Bell Creek Academy High School
Riverview, FL 33569
Phone: (813) 793-6075
Fax: (813) 413-2985
District: Hillsborough
GreatSchools Rating
charter • Grades 6,7,8,9,10,11,12 • 1072 students
Bell Creek Academy High School, a charter school located in Riverview, FL, serves grades 6-12 in the Hillsborough.It has received a GreatSchools Rating of 9 out of 10, based on a variety of school quality measures.
Bell Creek Academy High School is a charter school located in Riverview, FL. 1072 students attend Bell Creek Academy High School.
School Ratings
| Category | Rating | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Test Scores | 9/10 | The Test Score Rating examines how students at this school performed on standardized tests compared with other schools in the state. The Test Rating was created using 2025 Florida Assessment of Student Thinking data from Florida Department of Education, and using 2025 Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking data from Florida Department of Education. |
| College Readiness | 9/10 | The College Readiness Rating uses this high school's graduation rates, college entrance exam participation and performance, or AP, IB, or Dual Enrollment participation to determine how well schools are preparing students for success in college and beyond. The College Readiness Rating was created using 2019 Average SAT score data from Florida Department of Education, using the following data from the 2021 Civil Rights Data Collection: percentage of students enrolled in IB, AP or Dual Enrollment classes in grades 9-12, using 2025 4-year high school graduation rate data from Florida Department of Education, and using 2026 demographic data from Florida Department of Education. |
| Student Growth | 9/10 | The Student Progress Rating measures whether students at this school are making academic progress over time based on student growth data provided by the Department of Education. Specifically, this rating looks at how much progress individual students have made on state assessments during the past year or more, how this performance aligns with expected progress based on a student growth model established by the state Department of Education, and how this school's growth data compares to other schools in the state. The Growth Rating was created using 2025 Student growth data from Florida Department of Education. |
Posted: September 12, 2021
Posted: September 12, 2021
Posted: September 12, 2021
Posted: September 12, 2021
Posted: September 12, 2021
Posted: September 12, 2021
Posted: September 12, 2021
Literally garbage. My chemistry teacher literally quit 2 weeks into the year. I'm stuck with a teacher who needs to search up answers when I ask her something. Administration is too busy acting idiotic for dress code. They literally banned hoodies. Like what is going on here? The principal has no public speaking ability much less the capability to run a school. The AP is too busy yelling at people. The college guidance counselor gets everything she wants done on a whim. The middle school gets too much compared to the high school. Some of the teachers are great, some are horrible. Some just pile work on you and are able to teacher. One teacher assigned 104 vocab words for new freshmen to do on their first day back. Some of the teachers are brilliant however. Yet, some do not have the ability to use a computer.
Posted: September 12, 2021
Posted: July 2, 2019
Posted: July 2, 2019
Posted: July 2, 2019
Very nice environment, we like because the discipline and manners are important values.
Posted: July 2, 2019
Posted: July 2, 2019
Posted: July 2, 2019
Posted: July 2, 2019
Posted: April 25, 2019
Posted: April 25, 2019
Posted: April 25, 2019
The teachers at this school have low facilitation for any interest in their courses. The good teachers are sent out and fired from their positions for not following small rules like enforcement of dress code and being 'too nice' to students when in reality the true problem is the management that hires teachers to teach courses they are not qualified to teach in. Almost half of my children's teachers did not have degrees in the courses they were teaching, but rather a degree similar to the course. My child would have fallen terribly behind without tutors for her courses. Funny though, as she had mostly A's in all classes without learning a thing.
Posted: April 25, 2019
Posted: April 25, 2019
The management of this school is terrible: the office staff hate children, yell at them every chance they get, and get terribly offended when asked to do simple tasks like giving a form to a teacher. The principle of the school has seemed to have changed since my child left the school but I believe the AP of the school is still there. The AP talked to the children in a very dismissive tone and made it hard for the students to talk without getting shut down immediately. Even as an adult, I found the AP to be extremely unengaged and uninterested in any problems with students learning and/or progress at the school. While attending the school, my child never once had any idea of who her guidance counselor was as it changed pretty much every week. The guidance counselor took what seemed like YEARS to schedule meetings and send transcripts which was her main job. The guidance counselor would also continuously harass students about things like dress code and behavior, but could not take the time to sign a form, funny.
