After a tumultuous beginning to the 2010-11 school year at
Jackson Elementary
– its principal Garry Dudley unexpectedly resigned in September
and its state test scores slipped – the community has anticipated
the announcement of its new leader. He or she will be officially
introduced Tuesday night at the school board meeting.
After a tumultuous beginning to the 2010-11 school year at Jackson Elementary – its principal Garry Dudley unexpectedly resigned in September and its state test scores slipped – the community has anticipated the announcement of its new leader. He or she will be officially introduced Tuesday night at the school board meeting.
Superintendent Wes Smith said he had narrowed the field to four finalists and then narrowed it further to two people; one will lead Jackson Elementary and the other will be named principal of Martin Murphy Middle School after Barbara Nakasone recently announced that she will resign at the end of the year.
“We have two candidates that were exactly what we need to bridge the achievement gap in Morgan Hill, and challenge our advanced students,” Smith said. He said the two candidates will be considered by the seven-member school board prior to the public meeting at 6 p.m. and then will be announced to the public. Until then, Smith said, the names are under wraps.
He did said he had the benefit of choosing from a “really, really strong pool” because the district began seeking candidates earlier than other districts in the county.
Interim principal Ray Jimenez will continue to oversee Jackson through the end of the school year. He is a retired longtime educator and principal and was actually the first principal at Jackson in the 1970s.
The school’s Program Improvement team will remain after Jimenez goes back into retirement, however. Jackson moved into Program Improvement year five in 2010 – a distinction given to schools that do not meet state expectations on the Adequate Yearly Progress report. The school was forced to reorganize its curriculum and school day because of PI year five and could face harsher sanctions if test scores do not show improvement.
The school board meeting begins at 6 p.m. Tuesday at 15600 Concord Circle in the boardroom.
Jackson Elementary by the numbers
484: total enrollment in 2009
43: percentage of Hispanic students
38: percentage of white students
6: percentage of Asian students
2: percentage of Filipino students
23: full-time teachers
792: API score from 2009
768: API score from 2010
676: average API score for Hispanic students in 2010
896: average API score for white students in 2010
Source: Student Accountability Report Card from 2008-09 (latest enrollment data available), California Dept. of Education
