Jamie Jordan, principal of Brittany Woods Middle School in the School District of University City, has been named the 2013 Missouri Middle School Principal of the Year by the Missouri Association of Secondary School Principals. More than 400 middle school principals were considered for the honor.
As of 2000, the student body at Brittany Woods was 87 percent African American.
Jordan receives the recognition based on her impact in the areas of collaborative leadership, curriculum, instruction and assessment, and personalization of the learning environment.
Superintendent Joylynn Pruitt wrote, “What I have personally noticed about Dr. Jordan is her commitment and dedication to not only the students and teachers, but also to the community in which she serves. She has a strong sense of working with struggling teachers and providing them the tools necessary to become dynamic educators.”
Craig Maxwell, a fellow principal wrote, “Dr. Jordan taught me the important lesson of never giving up on a child.” He continued, “She is an avid learner herself and is continuously seeking out new ideas and options for situations that present themselves as obstacles. She reaches out to others, pulls together individuals within her organization, and can find resources from the community to overcome just about anything.”
Math teacher Melissa Stefanowicz wrote, “It is because of Dr. Jordan that we now have common language in terms of academics, data-driven decision making, time for collaboration, advances in technology, improved communication and high standards for academic rigor in classrooms. I appreciate that she is always open to discuss new ideas, and she allows teachers to take risks as we work to improve instruction for students.”
Parent Hyla Bondareff wrote, “Dr. Jordan is kind, thoughtful, and passionate about middle school age kids. She is honest concerning problems and as a result, addresses them based in reality and gets improvements. She is willing to listen and tackle new ideas and is able to get them in motion. She appears tireless and [is] at every meeting, event and function.”
Jordan taught in the Lindbergh School District (1999-2005) and served as assistant principal at Crestview Middle School in the Rockwood School District (2005-2009) before she was named the principal at Brittany Woods Middle School in University City in 2009. She received a Bachelor of Science in education (1998) at the University of Missouri-Columbia, a Master of Education (2002) from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and doctorate in educational administration (2008) from St. Louis University.
Jordan will represent Missouri in the 2014 MetLife/National Association of Secondary School Principals’ Middle School Principal of the Year Program. She was also named the 2012 Middle School Principal of the Year by the St. Louis Association of Secondary School Principals.
Jordan will receive the award at the annual MASSP Spring Conference at the Lodge of Four Seasons, Lake Ozark, Mo., on Monday, March 25.
SLU Sports Business Summer Academy
The St. Louis Baseball Cardinals will join Saint Louis University’s John Cook School of Business, for the 2013 Sports Business Summer Academy Wednesday, July 16 to Saturday, July 20, at the University’s Cook Hall.
The four-day program for rising high school juniors and seniors will introduce students to the basic business concepts related to sports through presentations by faculty and industry professionals. Students will work in teams to develop solutions to real-life sports business scenarios inspired by the experiences of area industry professionals.
In addition, students will visit Busch Stadium and hear from Cardinals executives, meet with representatives from the St. Louis Rams to learn what it takes to run an NFL team, tour SLU’s Chaifetz Arena, and learn the ins and outs of collegiate sports teams with members of Billiken Athletics.
Participants will experience a true taste of college life as they stay in dorms, eat some meals at SLU dining halls and receive complimentary access to the Simon Recreation Center. They also will receive one-on-one mentoring from SLU undergraduate sports business students and build new friendships and community in a fund and educational atmosphere.
Applications for the Sports Business Summer Academy must be completed and submitted by 5 p.m. Friday, April 19. For additional information about tuition, scholarships and eligibility or to register for the Sports Business Summer Academy, contact Stephanie Meldrum at (314) 977-4502 or ssmeldrum@slu.edu, or visit http://business.slu.edu/sportsbizacademy.
Obama admin. releases College Scorecard
The U.S. Department of Education recently released an interactive College Scorecard, which provides students and families the critical information they need to make smart decisions about where to enroll for higher education. The College Scorecard highlights key indicators about the cost and value of institutions across the country to help students choose a school that is well-suited to meet their needs, priced affordably, and is consistent with their educational and career goals.
“Colleges must do their part to keep costs down, and it’s our job to make sure that they do,” President Obama said in his State of the Union Address.
“We know students and families are often overwhelmed in the college search process – but feel they lack the tools to sort through the information and decide which school is right for them,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “The College Scorecard provides a snapshot about an institution’s cost and value to help families make smart decisions about where to enroll.”
Each Scorecard includes five key pieces of data about a college: costs, graduation rate, loan default rate, average amount borrowed, and employment. These data will be updated periodically, and the Department plans to publish information on earnings potential in the coming year.
Consumers can access a College Scorecard for every degree-granting institution starting today at whitehouse.gov/scorecard, and they can email comments or questions about the tool to collegescorecard@ed.gov.
