2019-20 Head of School Report
2018-19 Head of School Report
Students and families are coming to John Milledge because we have something to offer that
other educational institutions are lacking: a deep love of our students, perseverance and
discipline, developmentally-appropriate challenges, and unapologetically Christian perspective. Our
students are nationally competitive and our athletic teams are champions. We continue to promote
the traditions that our school was founded on, while looking for innovative ways to inspire our
scholars and create lifelong learners.
I am pleased to report that we currently have 534 students enrolled. As celebrated during the new
family tailgate, we have over 100 new students this year. Our returning families trust us with
their most valuable asset year after year – we thank you for continuing to make John Milledge your
choice for education. The Board of Trustees offers unbelievable support to me, our faculty and
staff. They are a dedicated group of volunteers who want to see John Milledge healthy and thriving
for their grandchildren.
I would also like to thank our faculty and staff who make an investment in our students’ future.
The success of any school is directly related to its faculty – a group of professionals who have
faith in in hard work, continual growth, and have a genuine love for their students. Our school
deans, our counselor, our directors, and our coaches each provide a special contribution to our
school that helps
make JMA unique.
John Milledge Academy’s accreditation status is strong as we continue our 47th year with the
Georgia Accrediting Commission, and our fifth year of membership with the National Association of
Independent Schools. We were unanimously recommended for reaccreditation this year with the
Southern Association for Independent Schools after a rigorous three day visit and completion of our
five year plan. Our accrediting team noted:
“Our team walked into a vibrant, caring community that laid out a thoroughly prepared process, a
comfortable workspace, gracious hospitality, amazing food, and a group of welcoming, available
community members who were eager to share their pride in their school. The visiting team left
convinced that John Milledge Academy is poised to make great strides over the next five years and
believes that even as the school grows and evolves, JMA will continue to produce the same caring,
ethical students it has produced since 1971. It was a pleasure and a privilege to spend the time
with this community.”
After hearing their accolades, we will continue pushing forward with our 2018-2023 Strategic Plan.
As we begin to achieve our big goals in each area – strengthening academics, enhancing admissions, fortifying finances, and updating our facilities and grounds – we will keep our constituents
informed of the progress.
Our daily focus is on John Milledge’s mission… partner[ing] with parents to develop the abilities
and interests of every student through challenging curriculums and extracurricular opportunities
that focus on critical and creative thinking, strong communication skills, leadership and team
development, lifelong learning, and service to others.
With the graduating class of 2018, JMA High School students have succeeded like never before. Of
these graduates, eleven received the Zell Miller Scholarship, qualifying with a minimum 1200 SAT
score and we had 22 HOPE Scholarship recipients. Our 2018 Seniors earned over $1,046,424.00 in
college scholarships. We had six student athletes sign to play sports at the next level, including
a $265,000 scholarship to Harvard.
Currently, 45% of our 2019 Seniors and 30% of our Juniors participate in Dual Enrollment, carrying
an average 3.40 out of 4.0 GPA. Even with this rigor, 65% of our Upper School student body earned
the Head of School or Honor Roll award at the end of the first semester. As a shining example of
John Milledge Academy, this year’s STAR student is Jaskaran Brar, who has received early admission
to UGA and GA Tech. Jaskaran has chosen Mr. David Gallagher as his STAR teacher.
The class of 2019 has applied and have been accepted to a wide variety of schools: University of
Georgia, Georgia College, North Georgia, Georgia Southern, Mercer University, GA Tech, Oxford at
Emory, Kennesaw State, West Georgia College, and Southern Union College. We know this list will
continue to grow!
Our Middle School students have taken Georgia by storm this year, truly experiencing beyond-
the-classroom learning. Our teachers engage students through art, STEM, drama, projects, and field
trip while maintaining high academic expectations.
