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When elementary and middle school students walk over the threshold of Tommie Barfield Elementary and Marco Island Charter Middle School next year, they’ll still be attending high achieving schools.

The same can’t be said for those students attending Lely High School.

Both Tommie Barfield and Marco Island Charter Middle School maintained their Florida Department of Education A grade this year, while Lely High School dropped a letter grade.

“I am very pleased,” said MICMS principal George Aboounader. “Every year it is a challenge to maintain this excellent grade.”

The department of education released school grades Friday afternoon, nearly two weeks later than in previous years. In Collier County, 20 schools received an A, six received a B, 13 received a C and three received a D. Two Immokalee schools, Immokalee High School and Pinecrest Elementary School received an F. The district’s maintained its overall district-wide grade of a B, according to a report prepared by Cynthia Janssen, the district’s chief academic officer.

John Kelly, assistant superintendent of elementary education, said parents shouldn’t be too worried if their child’s school dropped a letter grade this year. That’s because for the third time since the school grading system was established, the state has stepped up achievement guidelines.

“We have again raised the bar,” said Education Commissioner Jeanine Blomberg. “Achieving and A and B is not an easy task, and I think it is really important to recognize that schools have all the credit. It is our responsibility to do the right thing, and ensure (students) that we are doing it to the best of our ability.”

School grades are determined on a point system. A school earns one point for each percentile of students who score high on the annual Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Schools also earn points for each percentile of students who show learning gains in reading or math skills. Extra weight is given to improvement in reading skills among the lowest-performing readers in each school.

This year, the state added new criteria to the grading system. The new criteria includes the addition of science FCAT scores and averaging in the grades of the lowest 25 percent in math.

“We definitely have a lot more drops than increases,” Kelly said. “The good news, though, is that most of the drops are just one letter grade.”

That was the case at Lely High School, which fell from a C to a D this year.

Ken Fairbanks, Lely High School’s principal, could not be reached for comment Friday.

Kelly said the district plans to work with schools that dropped a letter grade, but that true focus of each school is a child’s individual progress.

“We need to focus on each child’s progress,” he said. “We need to make sure each child is reading at grade level, and focus on them.”