Office of Advanced Academics
Office of Advanced Academics
Dr. Vicki Davidson, Director
630 South State Street
Jackson, MS 39201
(601) 960-8310 (phone)
(601) 960-2509 (fax)
The Office of Advanced Academic Programs is committed to providing students and their families with opportunities for future success and the support necessary to help students achieve their educational and career goals.
Working collaboratively with the national College Board, the International Baccalaureate® Americas, the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, Parents for Public Schools, and other education-related groups, the Office of Advanced Academic Programs provides leadership and support to the following programs:
Academic and Performing Arts Complex (APAC) Program
The Academic and Performing Arts Complex (APAC), a magnet program, provides challenging course work for students who are academically or artistically advanced and who are willing to achieve high standards. The APAC Secondary Academics program is offered at Bailey APAC Middle School and Murrah High School.
Application | Student Program Guide
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Advanced Placement® Program
The Advanced Placement® (AP®) program was designed by the national College Board to give high school students an opportunity to enroll in college-level courses during their junior and senior years in high school or even earlier. Because the Advanced Placement® curriculum and exams are standardized nationwide, AP® gives students an opportunity to complete coursework that is recognized by a majority of U.S. colleges and universities as a measure of a student's ability to handle the rigors of college work.
All AP® courses offered by the district are authorized by the College Board and are taught by AP® certified teachers.
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Advanced Seminar: Employability Skills
JPS seniors are required to complete an Advanced Seminar: Employability Skills course designed to prepare them for employment. This graduation requirement is in response to feedback from parents, employers, and the community for high school graduates to be better equipped to enter the work force.
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Arts Access Program
Arts Access emphasizes the integration of the arts (music, dance, drama, and visual arts) into all aspects of a school's curriculum. Increased test scores as well as development of self-esteem are all nationally proven benefits of such a program. There are forms of art that are adaptable to all core curriculum be it math, science, language arts, or physical education. The goal of Arts Access is not to develop performing artists but rather to enrich and enhance the academic learning of all students in all subject areas.
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Ask 4 More Arts
Ask for More Arts emphasizes integrating arts education into regular instruction in the elementary classroom. Teachers at partner schools receive high quality training in how to use the arts to teach core subjects such as reading, math, science, and social studies and how to connect learning for children across the curriculum. Integrating arts into classroom teaching creates hands-on, highly engaged work for children that makes learning relevant and motivates students to take ownership for their success.
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Duke Talent and Identification Program (Duke TIP)
The Duke University Talent Identification Program (Duke TIP) is a global leader in identifying academically gifted students and providing them with innovative programming to support their development. Duke TIP, a non-profit educational organization, conducts two annual talent searches and offers summer programs, online courses, and independent learning resources to qualifying students in the 4th and 5th grade talent search and the 7th grade talent search.
Learn more about Duke TIP for students in grades 4-6 and students in grade 7.
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Gifted Education Program – Open Doors
The gifted education program, Open Doors, is for intellectually and academically gifted students. The purpose of the Open Doors program is to identify and serve gifted students in a uniquely qualitatively differentiated program not available in the regular classroom. Gifted education courses provide instruction in creativity, thinking skills, research, creative problem solving, communication, leadership, group dynamics, and self-knowledge in order to increase students’ skill and capacity for autonomous learning, metacognition, and self-understanding. Students enrolled in the district’s gifted education program have met criteria set by the state of Mississippi.
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Health-Related Professions (HRP) Program
Bailey Magnet High School offers the only health-related professions program in the state of Mississippi for grades 9-12. The Bailey Magnet HRP program is an innovative cooperative learning opportunity designed to prepare students for health-related careers in the 21st Century and beyond. Its mission is to provide historically under-represented and under-served students with a quality education that will allow them to become articulate in spoken word, masterful in writing, analytical in thought and prepared to enter and complete post-secondary studies in a chosen health career.
Application | Student Program Guide
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International Baccalaureate® Program
The International Baccalaureate® (IB®) program is a transdisciplinary program of international education designed to foster the development of the whole child. It is a program of international education designed to help students develop the knowledge, understanding, attitudes and skills necessary to participate actively and responsibly in a changing world. The general objectives of the IB® program are to provide students with a balanced education; to facilitate geographic and cultural mobility; and to promote international understanding through shared academic experiences. Currently, Jackson Public Schools is the only district in the state of Mississippi to offer the complete continuum grades K-12.
Application | Student Program Guide
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Montessori Program
Montessori education offers multi-aged classrooms with a strong emphasis on interactive, self-directed learning for pre-school and elementary children. At the heart of Montessori education is the emphasis on developing a child's sense of independence, responsibility, and respect for others. Each class includes students from more than one age group. For example, in a 3-6 classroom there are 8 three-year old children, 8 four-year old children and 8 five-year old children. The 6-9 classrooms also have a three-year age group of children, 8 six-year old students, 8 seven-year old students and 8 eight-year old students. The three-year age span provides a family-like grouping in which learning takes place naturally. The children stay with the same teacher for three years.
Why Montessori? | Application | Sibling Application | Parent Handbook
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Strings in the Schools Program
Students throughout the district have the benefit of free instruction from professional members of the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra through the Strings in the Schools Program. Participation is limited to students in grades 3-12. Elementary classes in violin, viola, cello, and bass meet twice weekly, while secondary classes meet daily. Twice a year the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra performs a concert for kindergarten students in grades 3-5. In addition, the symphony's small ensembles — the Symphony Woodwind Quintet, the Brass Quintet, and the String Quartet — provide informal concerts to introduce elementary students to the instruments of the orchestra.
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