Editor's note: Since being named principal of Jackson High School last fall, Stephanie S. Johnson pledged to usher sweeping changes at the institution. This is the first in a series of updates on progress at the school.
by Stephanie S. Johnson
Our Southeast Atlanta Communities for Schools organization, the Local School Council, Parent Teacher Student Association, and involved parents have requested for me to share the results from our year from November to May.
They really felt that the instructional accomplishments identified in the April Georgia Assessment of Performance on School Standards team visit in which 10 trained school improvement team members from the Georgia Department of Education represented a milestone of huge results.
They noted my leadership to include high visibility and Changing the School Climate with Clear Expectations ( as evidenced from student interviews, teacher interviews, surveys, communication documents, and the implementation of research-based instructional practices that were missing from Maynard Jackson’s instructional practices prior to my arrival). Instructional Coach Dr. Faya Paul’s work with teachers on professional development was also commended.
The observation and analysis followed an initial instructional audit in November when I arrived.
At the meeting we hosted with the community in March, I informed the community of many best practices for school improvement that were missing from Maynard Jackson’s instructional and organizational practices. I informed the crowd of about 200 I was spending 16 hour days (even a 24-hour day) ensuring effective implementation as quickly as possible to ensure Maynard Jackson had all foundational elements and organizational structures in place to make sure teachers were prepared to transition into the new Common Core Curriculum which will be fully implemented this fall at Maynard Jackson.
Results from the April GDOE GAPSS team review indicated that this mission was accomplished – All required areas for school improvement that were missing in November were now in place in April. The results – The End-of-Course preliminary test scores are back, and it appears that for the first time in a while, Maynard Jackson has increased scores across all subgroups in seven of eight areas. The 8th area is the new Coordinate Algebra in which the school performed poorly but we have created in-house summer tutorials and a retest opportunity for students who performed below expectations.
My goal for this fall is to work on increasing productivity within all areas of school improvement to ensure all students learn.
Additionally, Maynard Jackson has become a fully authorized International Baccalaureate Diploma Program. Full implementation begins this fall.
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