Our tiniest Trojans keep us busy, too. The Creative Curriculum with our 25 K3-K4 students is messy,
engaging, and fun. We work on fine motor skills with play-doh, early literacy skills with library
time, and gross motor skills on scooters. Our elementary students continue to be encouraged to
become creative thinkers through hands-on Jurassic Park missions, escape room test reviews, and
collaborative reading experiences. Our Lower School Grandparents Day this year, paired with the
Book Fair, was a wild success – we had over 500 grandparents to experience our music program and
made over $7,000 at the Book Fair. We had a renewed focus on our summer enrichment programs last year and look forward to continuing that this year.
We believe that all of these things make a well-rounded student.
We continue to answer our mission as Athletics provides us a venue in which team development can be taught as well provide positive extracurricular opportunities for our students. Our outstanding
coaches contribute to our strong tradition of winning:
• Varsity Softball placed second in the Region with an appearance at the Final Four.
• Varsity Football placed 1st in Region with an appearance in the State Championship.
• Varsity Cross Country Boys finished fourth in the state. We had two top-five runners.
• Varsity Competition Cheer placed 1st in the State.
• Varsity Wrestling had a 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th individual winner at State/
• Varsity Boys Basketball is going in to the region as the 1st seed.
• Varsity Girls Basketball is also going in to region play as the 1st seed.
Thus far, we have one student-athlete signed to play college softball. We anticipate more to come
from the graduating class of 2019.
What I love most about the opportunities that we offer our students is that we aren’t afraid to
fail.
Bass Fishing? Sure, let’s try it. Interested in Archery – we’ll write a grant and peak some
interest. If it doesn’t work, we will move on to something else that can offer the greatest return
for the most students.
JMA continues to answer what our mission charges: encouraging service to others. In conjunction
with Trojans Unite, Mrs. Aldridge and I were slimed because of the elementary school students’
fundraising abilities. Our Grad-to-Grad program that pairs 12th grade mentors with kindergarten
students has been immensely successful. To see Seniors build real relationships with these students
– attending their birthday parties, basketball games, and church programs – is priceless. I can’t
wait to host the Easter Egg hunt at my house this spring. Trojans Unite has also committed to
hosting annual Father-Daughter and Mother-Son events for our elementary school.
We are thankful for the supporters who believe in our big dreams. I hope you received a Loyalty
Letter this past December; I had an outstanding response to the simple, $100 ask…raising over
$12,000 so far. These donations will continue to purchase technology hardware and software on
campus to best benefit our students. With Mr. Langston’s support, we have 182 Chromebooks on campus – 5 times more computers than we had last year. Our FANight continues to support our Innovative Faculty Grant program, which we will recognize tonight. GOAL Scholarship contributions will also continue to help our school grow.
Continued growth means continued campus improvements – the Board has committed to making
our High School building needs (new or renovated) a priority.
Our discipleship is reflected in the expectations we have for our students and our school; the
devotional a fifth-grader reads over the intercom each morning; our teams who gather in the name of
Jesus after a sporting event; and our community churches and Young Life programs on campus every
day who are devoted to our students. Our students give blood, mentor, visit, donate, and beg to
start lunch time Bible studies. I love that our prayer as a leadership team is constantly, “let us
be about the business of the school and make decisions that benefit all students. Jesus, lead –
guide – and direct us.”
Each day, I can list a thousand things that keep me coming back to work: our authenticity; our
ability to make real time decisions in the best interest of our students and teachers; our
outstanding faculty; our competitive nature; our ability to meet the individual needs of each
student.
There is no – and will never be – a “good” cookie-cutter, uniform approach to educating students.
Every single student needs something different from school and I love that we know our students
well enough to provide that. Most of all, I love the new parents who come back to me and say – “I
cannot thank you enough for letting us be part of this. I love that my son is in a Christian
environment every day. I love that when I tell others he goes to John Milledge. I especially love
that he is a happier, more successful, more driven kid since being here.”
Our mission is echoed in our flags: Tradition, Pride, Excellence, Leadership, and Character. It is
echoed our in foundation as educators in Proverbs 22:6: “Train up a child in the way he should go,
and he will not depart from it.”
I lead with a Trojan’s spirit and a servant’s heart.
Respectfully submitted,
Jessica Jones
Head of School
