Jackson Public Schools Taps Analytics, School Design Partner to Design State's First Virtual High School, Reimagine the Student Experience in Wake of Coronavirus

JACKSON, Miss., Oct. 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Jackson Public Schools district leadership team, under the direction of Superintendent Dr. Errick L. Greene, today announced the launch of a collaborative process designed to reimagine and reshape the student experience for the district's middle and high schools.

The ambitious new initiative, which will draw on insights from district leaders, parents, community stakeholders, and national experts, reflects District leaders' belief that the pandemic has created an opportunity to reimagine, and boost equity, across its eight middle and high schools. Increasing access to courses that prepare students for success in postsecondary education is among the most significant priorities of the effort.

"This work is about ensuring that every student in our district has access to the courses and academic opportunities proven to lead to success in career and college," said Dr. Phelton Cortez Moss, the district's newly hired Executive Director of Innovative Strategy, who will lead the design and implementation of the first virtual high school in Mississippi. "It is grounded in a belief that educational equity is tightly linked with operational decision making." Dr. Cortez Moss' role and the design of the Virtual High School is funded through a grant from the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation.

Core to the design process is a collaboration with Abl, a nationally recognized school design partner and pioneer in the application of advanced analytics to help districts understand student pathways and identify opportunities to improve equity and outcomes.

Grounded in the Jackson Public Schools' strategic plan vision for a 21st-century high school experience, the school design effort will be focused on:

• Community-Centered Design: District leaders will spend the upcoming academic year engaging parents, students, teachers, and business leaders in the design process for the new Virtual High School. The Abl team will partner with Jackson district leaders to develop a series of school models and scenarios with stakeholder input at their core.
• Reimagine the Student Journey: The transformation of the district high schools will ensure that all students have access to a world-class education that puts them on the path to post-secondary success. In collaboration with Abl, district leaders, school site administrators, and teachers will undertake a comprehensive analysis of district course offerings in order to create new, research backed course progressions that are directly tied to post-secondary success.
• Operationalize for Equity: District leaders will learn and implement operations, strategies, and methods to align the student journey more closely with college and career preparation. In addition, the partnership with Abl will allow district leaders to make strategic and data-informed decisions about the efficient and effective allocation of precious district resources.
• School Schedule as Lever For Change: The school schedule is a dynamic and underutilized tool for school transformation. The school schedule will be student-first and student-centered. Abl's team of veteran educators and school scheduling specialists will work with Jackson's district leaders to leverage the district's school schedules and course catalog offerings to expand access to the academic preparation necessary for college and career opportunities.
• Innovative and Expanded Course Offerings: The District will expand course offerings, especially for college preparation and career exploration courses, so all students have equitable access to the academic pathways and specialty courses that lead to postsecondary success and meaningful life choices.
• Continuous Cycle of Transformation: The Jackson Public School partnership is informed by an ongoing cycle of evaluation and measurement of the impact on students district-wide. The design of the Virtual High School will be part of the overall planning process for the redesign of all district high schools, rooted in the district's strategic goals. The district will continuously evaluate the relationship between the Virtual High School and the brick and mortar district schools. The school design, implementation, and evaluation will be a 3-year cycle.

"Equitable school design is about having the time and space to make well-informed decisions, setting up schools and schedules in ways that best fit the district's goals," says Natalie Nichols, Abl Head of Strategic Consulting. "Our goal is to help Jackson Public Schools implement structural changes that empower students to be college and career ready, allowing them to have the freedom to build their own future paths."

About Abl
Abl empowers districts to fulfill the promise of education by simplifying complex operational processes. We expose and disrupt ineffective and inequitable pathways through data analysis and intelligent tools so districts can intentionally design flexible and responsive schools that allow students to own their futures.

SOURCE Abl

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