Mission Statement
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By educating and nurturing the whole child, a Jackson Day student does not just seek good grades, but strives to be a better person and make their world a better place. Along with scholastic endeavors, Jackson Day focuses on character, ethics, service, physical, and emotional health in a creative and positive environment that enhances learning and growing. ​
Our History
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Tom and Tammy Winstead founded Jackson Day School, formerly known as Mountain Island Day, in 2009. The school opened as an extension of Early Beginnings CDC, a local preschool center also founded by the Winstead's. JDS operated as a Christian private school for nine years before converting to a public charter school in 2018. The school initially operated out of a leased facility in Coulwood until the school outgrew that location. JDS moved to its current location off Fred Alexander in 2016. We renovated the existing facilities on the 25-acre campus in 2016, and JDS recently constructed a new 55,000 square-foot education building and gymnasium that opened in August 2021.
JDS has acquired and continues to acquire land surrounding our campus to expand our facilities further. The construction of a new student parking lot was completed (2022). Construction will continue with an extensive renovation of building two located in the center of campus, the addition of a field house and weight room, and a new athletic complex with an expected completion date of August 2023.
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In 2009 JDS opened its doors as a private school with 42 students in TK-3rd grade and grew the private school to roughly 220 students before converting to a charter school. Since our conversion to a charter school, we have grown to over 800 students (2022/2023). We will continue to add 100-120 students each year until we reach our final growth of 1040 students K-12th grade. JDS received accreditation from Cognia/AdvancED in 2014 and graduated its first senior class in June 2018.
Character Education
Character education is a learning process that enables students and adults in a school community to understand, care about and act on core ethical values such as respect, justice, civic virtue and citizenship, and responsibility for self and others. Character education teaches the habits of thought and deed that help people live and work together as families, friends, neighbors, communities, and nations.
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Character education cannot be an add-on; instead, it must be integrated throughout the curriculum, extra-curricular activities, and daily social interactions within the school community. JDS's Character Education program centers around the whole child's development in an educational climate that nurtures academic success through teaching respect and self-esteem. JDS students engage in various experiential learning activities, including cooperative learning, role-playing, creative thinking, problem-solving, and conflict resolution strategies. JDS Character education offers multiple opportunities for students to learn about, discuss, and enact positive social behaviors.
Community
When our families describe Jackson Day School, the first words are typically it feels like a family. JDS has always had a strong community. We view our administrators and teachers as leaders and parents as partners working together with a shared vision of quality education in a caring, supportive, and inclusive environment. We host Veteran's day programs, fall festivals, school-wide dances, grade level programs, K-12th grade athletics, and many, many more opportunities for families and students to fellowship with one another.
Schools that promote a strong sense of community:
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Cultivate respect and supportive relationships among students, teachers, and parents.
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Enables parents to take active roles in the school and their children's education.
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Improve academic achievement.
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Stress the development of qualities essentials to good character and citizenship.
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Teach skills of collaboration, fairness, concern for others, and personal responsibility.
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Provides developmentally appropriate opportunities for autonomy and influence, which helps prepare students for the complexity of citizenship and democracy.
College Preparatory and Career Readiness
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At Jackson Day School, the concept of college and career readiness is front and center. JDS Freshmen enroll in a college preparatory course to research various majors, colleges, and future career options. We have dedicated staff that counsel students and aid them in creating future goals and establishing steps to achieve them. Eligible students can start taking college coursework on a college campus as early as tenth grade through our partnership with Belmont Abbey (The Voyager Program). Additionally, we offer coursework as early as eleventh grade through our partnership with Central Piedmont Community College. Over a third of JDS's senior class will graduate with fifty or more college credits, and roughly sixty percent have taken less than fifty college credit hours or trade coursework before graduation.
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