Jackson Academy (Mississippi)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Name Motto |
Jackson Academy |
| Address |
4908 Ridgewood Road |
| City | |
| Established |
1959 |
| Type |
Independent |
| Religion |
Secular |
| Students |
Coeducational |
| Grades |
K3 through 12 |
| Membership and Accreditations |
National Association of Independent Schools, Southern Association of Independent Schools, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and the Mississippi Private School Association |
| Mascot |
Raiders |
| Colors |
Navy, Silver and White |
| Yearbook |
Reflections |
| Newspaper |
JA Chronicle |
| Website | |
Jackson Academy is an independent, co-educational college preparatory school in Jackson, Mississippi. Unlike many independent schools which sprang up as symbols of opposition to forced integration of the public schools, JA was founded in 1959 as a protest to sight reading and a proponent of reading by phonics. In 1979, the campus was flooded entirely. Today, the campus is thriving with nearly 1450 students in grades K3 through 12. The school is a member of the prestigious Cum Laude Society Academic Honorary, one of only four charter members in Mississippi.
JA is the largest independent school in Mississippi. Its mission is "to serve students who aspire to higher education and lifelong learning in a balanced and nurturing environment in which each student is valued and is challenged to become a responsible citizen who can achieve his or her intellectual, spiritual, emotional, social, and physical potential."
Contents |
[edit] Leadership of the School & JA's Future
Peter Jernberg was JA's headmaster from July 1988 until November 2005. In 2005, he was promoted to President of the school. Jernberg also serves on the Board for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and is the past president of the Delta State University Foundation and the Southern Association of Independent Schools. Jernberg's main role is to guide the school through its recently announced master plan [1], which intends to revolutionize the campus and community. The master plan has two parts and will cost an estimated $17.5 million. In December of 2006, Dr. Pat Taylor was named headmaster. Dr. Taylor comes to JA from Mobile, AL, where he served as Assistant Headmaster at St. Paul's Episcopal School.
Keith Branning is the Senior High Dean and Associate Headmaster. Bill Bunch is the Associate Senior High Dean. Bobby West, a successful high school basketball coach in the 1980's, is the Junior High Dean and Athletic Director. Sarah Love is Dean of the Elementary School. Lynett Robinson serves as the Dean of the Preschool.
According to the school's website, the overall master plan has been divided into two phases:
Phase One includes the following objectives: a performing arts center for school programs, theatrical productions and concerts as well as classroom and rehearsal space for choral music and a black-box theater; a student commons with dining facilities, student lounges and meeting spaces accessible to all grades; an enclosed atrium connecting the student commons to the performing arts center; an academic lawn along Ridgewood Road made possible by moving parking and traffic circulation behind the buildings; a new parking lot creating 150 additional spaces as well as improved traffic flow with a quarter mile of queing space for cars on campus and off public roads; and a new 2,000 seat gymnasium adjacent to the secondary school gym.
Phase Two will include appropriate replacement of long-serving facilities with a new, state-of-the-art junior/senior high building to serve 7-12 grades; and a new, expanded elementary building.
[edit] Alumni
The school has an outstanding academic reputation and consistently sends its graduates to America's most prestigious universities. Notable alums include Calvin Thigpen ('94) who was a Rhodes Scholar and Jennifer Fillingim ('95) who was a Rhodes Scholar State Finalist. Thigpen said that "as students at Jackson Academy, we have had teachers who have pushed us farther than we once thought we could go. They have inspired passions in us; they have taught us to think critically, and they have taught us to communicate clearly. They have done these things because, like the staff, coaches and administrators who work alongside them, the teachers of Jackson Academy feel it is an honor to be a part of the lives of all of their students." Currently, 10% of the University of Mississippi's Medical School graduating class are JA alumni [2], which is the second time this feat has been reached (with the first being in 1999). In addition, several JA alums have become the top student leaders on their campuses. Calvin Thigpen ('94) and Drew Snyder ('99) both were ASB Presidents at Ole Miss; Matt Allen ('96) was SA President at Mississippi State; William Waller III ('98) and Michael Ward ('03) were SA Presidents at Mississippi College.
[edit] Athletics
Jackson Academy also excels in athletics. The football team recently won three consecutive MPSA championships, and Jackson Academy regularly wins or contends for championships in boys basketball, girls basketball, tennis, track, and baseball.
[edit] State Championships
[edit] Football
- 1995
- 1996
- 2001
- 2003
- 2004
- 2005
[edit] Baseball
- 1985
- 1986
- 1992
- 1999
- 2002
[edit] Men's Basketball
- 1994
- 1995
- 2004
- 2006
[edit] Women's Basketball
- 2000
[edit] JA Alums Playing College Football
- David Adams, '85, LB, Vanderbilt
- Matt Allen, '96, S, Dartmouth College, Ole Miss, Mississippi State
- Myles Atherton, '96, University of Tennessee
- Rob Cannon, '02, RB / K Ole Miss, Mississippi College
- Sean Harrison, '04, DT, Delta State
- Matt Hinkle, '03, K, Ole Miss
- Walker Jones, '94, Ole Miss
- Miles Lane, '02, T, United States Naval Academy
- Brad Madden, '93, RB, Millsaps
- Bryan Madden, '99, LB, Mississippi College
- Corey Magee, '05, RB, Ball State
- Reed Neely, '05, T, Ole Miss
- Chaz Ramsey, 07,OL, Auburn
- John Shackelford '96, LB, Mississippi College
- Adam Shaffer '05, QB, Mississippi College
- Tony Shell, '85, QB, Mississippi State
- Nathan Siegel, '98, DT, Southern Miss
- Douglas Strong, '96, DE, Ole Miss
- David Traxler '04, OT, Ole Miss
- Erskine Wells, '99, QB, Davidson College
[edit] JA Alums Playing College Baseball
- Richard Lee, '94, 1B/3B, Mississippi State
- Scott Thompson, '94, P, Mississippi State
- David Leander, '95, OF, Belhaven College
- Bobby Croswell, '99, 2B, Ole Miss
- Chris Decker, '99, P, Millsaps College
- Erskine Wells, '99, 1B, Davidson College
- Bert Watkins, '00, 3B, University of Alabama at Huntsville
- Joseph McCaskill, '02, C, Mississippi State
- Michael Wakefield, '02, P, Ole Miss
- Thomas Flautt, '03, P, Ole Miss
[edit] JA Alums Playing College Basketball
- Hastings Puckett, '97, G, University of North Carolina at Wilmington
- Tyler Winford, '04, F, Mississippi College
- Thad Burke, '04, F, Mississippi College
- Steven Blevins, '05, Mississippi College
[edit] JA Alums Running Track in College
- Devin Darnall, '02, 200, Ole Miss
- Camp Craig, '02, Cross Country, Ole Miss
- Robbie Watson, '02, Cross Country, Mississippi College
[edit] JA Athletics on the Radio
Jackson Academy is one of a few high schools that has all of its football, boys basketball, girls basketball, and baseball games broadcast via radio [3]. Bryan Eubank is the voice of Jackson Academy Football, a position he has held since 2000. Ben Ingram is the basketball voice for JA. Jay White handles the call during baseball season. JA is one of a handful of schools, independent or public, to have all of its major sports broadcast via radio in the Jackson, Mississippi area.
[edit] Images
Images is a publication of fiction, nonfiction, poems and art by Jackson Academy students. The publication has won the Gold Crown, the highest award bestowed by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association. No other high school publication in the state of Mississippi has received this award. Images also has won the Highest Award by the National Council of Teachers of English.
