JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – When classes begin in a few weeks, about 75 students from R.V. Daniels Elementary School will start their school year at R.L. Brown Gifted and Talented Academy. The consolidation took place at the end of last year.
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Principal Kristi Kincaid said the school is excited to welcome the new students and hopes enrollment will continue to grow.
Principal Kristi Kincaid (Ben Schubert/News4JAX photojournalist)
“We want to continue to work on our enrollment and increase in those areas, just like we increased with our school grade. So 75 today, but our enrollment continues to grow each day,” Kincaid said.
Despite the growth, there is still sadness over losing a school that meant so much to the community. Debby Wingo, who spent 18 years as a guidance counselor at R.V. Daniels, reflected on the emotional impact.
When navigating the DCPS website to view R.V. Daniels Elementary, this message pops up reminding parents of the merger that will go into effect during the upcoming school year. (Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.)
“That is the most important part, right there, our history, losing our history. At some point, when are we able to preserve our history? And right now, it saddens me,” Wingo said.
R.L. Brown recently improved its school grade from a C to a B. Kincaid said the consolidation has already allowed the school to provide more support for students.
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“We’re able to get the support that the kids need, because now we can afford to have an intervention, we can afford to have an extra para in the building to help support our students,” she said.
R.L. Brown Gifted and Talented Academy (Ben Schubert/News4JAX photojournalist)
Wingo, whose grandchildren attend R.L. Brown, said the school has resources in place to help students adjust.
“They already have things in place that assist the students, and even with the mental health part, you know, we have outside community that’s able to work with the students who need it for the adjustment,” she said.
Programs like Big Brothers Big Sisters are also available to help with the transition. Kincaid said she and her teachers are committed to making the change as smooth as possible.
“We are the human resources, and I think for us, that’s the best part of helping them with the transitions, because we need them to understand that we need them. We need them to be successful. We need them to thrive. And when they thrive, we thrive,” Kincaid said.
R.V. Daniels Elementary School (Ben Schubert/News4JAX photojournalist)
For Wingo and many others, R.V. Daniels was more than just a building; it was a family.
“R.V. Daniels was a school that cared about the students, not only just the academics, but we looked at the students holistically. We looked at all parts of the emotional, the career-wise, but we treated everybody that came through those doors as family,” she said.
Kincaid said the memories of R.V. Daniels will live on at R.L. Brown.
“We don’t want the history to go away. The school is closing, but the feeling, the history, the memories that have been created, we want to keep that here at the school,” she said.
Duval County Public Schools said no decisions have been made about the future of the R.V. Daniels school building.
Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.