Jackson Public School District

Jackson Public School District
Location
662 S. President Street Jackson, MS 39201 United States
Coordinates	32°17′32″N 90°10′58″W / 32.29223°N 90.182864°WCoordinates: 32°17′32″N 90°10′58″W / 32.29223°N 90.182864°W
District information
Building Stronger Schools Together!
Grades	Pre-K-12
Established	1888
Superintendent	Dr. Cedrick Gray,[1]
Accreditation(s)	AdvancED, Council of Great City Schools and College Board
Schools	60
Students and staff
Students	Nearly 30,000 Students
Teachers	2,208 (full time)
Other information
Website	www.jackson.k12.ms.us

Map of Hinds County highlighting the Jackson Public School District

The Jackson Public School District is a public school district based in Jackson, Mississippi (USA). In addition to Jackson, the district serves a portion of the Byram community. It is the 2nd largest school district in the state & is the only urban school district in the state. It was established in 1888.^[2]

Superintendent

Dr. Cedrick Gray is the superintendent of Jackson Public Schools. He was selected by the Board of Trustees. Dr. Gray was the superintendent of Fayette County Schools in Fayette County, Tennessee where he was considered an agent of educational reform. He established aggressive strategic goals, a three-year academic plan, and a mantra of Focus. Commitment. Service. Under Dr. Gray's leadership, Fayette County Schools showed extensive improvement on the state Education Department's 2011 Report Card.

Board of Trustees

• Mr. Kodi Hobbs, Member, Ward 1^[3]
• Dr. Otha Burton, Member, Ward 2
• Ms. Beneta Burt, President, Ward 3
• Ms. Camille Stutts Simms, Member, Ward 4
• Mr. Rickey Jones, Member, Ward 5
• Dr. Richard Lind, Vice President, Ward 6
• Mr. Jed H. Oppenheim, Secretary, Ward 7

The Jackson Public School District is governed by the board of trustees. Each member is appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the city council to represent the schools in each of the city's seven wards.

Facts

JPS serves nearly 30,000 students overall K-12. The district has 38 elementary schools, 13 middle schools, 7 high schools, and 2 special schools. This is a total of 60 schools. It is the 2nd largest public school district in Mississippi. JPS is located in Jackson, Mississippi which has a population of approximately 175,000 residents. The district offers a variety of programs such as APAC, International Bacclaurreate, and Montessori. There are nearly 5,000 employees in the district. In March 2010, First Lady Michelle Obama visited Pecan Park Elementary and Brinkley Middle Schools as apart of her Let's Move program.^[4] Thanks to a Bond Rerendum in 2006, three new schools were established. A middle school in North Jackson, Kirksey Middle School, was added to the Jackson Public Schools family. Also, two other schools in South Jackson were established. Bates Elementary and Cardozo Middle Schools. Both are these schools are consolidated together. In 2012, Bradley Elementary was turned into a Campus Enforcement office for JPS. Also, former Bailey Magnet High School is now Bailey APAC Middle School. One fact about JPS is that in 2012, the number of AP scholars have doubled from the previous year. Jackson State University and Jackson Public Schools came into a historic agreement on May 16, 2013 creating a partnership to enhance the quality of education offered at Blackburn Middle School. Blackburn will become a JSU laboratory school.^[5] This is to create a school where excellence in education theory and practice can be observed, studied and utilized. The school will also provide clinical experience for JSU students and create a living laboratory for research and applied practices to improve teaching. It will be renamed Blackburn Laboratory Middle School. 2013 Graduates received more than $12 million in scholarship offers. The class of 2013 consisted of 1,458 graduates.

Motto

Building Stronger Schools Together!

Schools

High Schools (Grades 9-12)

• Callaway High School ^[6]
• Career Development Center
• Forest Hill High School
• Jim Hill High School
• Lanier High School
• Murrah High School
• Provine High School
• Wingfield High School

Middle Schools (Grades 6-8)

• Bailey APAC Middle School
• Blackburn Laboratory Middle School
• Brinkley Middle School
• Cardozo Middle School
• Chastain Middle School
• Hardy Middle School
• Kirksey Middle School
• Northwest Jackson IB Middle School
• Peeples Middle School
• Powell Middle School
• Rowan Middle School
• Siwell Middle School
• Whitten Middle School

Elementary Schools (Grades Pre-K/K-5)

Baker Magnet Elementary School Barr Elementary School Boyd Elementary School Brown Elementary School Casey Elementary School 1998-1999 National Blue Ribbon School [7] Clausell Elementary School Davis Magnet IB Elementary School 2008 National Blue Ribbon School [8] Dawson Elementary School French Elementary School Galloway Elementary School George Elementary School Green Elementary School Isable Elementary School John Hopkins Elementary School Johnson Elementary School Key Elementary School Lake Elementary School Lee Elementary School

Lester Elementary School Marshall Elementary School McLeod Elementary School McWillie Elementary School (Grades Pre-K-6) North Jackson Elementary School Oak Forest Elementary School Pecan Park Elementary School Poindexter Elementary School Power Academic and Performing Arts Complex (Academics: Grades 4-5 & Performing Arts: Grades 4-12) 2003 National Blue Ribbon School [9] Raines Elementary School Smith Elementary School Spann Elementary School Sykes Elementary School Timberlawn Elementary School Van Winkle Elementary School 1987-1988 National Blue Ribbon School [7] Walton Elementary School Watkins Elementary School Wilkins Elementary School Woodville Heights Elementary School Bates Elementary School

