Not All at the Top
Duval County is home to some of the top public high schools in the nation – regulars on Newsweek’s “best schools” lists and others – but also high schools only one-third of students are achieving basic proficiency in math.
Corps members and their students from Matthew Gilbert Middle School meet Congressman Ander Crenshaw.
Community Support
Halfway through the city’s 10-year “Quality Education for All,” an initiative to close the achievement gap between high-income and low-income students, Teach For America is closely partnering with community groups and the Duval County Public Schools to effect change in Jacksonville.
Corps members and their students from Matthew Gilbert Middle School meet Congressman Ander Crenshaw.
Empowering Leaders
Trey Csar (Houston Corps ’02), President of the Jacksonville Public Education Fund, is leading efforts to help district leaders implement proven strategies and policies to improve the quality of education in Duval County.
Corps members and their students from Matthew Gilbert Middle School meet Congressman Ander Crenshaw.
  

Our People

Corps Members, Alumni, and Supporters

Message from the Executive Director

Crystal Jones

Crystal Jones

Jacksonville is a special region for Teach For America, thanks to the unusually close partnership that has developed between our corps, alumni, and the broader community.  We are proud to be a central partner in The Community Foundation’s "Quality Education For All" reform initiative, which was a critical factor in bringing Teach For America – as well as KIPP, the widely respected national charter school network – to the region.  The county’s ambitious goals for the next five years give corps members the opportunity to take on big responsibility, inside and outside the classroom.

But our work is only beginning. Teach For America • Jacksonville is still a new region and we are continuing to build the corps and recruit a strong alumni base to the area. With change taking hold across the county, corps members and alumni that come to Jacksonville are pioneers in improving the quality of education in Florida’s largest city. 

A graduate of Clark Atlanta University, Crystal Jones 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 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 NEWS

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CONTACT US

Teach For America • Jacksonville
214 N. Hogan Street
Jacksonville, FL 32202
p 904.353.6517, f 904.354.1589

Crystal Jones, Executive Director
 

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