Message from the Principal

Message from the Principal:

Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year at John Story Jenks Academy for the Arts and Sciences! We welcome our students on Monday August 26th, 2024 at 7:30 a.m. Kindergarten will be dismissed at 11:09 the first week of school for kindergarten interviews. We will offer school supplies drop off into our auditorium on Wednesday August 21st and Thursday August 22nd from 9:00-12:00 pm. Please use the school yard entrances.

We continue our mission as an International Baccalaureate candidate school as we work towards IB authorization this school year. Our students and teachers will continue to be supported by our IB coordinator, Ms. Erin Younis through inquiry based and student centered educational frameworks with responsible action at its core. The IB framework offers authentic conceptual inquiry-based learning that is relevant to real-world global mindsets.

Here at Jenks, we are committed to offering supportive environments for our members to flourish! We embody the core values of our mission and vision as caring, responsible and reflective practitioners.  Our staff continuously engages in professional learning communities to intellectually prepare rigorous academic practices while prioritizing equity and the well being of our children. Together, we will ensure that our students here at Jenks receive the love, guidance and support they need to prosper and succeed.

We are thankful to all of our parents and community partners that continue to provide a supportive and welcoming school environment. Our HSA has become a 501c3 non-profit which will now serve as our centralized parent/school and community partner. The HSA will work to oversee committees including Friends of Jenks, JDOD and JMOMs as we work collectively to ensure that our school thrives with the funding and programming we need to excel, “beyond the walls of our school.”

Our Jenks library continues to grow in resources and we are grateful to our supportive library volunteers. We will continue to add additional bookshelves and reading nooks to our existing library space. Anyone interested in volunteering at the school for library, tutoring, or classroom help please ensure that you provide the school with a message of interest and complete the necessary requirements found at: https://www.philasd.org/face/volunteer/

We are also looking forward to our work with many community partnerships this upcoming school year including: Mindfulness through Movement, the University of Pennsylvania Body Empowerment program, No-name Gallery: Artist in Residence, Quintessence Theatre group, Financial Literacy and STEAM entrepreneur program, Meals on Wheels and Gardening with Sustainability. I’m certain that we will continue to add to this list as the year progresses!

We welcome several new staff members and new positions to Jenks. We welcome Physical Education Teacher Timothy Fry, Fifth Grade Teacher Takiyah Perkins, Middle School Math Teacher Michelle Hall and Special Education Teacher Ms. Kathleen Watkins.

Our Back to School Night is scheduled for Thursday September 12th from 5:00-6:30 pm. Please join us as we continue to develop strong home and school ties to support our students’ success in school and community. We cannot do this work alone and we are grateful for the generosity of our community and partnerships. Please join us! We look forward to a successful school year ahead!

Yours in Partnership,

Principal Scioli

Corinne Scioli, PrincipalJenks Academy for the Arts and Sciences
8301 Germantown Ave Philadelphia,  PA 19118
215-400-3360