If the walls at Jackson Academy of Math and Music could talk after last Friday’s all-day music festival, it might, for once after several anxiety-ridden years, sound more like singing – lovely singing, with melodious violins in the background and loud, happy trumpets.
A full day of live music on the grass at Jackson brought together district staff, school board members, teachers, parents and students in a union that was described by some as “glorious.”
As parent Nancy Love-Giba says – and she’s been a witness to the changing leadership and strife among the community – the school feels different.
“It’s the same buildings, the same grounds, but it’s a brand-new place,” she said.
The vibe of the school at the base of the Jackson Oaks neighborhood has changed. Five years ago, a principal was seen as polarizing parents and his staff alike – drawing a line in the sand and inciting heated community meetings. The school’s demographics were changing from a “neighborhood school” of Jackson Oaks and Holiday Lake Estates families to the busing in of English Learning children from across town. The school’s state test scores began to slide and eventually landed in a panic-causing scenario of year five of Program Improvement.
Last year, a Dream Team of specialists – some of whom came out of retirement to help – worked on streamlining curriculum and building up a cohesive teaching staff. A new principal, Elvia Texeira, was hired then moved, and El Toro Elementary’s former principal Patrick Buchser stepped in to lead Jackson as a math and music magnet school. Buchser refers to the chance as “an educator’s dream.”
Now, just three teachers from last year remain and 200 more students attend the K-8 school.
Superintendent Wes Smith monitored the transformation and when he came on board in 2009, he walked into addressing an outspoken group of parents and teachers who wanted to see things change at the school.
At Jackson Math and Music Academy, known around town as JAMM, teachers will receive coaching to provide students with more math than previously found in the curriculum, along with an instrumental and choral music focus for all grades. The magnet model allows the school more freedom in what is being taught, though it’s still governed by the school board and overseen by the district, different from Charter School of Morgan Hill.
Smith attended with a spring in his step to experience the live music of the South Valley Symphony, Live Oak and Sobrato marching bands, choir performances and a mariachi band on Friday.
“It was more than just fun, which it certainly was. It was an educational opportunity, too,” Smith said.
The high school marching bands’ performance set some of the children into a wide-eyed gawking of their future – a chance to play music like them.
One student stood up during the performance and shouted “I’m going to be in a band one day!,” Smith said relaying a teacher’s story.
“To me, that’s it in a nutshell,” he said. And the school so far “has far exceeded our expectations for success,” Smith added.
Anytime something new begins, it takes some time to iron out the wrinkles, Smith acknowledged. He’s addressing some issues with notifying parents of announcements at this time, but he’s pleased – “as far as academics go, you go into the classrooms and they’re doing the work.”
While Smith bobbed his head to the music, new Jackson parent Jennifer Rasmussen was thrilled about the decision to move her daughters – sixth-grader Lochlyn and fourth-grader Bryn – from Nordstrom Elementary, a high-performing school at which parents line up overnight to enroll their kindergartners, to JAMM.
The emphasis on math and music in daily curriculum was a thrill, and stands in contrast to most schools which have relegated music instruction to an extra-curricular activity.
“Even though my children don’t necessarily have a huge interest in music, or are going to become the next Beyonce, I’ve always known the value of music as part of education,” Rasmussen said. She did say the decision was less about Nordstrom, and more about the program at Jackson.
She is impressed with principal Buchser’s plans and enthusiasm. The feeling is contagious.
“I was sold (on Jackson), because I felt like it was going to grab the whole brain. This is really going to work on, and touch on, all parts of the brain, which I think has been lost sadly,” she said. The Rasmussens were attending schools in San Jose Unified before moving to MHUSD three years ago. Atop the math and music heavy curriculum, the addition of sixth- through eighth-grades is beneficial.
“Middle school is a very wicked place … in any school. I feel like it’s an opportunity for them to be great leaders and example-setters,” she said.
JAMM students, like the son of involved parent Love-Giba, comprise a new generation of middle school students in MHUSD. The traditional multiple class systems at Britton and Martin Murphy are the usual evolution for a child in MHUSD, but a single teacher and single class offer a new experience.
Love-Giba said the traditional middle schools open up social and athletic opportunities to JAMM students to not keep them at arm’s length – like dances and playing on the sports teams.
“It’s the best of both worlds. He gets a little more one-on-one time here,” she said.
Rasmussen reveled in Live Oak High School band director Jason Locsin’s message to the JAMM students: “He said ‘Man, am I jealous of you. I am just jealous of you. I went to school in Morgan Hill and I would have loved to go this school,’ That stuck with the kids. … He spoke to them like they were the only ones there,” she said.
The Rasmussen household will continue with the music of their lives playing during chore time as it always has, but now the tenor will include reading musical notes, singing in choir and learning about other subjects through the ears of music appreciation.
And after school has already become a time to fire up the left side of the brain by playing chess with Dad or checkers with Mom.
“I really do think it’s an outside-of-the-box model and it makes the educational part of children’s lives more exciting. It makes me feel joyous. It is so optimistic and so positive and contagious. And it will probably end up making the other schools think outside the box. So much can be done with it,” Rasmussen said.
