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Jackson Elementary School Ranked Best In State
SchoolDigger.com, a popular school-ranking website, has rated Davis Magnet International Baccalaureate Elementary School the best elementary school in the state of Mississippi.
Raining Paper Cats and Dogs
Inside Cassandre Connolly's Siwell Middle School art class on a recent Thursday morning, it was raining paper cats and dogs.
Youth Judge Fights School-to-Prison Pipeline
Just a few years ago, sagging pants and disrupting instruction at school were almost certain to land a kid in front of Jackson County Youth Court Judge Sharon Sigalas. At that time, Sigalas says the school districts under her jurisdiction were in a pattern of sending kids to her for what she calls "minor violations."
Opponents of Charter Schools Ready for Quick Judgment in Lawsuit
In a small room in the Jackson office of the Southern Poverty Law Center, challengers to the state's funding portion of the charter-school law spoke out about the negative impact they believe the schools have on their children's lives.
Teach For America and the Retention Problem
Schools across Mississippi struggle to keep teachers, which educators and experts say is due in part to low salaries and an overall inability to keep Mississippi's most promising young adults in the state.
JPS Improves, Stays Stable in Language Arts, Math; Average ACT 15.6
Jackson Public Schools remained stable or saw improvement across the third- through eighth-grade English language arts and math assessments in 2015-2016 Mississippi Assessment Program, or MAP, results that the Mississippi Department of Education released Aug. 16.
JPS On Probation, Full Audit Ahead
Jackson Public Schools Superintendent Cedrick Gray says that the district plans to install GPS systems on buses to track their routes, ensure that each school has working fire extinguishers and has "beefed up" the presence of law enforcement in its schools to ensure a "safe and orderly" environment.
JPS Superintendent Defends District, Award
Serving nearly 4,000 employees and more than 28,000 students, 78 percent of whom receive free or reduced lunch in the state's largest city, Jackson Public Schools often faces loud internal and external criticism from those who lament the district's perceived failures on behalf of its students.
JPS Dads Make the Million Father March
Early this morning, a handful of bright-faced elementary-school students and their tired but happy-looking dads participated in the Million Father March from Jackson Public Schools' Enoch building to Poindexter Elementary School.
Cedrick Gray of JPS Named Superintendent of the Year
The National Association of School Superintendents named Cedrick Gray, who has been JPS superintendent for four years, as one of two 2016 Superintendents of the Year, along with Timothy Purnell, superintendent of Somerville Public Schools in New Jersey.
Josalyn Filkins, Principal at Midtown Public Charter School
When Josalyn Filkins sat down with the Jackson Free Press, she talked about her plans for the future of the school and for engaging with the community as Midtown tries to move forward amid potential litigation against the charter law, and as legislation opens the doors of the charter school to kids who don't live in Jackson.
Chronically Absent: Is Quality Education in Juvenile Detention Possible in Mississippi?
Rankin County Youth Court Judge Thomas Broome told the Jackson Free Press with some pain that before 2006, juvenile-detention centers in the state didn't have to have school. With few organized efforts to educate detained children, they missed days or weeks of school at a time.
'Young, Fun, Sexy and Hot': Education Leader Wants Passion in Teaching
Ron Clark, founder of the Ron Clark Academy, a private, nonprofit school in Atlanta, says he wants education to be "young, fun, sexy and hot."
No 'Failing' Districts, but Two Jackson Middle Schools Get 'F' in State Scoring
Just over a third of Mississippi's public-school districts scored a "C" than any other grade on the Mississippi Department of Education district accountability scores released this week.
Kids, Cops and Community Policing
In a nation that is noticing the high incidents of police killing, particularly of black men, public outcry from groups like #BlackLivesMatter and others insist upon police transparency and accountability due to generations of shattered trust between law enforcement and minority communities.
Lawsuit: Charter School Law 'Heralds a Financial Cataclysm' in Mississippi
On July 11, the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a lawsuit on behalf of some Jackson parents against Gov. Phil Bryant, the Mississippi Department of Education and Jackson Public Schools, challenging a funding provision of the Mississippi Charter Schools Act.
Simons Says: HB 1523 ‘Is About Bigotry’
Rabbi Jeremy Simons knows his Bible too well to lend credence to people who cherry-pick verses to use it to support House Bill 1523, a law that many criticize as discriminatory against the LGBT community.
UPDATED: 'Still in Legal Limbo': HB 1523 Down in Mississippi, But Not Out
Late last night, U.S. District Court for Southern Mississippi Judge Carlton Reeves stopped Mississippi's controversial HB 1523, the Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Religious Discrimination Act, in its tracks.
Feeding Jackson's Hungry Children: Summer Program Continues Until July 15
Hundreds of Jackson-area children gathered at McWillie Elementary School today to for the opportunity to eat lunch, learn healthy habits and, time permitting, hit the Quan.
For Student Achievement, Facilities Matter
This past February, the Yazoo County School District made a $4.2-million deal with Schneider Electric, a global company that specializes in automation and energy, to make its schools "greener" in savings and in energy consumption with an Energy Savings Performance Contract.