Special Programs

• Academic and Performing Arts Complex (APAC)^[10][11]
• Academies of Jackson
• Advanced Placement
• Advanced Seminar
• Arts Access
• Ask for More Arts
• Career Academic Placement (CAP)
• Dual Enrollment Program
• Duke Talent Identification Program
• Gifted Education Program (GEP)-Open Doors
• Health-Related Professions
• International Baccalaureate
• Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps
• Montessori
• National Honor Society
• Pre-Kindergarten
• Strings in the Schools
• Summer Reading Program: One Jackson, Many Readers
• Youth Court Schools

Demographics

2006-07 school year

There were a total of 31,941 students enrolled in the Jackson Public School District during the 2006-2007 school year. The gender makeup of the district was 50% female and 50% male. The racial makeup of the district was 97.51% African American, 1.83% White, 0.45% Hispanic, 0.18% Asian, and 0.03% Native American.^[12] 76.6% of the district's students were eligible to receive free lunch.^[13]

Previous school years

School Year	Enrollment	Gender Makeup		Racial Makeup
		Female	Male	Asian	African American	Hispanic	Native American	White
2005-06[12]	32,403	50%	50%	0.15%	97.25%	0.42%	0.02%	2.16%
2004-05[12]	31,611	50%	50%	0.18%	97.01%	0.35%	0.03%	2.43%
2003-04[12]	31,640	50%	50%	0.19%	96.25%	0.31%	0.03%	3.22%
2002-03[14]	31,529	50%	50%	0.21%	95.83%	0.23%	0.04%	3.70%

Accountability statistics

	2006-07[15]	2005-06[16]	2004-05[17]	2003-04[18]	2002-03[19]
District Accreditation Status	Accredited	Accredited	Accredited	Accredited	Accredited
School Performance Classifications
Level 5 (Superior Performing) Schools	6	7	4	3	2
Level 4 (Exemplary) Schools	14	7	12	10	13
Level 3 (Successful) Schools	28	32	28	30	27
Level 2 (Under Performing) Schools	7	9	11	10	11
Level 1 (Low Performing) Schools	0	0	0	2	2
Not Assigned	1	1	1	2	2

2011 handcuffing litigation

On June 8, 2011, the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a federal class action lawsuit against the district over allegations that officials at Capital City Alternative School unlawfully shackled and handcuffed pupils.^{[20][21] [22] [23][24] [25] [26]}

School uniforms

In April 2005, the district adopted a policy requiring elementary and middle school pupils to wear uniforms.^[27]

See also

• List of school districts in Mississippi

References

1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved July 11, 2011.
3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on May 23, 2013. Retrieved July 22, 2013.
5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 16, 2013. Retrieved July 18, 2013.
6. School Links Archived January 19, 2016, at the Wayback Machine.
7. "Archived: Blue Ribbon Schools Program, Schools Recognized 1982-1983 Through 1999-2002 (PDF)" (PDF). United States Department of Education. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 26, 2009. Retrieved July 9, 2011.
8. "Selected 2008 Schools - No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon Schools Program". United States Department of Education. Retrieved July 9, 2011.
9. "Blue Ribbon Schools: Schools Recognized from 2003-2009 -- January 2011 (PDF)" (PDF). United States Department of Education. Retrieved July 9, 2011.
10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on June 17, 2015. Retrieved July 18, 2013.
11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 5, 2013. Retrieved July 27, 2013.
12. "Mississippi Assessment and Accountability Reporting System". Office of Research and Statistics, Mississippi Department of Education. Archived from the original on March 23, 2007.
13. "2006-07 State, District, and School Enrollment by Race/Gender with Poverty Data" (XLS). Mississippi Department of Education. 2008-01-16. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
14. "Mississippi Report Card for 2002-2003". Office of Educational Accountability, Mississippi Department of Education. 2004-09-02. Archived from the original on 2007-08-12. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
15. "2007 Results" (PDF). Mississippi Statewide Accountability System. Mississippi Department of Education. 2007-09-13. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-11-27. Retrieved 2007-09-15.
16. "2006 Results" (PDF). Mississippi Statewide Accountability System. Mississippi Department of Education. 2006-09-06. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-02-17. Retrieved 2007-05-24.
17. "2005 Results" (PDF). Mississippi Statewide Accountability System. Mississippi Department of Education. 2005-09-09. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-12-13. Retrieved 2007-05-24.
18. "2004 Results" (PDF). Mississippi Statewide Accountability System. Mississippi Department of Education. 2004-09-26. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-07-05. Retrieved 2007-05-24.
19. "2003 Results" (PDF). Mississippi Statewide Accountability System. Mississippi Department of Education. 2003-11-21. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-12-11. Retrieved 2007-05-24.
20. "Miss. school district sued over punishments". Fox News. Associated Press. June 8, 2011. Retrieved July 9, 2011.
21. "SPLC Files Lawsuit Against Jackson, Miss., Public Schools After Students Handcuffed, Shackled to Poles". Southern Poverty Law Center. June 8, 2011. Retrieved July 9, 2011.
22. "Students eat while handcuffed. JPS admits restraints used at alternative school but denies wrongdoing". Clarion-Ledger. July 9, 2011. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
23. "District: Students Ate Lunch While Handcuffed". Jackson, Mississippi: WAPT (TV). July 10, 2011. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
24. "District: Jackson alternative school handcuffs students sometimes for lunch, but not for hours". The Republic. Columbus, Indiana. July 9, 2011. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
25. "A.M. vs. Jackson Public Schools complaint" (PDF). Retrieved July 10, 2011.
26. "JPS Student Restraint Policy" (PDF). Retrieved July 10, 2011.
27. "School Uniforms a Must in Jackson Public Schools". Sun Herald. April 27, 2005. p. A3. Retrieved July 10, 2011.

• Taylor, Ayana (May 13, 2004). "JPS, Then and Now". Jackson Free Press. Retrieved July 9, 2011.

External links

• Jackson Public School District