(JACKSON, Miss.) – Jackson State University Ph.D. graduate Jane Everly has been named the Jackson Public Schools’ Administrator of the Year. Everly is principal of Davis Magnet Elementary School.
The honor was announced during the Jackson School Board meeting on Feb. 21.
Davis Magnet is Mississippi’s first elementary school authorized to offer the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program. Under Everly’s leadership, the school has been rated a star school by the Mississippi State Department of Education and was named a U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon School in 2008.
“Probably the most important factor in my decision to become an educator was that I loved being a student,” said Everly, a former gifted education teacher and administrator. “I have always enjoyed learning and believe strongly in the premise that educators must be life-long learners.”
Everly received an undergraduate degree from Belhaven College and master’s and specialist’s degrees from Mississippi College. She received a doctorate degree in educational leadership in 2006 from Jackson State University.
Everly led Davis Magnet in the development of an arts integration focus through a partnership with Ask4More Arts. The school recently began a collaboration with the University of Mississippi Medical Center where medical professionals work with students at the school in using scientific inquiry to solve problems.