Jacksonville

  • In Duval County Public Schools (DCPS) less than 50% of economically disadvantaged students are graduating high school as compared to 71% of their more affluent peers.

  • In Jacksonville, we are building a movement of teacher leaders who will serve over 25% of all low-income students in Jacksonville by 2015 and begin to close the achievement gap in our city.

About Jacksonville

In 2007, community leaders in Jacksonville sought out Teach For America as a vital part of the solution to improve educational prospects for students in Duval County.  Since Teach For America – Jacksonville launched with 50 corps members in 2008, we have brought over 200 high quality teachers to Jacksonville who have directly impacted the lives of over 13,000 low-income and minority students across Duval County.

Corps members such as Lauren Martin (Jacksonville Corps ‘10) are proving that any student, when given the opportunity, can succeed. In only her first year of teaching fourth grade at Pinedale Elementary during the 2010-2011 school year, Lauren's class set a school record for highest overall achievement on the FCAT Writing Test and was instrumental in catapulting Pinedale from an “F” rated school to an “A” in only one year.
 
Because of successes like this we are building towards a scale that will allow us to effect transformational change across the entire city. By 2015, the Teach For America - Jacksonville corps will include more than 200 excellent teachers who will directly impact over 25% of all low-income and minority students in Duval County.
 
Although we face a daunting challenge in ending educational inequity in our city, we are inspired by our proven success and committed to the justness of our cause.

Leadership

Crystal Rountree
Executive Director
214 N. Hogan Street, Suite 6010
Jacksonville, FL 32202
Tel 904-353-6517
Fax 904-354-1589
Join Our Staff
A graduate of Clark Atlanta University, Crystal Rountree set aside her plans to attend film school after her transformative teaching experience in the 2003 Atlanta corps.

There, Crystal led her first graders at Williams Elementary School to an average growth of 2.5 academic years and was nominated for the Sue Lehmann Excellence in Teaching Award. After seeing her students’ accomplishments, Crystal was motivated to continue her work to close the achievement gap. She served as director of special projects for Teach For America - Atlanta and as a senior recruitment director for the organization before assuming the role of founding executive director in Jacksonville.

Regional Stats

2008
YEAR TFA ARRIVED
85
ALUMNI IN THE REGION
7,150
STUDENTS BEING REACHED
43
ALUMNI IN EDUCATION
24
SCHOOLS WITH CORPS MEMBERS
13,455
TOTAL STUDENTS REACHED SINCE REGION OPENING