Jacksonville High Receives $10,000 AARP Grant

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Jacksonville High School has received a $10,000 grant from AARP for the school’s work with its innovative Freshman Academy.

To be eligible for the Ethel Percy Andrus Legacy Award for Innovation, the school was required to submit a description of a program or practice enhancing student achievement or contributing to an improved environment for students, the school or the community served by the school.

The $10,000 award was given as part of AARP’s 50th anniversary observance to one public school in each state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Additionally, schools in six cities designated as focal points for AARP’s anniversary celebration were eligible to compete for $100,000 grants.

In all, AARP has contributed more than $1 million to support education programs which have demonstrated a commitment to connecting generations and fostering civic engagement among students and their communities.

The award was created in honor of AARP’s founder, Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus, who was a pioneer in secondary public school education and was California’s first female high school principal.

Jacksonville High School’s Freshman Academy was established during the 2003-2004 school year in direct response to a high number of freshmen not experiencing academic success, the high level of discipline among the school’s ninth graders and the difficulties freshmen faced in transitioning to high school.

The program began with 100 students and now has nearly 200 participants. The school promotion rate has increased to 97 percent in 2006-2007, compared to 88 percent in 2003-2004, and discipline has decreased by two to four percent each year. The grant has provided Jacksonville High School with the means to offer new student incentives, obtain new technology, continue bus service to enable after-school tutoring and maintain a “reading buddies” program at an elementary school.