St. James adding grade levels
School is adding seventh grade next school year and eighth grade the year after that
St. James Day School is planning for an upward expansion for the 2018-19 school year. They will add a seventh-grade class next year and an eighthgrade class in 2019-2020. Currently, classes are held for students age 3 through the sixth grade.
“We have heard, both from our own students, and from the wider community, that this is a needed educational option in Texarkana,” Cheryl Brown, head of school, stated in a press release. “People are looking for educational excellence in a safe, nurturing Christian environment and we have assembled a first-rate teaching team.”
The teaching team includes Nicole Ayers, Shannon Kirkland and Jennifer Jordan.
Ayers will teach math and science and holds a bachelor of science degree in chemistry and chemical engineering from Purdue University. She also earned a master of science degree in curriculum and instruction from Texas A&M UniversityTexarkana and was named the 1027 Ross Perot STEM Academy Teacher of the Year at Texarkana Independent School District. Her professional development courses includes the NASA Train the Trainer Institute at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
Kirkland is the director of innovation and academic technology at St. James and previously worked as the coordinator of secondary instruc--
tional technology at TISD. She has a deep interest in working with robotics and drones and is a member of the International Society for Technology in Education and the Texas Computer Science Teachers Association. In her classes, Kirkland introduces students to cutting-edge technologies which extend from the classroom to the real world.
Jordan teaches social studies, English and Latin. She studied English and Classics at Washington and Lee University and also studied law and library and information science at the Catholic University of America.
“We are confident that our seventh graders will have the most advanced STEMplus education in Texarkana: Science, Technology, Engineering, Math—plus music, art, PE, world languages and leadership,” Brown said. “This will build on our already-solid foundation and move educational opportunities in Texarkana to a whole new level.”
St James’ Day School was founded in 1948. Since 2000, 13 St. James graduates have been either the valedictorian or salutatorian at their respective high schools. In eight of those years, former St. James students have been both valedictorians and salutatorians at their high schools.
For more information, contact the school at 903-7935554 or go to stjamesdayschool.org.