River City Science Academy (RCSA) is a Tuition Free, Public, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) focus, Duval County Public Charter School located in Jacksonville. RCSA provides strong academics and college bound programs in addition to after school programs. RCSA is one of the successful charter schools in Florida. RCSA is recognized as High Performing Charter School by Florida Department of Education (FLDOE).

The history of RCSA began in 2002, when Sel Buyuksarac and Dogan Tozoglu collaborated to pursue their dream of building a school to educate future generations.

Approved in 2007, River City Science Academy’s inaugural year began as a middle school, consisting of only 167 students. Following River City’s success, an elementary school component was established, and RCSA’s main campus was transported from the corner of Southside and Beach to its current location at 7565 Beach Blvd.

Following the 2008 – 2009 school year, River City Science Academy received an A-grade from the Florida Department of Education, becoming the first charter school in Duval county to receive the distinction.

In 2010, RCSA applied and was awarded the approval to open RCSA Elementary to serve students in grades K – 5th. RCSA Elementary opened its doors in August of 2010 in the Southside building until phases III and IV could be completed at the new campus on Beach Blvd by August 2012. Elementary school moved into a separate location at 7450 Beach Blvd for the 2016-2017 school year.

Two more establishments were made, with RCSA Innovation in 2013, the same year as our first graduating class, and the RCSA Mandarin Campus in 2016.

In 2017, RCSA celebrated it’s 10 year anniversary. RCSA has been able to receive great support from the Jacksonville community to allow us to grow and establish themselves as one of the top schools in the area.

In August of 2021, River City Science Academy received approval to open their 5th campus, RCSA Intracoastal. The school opened in August 2021 and serves grades K – 8.

The 6th location, RCSA Southeast plans to open in August 2023.

Currently, RCSA serves more than 2,500 students across four campuses with more than 250 employees.

RCSA continues to provide strong academics to prepare college-bound students in addition to exciting before and after school programs. RCSA is recognized as a high performing charter school by the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) and was the first charter school in Duval County to earn an A grade.

Since its beginning, RCSA has worked to adapt to current educational trends by becoming increasingly data-driven, standards-based and financially secure, without losing sight of its innovative vision of the learning process. While much has changed at RCSA, the schools remain committed to learning and growing to provide the best educational experience for students and families.