Posted: April 25, 2019
My personal experience with Bell Creek Academy was terrible. My child attended the school for 4 years and my biggest regret was not leaving earlier. The last point I would like to make is how indecisive the staff at Bell Creek Academy is. The office staff would tell me things all of the time THAT WERE COMPLETELY WRONG. When I would go back and ask a different individual working for the school, I would receive a completely different answer. This school would maybe have some hope if teachers liked their jobs, the principle and AP made an effort to be nicer and more approachable to students, put more effort into bigger problems such as FSA and PSAT scores instead of yelling at every kid that walks in with a hoodie that is not 100% school appropriate, or had management that had any common sense. The attention of the school management needs to be majorly refocused and I can't believe the school is still running with this many discrepancies to the learning process.
Posted: April 25, 2019
Homework is assigned and piled up on students, everything is mostly due on Friday's or Mondays.
Posted: February 7, 2018
Posted: February 7, 2018
Posted: February 7, 2018
Posted: February 7, 2018
Posted: February 7, 2018
Posted: February 7, 2018
Its a great school my daughter loves it and she started when the school opened and now she's in 10th grade.
Posted: February 7, 2018
Posted: January 21, 2018
Posted: January 21, 2018
There isn't that much bullying to begin with
Posted: January 21, 2018
Socially, this school is better off than others (less drugs, less fights, lower gang affiliation, et cetera), contributing to less hecticity (I made this word up) in character.
Posted: January 21, 2018
Posted: January 21, 2018
At this school, we receive enough homework to develop good work skills, but not too much homework.
Posted: January 21, 2018
The teachers actually challenge the students, and (in my experience) don't discriminate against different learning styles
Posted: January 21, 2018
My experience at this school was generally good
Posted: July 18, 2017
Posted: July 18, 2017
Posted: July 18, 2017
Posted: July 18, 2017
Posted: July 18, 2017
Posted: July 18, 2017
Posted: July 18, 2017
My student has just finished 9th grade. I was skeptical about the school at the beginning(coming from private schools) ect... But I am pleased to say, that BCA has exceeded my expectations. This is literally a private school w/out the tuition. The academics are challenging, the behavior system is disciplined and respectful, and the teachers and students have fun in the process. I couldn't ask for a better high school!!!!!!
Posted: May 27, 2017
Posted: May 27, 2017
Posted: May 27, 2017
Posted: May 27, 2017
Posted: May 27, 2017
Posted: May 27, 2017
Posted: May 27, 2017
My child's experience was awful and we are pulling her out. Many of the teachers are not real teachers or are teaching outside of their area of expertise. There is very high turnover. Some classes have gone through 3 or 4 teachers during a school year. They assign way too much homework and too many projects. The administration does not effectively lead the school and is unresponsive to concerns of parents and students. The assistant principal, Marley Strawn, will not even return emails or phone calls. She refuses to address issues and would rather ignore them and not be bothered. The front office staff is rude and unwelcoming. I've never been treated this way at any other school. Many teachers have no control over the classroom and there is chaos, but administration does nothing about it because they want to keep their numbers up. It does not provide a good learning environment. Bell Creek is a good example of why charter schools should not get money that should be going toward public schools. It's a disaster.
Posted: May 25, 2017
My daughter did not have a learning difference.
Posted: May 25, 2017
As previously stated, my daughter was bullied at this school and was treated as though she were the one that did something wrong. Her safety was not a concern of this administration.
Posted: May 25, 2017
This school may be appropriate for STEM-only students who have no interest in the arts, music, or other activities outside of STEM books.
Posted: May 25, 2017
Homework is assigned over Winter break as well as Spring break leaving little family time.
Posted: May 25, 2017
Teachers are very young and inexperienced. A lot of class time is wasted due to the non-traditional bell schedule.
Posted: May 25, 2017
Schools that tolerate bullying have no concept of integrity, compassion or respect.
Posted: May 25, 2017
Our daughter was bullied and the administration asked her to think about how the other person felt and completely disregarded her safety.
Posted: October 11, 2016
Posted: October 11, 2016
Posted: October 11, 2016
Posted: October 11, 2016
Posted: October 11, 2016
Posted: October 11, 2016
Posted: October 11, 2016
BCA is an amazing school in many ways. It provides our children with a quality education that far exceeds other schools in our area. The teachers are caring, gifted and use evidenced based practices in their instruction. We are also thrilled with the opportunity of Cambridge Program. This is an opportunity for our children's future like no other! And the admin really cares about the students!
Posted: July 14, 2016
Bell Creek Academy is definitely not where you want to send your child. Bell creek does not offer a wide variety of classes like the other schools in the area, half the classes offered don't have a curriculum, and the teachers and administration are some of the most hateful and useless people ever to run a school. They don't care about making students feel safe or welcome. They don't care about students getting a well rounded school experience. All they care about is that your kid can take notes and write a written response every day. There is no variety in the classes and no variety in assessment. Also the administration does not care about helping teachers improve. They just play favorites and pass on their work load to specific power hungry teachers.
