Jackson Academy Breaks Ground on Middle School Expansion
December 13, 2022 /
Middle School/All News
Members of the Jackson Academy Board of Trustees, administrators, and capital campaign chairs were on campus today for the official groundbreaking of the new Middle School expansion. Second grader Ford Clark, (center) and his class joined the dignitaries for the groundbreaking photo. Ford was serving as honorary Head of School for the Day with JA’s Head of School Palmer Kennedy.
This morning Jackson Academy trustees, faculty, staff, and students gathered for a celebration. The groundbreaking for expanding the Middle School is part of JA’s multi-phase facilities master plan that launched in August 2022 with infrastructure improvements. The infrastructure phase, which included reworking on-campus parking and all underground utilities, was completed in November. The next phase, which includes adding six new classrooms for Middle School grades, will begin immediately.
Fourth through twelfth grades gathered with Jackson Academy trustees, administrators, and faculty to celebrate the Middle School expansion groundbreaking Tuesday morning. (Drone photo by JA student Samuel Long)
Preschool through first-grade students were the first to visit the site for the groundbreaking of Jackson Academy’s Middle School expansion this morning, all decked out in hard hats and safety vests.
Jackson Academy has named seniors Sophie Henderson and Aniya Bradley valedictorian and salutatorian for the Class of 2025. Both students will address the audience at the Jackson Academy graduation ceremonies to be held at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 15 in the Brickyard, the outdoor sports stadium, on JA’s campus. The weather site is Christ United Jackson on 6000 Old Canton Road.
The Mississippi Economic Council sponsors the Student-Teacher Achievement Recognition (STAR) Program to encourage scholastic achievement among high school students and to recognize the teaching profession. Jackson Academy’s STAR students are Sophie Henderson, who selected Ann Boswell Carlson as her STAR teacher, and Miller Usry, who selected Sara Bannerman as his STAR teacher. STAR students are chosen based on having the highest ACT score in the graduating class, along with other academic achievements.
Students concentrated and cheered, gestured and jumped, teamed up and tested themselves individually as they implemented the lessons learned in Jackson Academy’s STEM classes. The second STEM in the Gym science extravaganza energized fifth graders with science, technology, engineering, and math challenges. Rotating through four stations, they put into action the knowledge and skills learned during their Lower School STEM education.