads.

Dismissal at both schools moves to 3 p.m., and to 2 p.m. on Wednesdays. That puts them on the same clock as Liberty Pines, Palm Valley, Trout Creek and Valley Ridge academies. The district says start and dismissal times are unchanged at every other elementary, middle, K-8 and high school.

The district reported 52,617 students enrolled as of June 1. The school year runs through May 28, 2027.

When your school starts

Every school in the district has early release on Wednesdays, one hour ahead of the normal dismissal. Here are the bells that matter most to families in and around the city.

School	Start	Out
All middle schools	7:30 a.m.	1:50 p.m.
Elementary (most)	8:25 a.m.	2:45 p.m.
South Woods, Mill Creek	8:40 a.m.	3:00 p.m.
St. Augustine High, St. Johns Technical	9:20 a.m.	3:50 p.m.
Pedro Menendez High	9:35 a.m.	4:05 p.m.

The full list, including the alternative programs and the K-8 academies on the 8 a.m. schedule, is on the district's school hours page.

Two new academies open Monday

Magnolia Oaks Academy opens in SilverLeaf, the district's first school in that community. It expects 1,300 students on day one. The K-8 school will serve kindergarten through seventh grade this year, adding eighth grade later, and its bell schedule matches the other 8 a.m. academies with a 2:20 p.m. dismissal and 1:20 p.m. on Wednesdays. The mascot is the Tigers.

District officials showed the building to community leaders on July 22. Seventh graders there will be able to take a TV production and yearbook course, with more than 20 students running the equipment for the school's live morning broadcast, and elementary students get a dedicated STEM class covering robotics, coding and computer literacy.

Sabal Crest Academy in Nocatee also opens Monday with more than 800 students. It starts at 8:40 a.m.

Superintendent Dr. Brennan Asplen has pointed to the district's results on the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking, end-of-course exams and the statewide science assessment, where St. Johns County ranks among the top performers in reading, math and science and first in the state on all state-administered EOC exams, including civics. He credited teachers, support staff and families for the run.

The district is still short on bus drivers

St. Johns County is actively recruiting school bus drivers heading into the new year. The district is offering paid training, competitive pay and benefits, flexible schedules and holidays off, and no prior experience is required before training. Applications go through the district's careers page.

For parents, the practical effect of a tight driver roster shows up in the first two weeks: doubled-back routes, later pickups and buses that arrive off schedule while drivers learn new stops. Give the morning extra cushion, especially on the SR 16 corridor and the two-lane roads out toward Elkton, where school traffic backs up quickly.

Dates to put on the fridge

Wednesdays are early release all year. Every school in the district dismisses a full hour early on Friday, Dec. 18, 2026, heading into winter break, and again on the last day of school, Thursday, May 28, 2027. Families who need to change schools or apply for a transfer can find zoning maps and choice options on the district site.

Keep up with St. Augustine news at the St. Augustine Community Website, and tell us how the first week goes at your school by joining the conversation in our Community Forum. For more coverage of local schools, read our education stories, or browse the latest from around town in community.

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