Posted: May 22, 2016
The school's accomplishments speak for the effectiveness of the teachers. These teachers are dedicated to the achievement of their students.
Posted: May 22, 2016
8 classes creates homework but we believe the requirements are balanced. Students will need to management their time wisely.
Posted: May 22, 2016
We need to develop integrity and responsibility in our students so they will be successful in the real world. We recognize students who display these qualities.
Posted: May 22, 2016
Great curriculum. Cambridge program and 3 academies business, legal and marine science. New football team and all other sports. Wonderful music and art programs. Wonderful teachers and staff. They really care about the school and are dedicated to the students.
Posted: March 31, 2016
Posted: March 31, 2016
The amount of homework is astounding. Yes my children was in advanced placement classes, but the homework wasnt enriching it was busy work.
Posted: March 31, 2016
This school chose all males for the science program, even after my female child was recommended by her advanced teachers.
Posted: March 31, 2016
The school is so very disorganized. While Charter schools may be a good concept, this school has gone through so many staff changes that students aren't even sure what their current instructors name is. My child had 4 AP math teachers in 1 year. During testing students sit for days (literally) on end doing nothing while absent students make up tests. My child sat 3 days in a room and did not do ANY study. Students were encouraged to bring tablets and phones to entertain themselves. Why can't learning continue even when other students are taking up a make-up test? I asked 2 teachers to view their lessons plans. I was told by both teachers "I don't have one". How do you teach without lesson plans, just wing it? In advanced literature my child did not read one quality work. Her teacher printed out short stories he liked from the internet. No text books, no actual work. This school is a waste of time. I have since removed my child for greener pastures. I will say the facility is nice. It is poorly managed and over crowded but the construction is nice. No gymnasium, so no basketball team. No football field, so no highschool football team. Just all around not a "real" school. More for kids who can't handle public school and can't afford private school and aren't able to get into a magnet school.
Posted: March 29, 2016
Posted: March 29, 2016
Posted: March 29, 2016
Posted: March 29, 2016
BCA is a truly college-prep school. The teachers have extremely high expectations and the students are high achieving.
This is a small school, so teachers, students, and administration are all very close.
While there are many extracurricular options, this is the place to go if college is your focus.
Posted: April 23, 2015
Bell Creek High School has some of the most passionate and hardworking teachers who are willing to get to know and grow with my child. As a new school, there have been growing pains. However, there is a new Principal with experience with this High School model for which I am very encouraged. There are two new yet experienced Assistant Principals who are very committed. I am very excited for my daughters. We are looking forward to the roll out of the Cambridge program. I appreciate that this school relies on technology. I have read comments about lack of communication. I have found that some parents are not completely registered in the email system because they have not completed the registration process. That could explain the lack of communication. I find most of the teachers to be responsive and helpful and enthusiastic about their work. I am willing to lend a hand to make the school even better. I love that teachers know their students. We are still excited and optimistic.
Reviews provided by GreatSchools™
| # | Name | Type | City | State | Overall Rating | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FishHawk Ranch | Neighborhood/Subdivision | Lithia | FL | 3.2 mi | |
| 2 | Panther Trace | Neighborhood/Subdivision | Riverview | FL | 3.7 mi | |
| 3 | Fish Hawk Ranch | Neighborhood/Subdivision | Lithia | FL | 3.8 mi | |
| 4 | Fishhawk Ranch | Neighborhood/Subdivision | Lithia | FL | 3.8 mi | |
| 5 | Avelar Creek | Neighborhood/Subdivision | Riverview | FL | 5.1 mi | |
| 6 | Harbour Isles | Neighborhood/Subdivision | Apollo Beach | FL | 11.7 mi | |
| 7 | The Pavillions | Apartment Complex | Tampa | FL | 13.6 mi | |
| 8 | Hyde Park | Neighborhood/Subdivision | Tampa | FL | 13.8 mi | |
| 9 | Westchase | Neighborhood/Subdivision | Tampa | FL | 24.3 mi |
| # | Name | City | State | Overall Rating | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fishhawk Ranch /Lithia FL | Lithia | FL | 3.6 mi | |
| 2 | South of Gandy (SOG) | Tampa | FL | 14.3 mi | |
| 3 | South Tampa | Tampa | FL | 15 mi |
| Base | Distance |
|---|---|
| MacDill AFB | 13.2 mi. |
| Coast Guard Clearwater | 26.2 mi. |
