Jim Hill High School is a public high school located in Jackson, Mississippi, United States, hosting the state's first International Baccalaureate Diploma (IB) program. It hosts Advanced Placement courses, a JROTC, and a SOAR program. It was formerly a black school during the Jim Crow era.

History

Jim Hill Public School was named in 1912 after politician James Hill (c. 1838–1903), a formerly enslaved man who served as Secretary of State of Mississippi during the Reconstruction era. Samuel Manual Brinkley (1878–1946) served as the school’s principal in the 1920s. The former building was established on Lynch Street as an elementary school and later served as a junior high school.

Special programs

Jim Hill was the only high school in the state of Mississippi with the International Baccalaureate Diploma program. This school offers these classes in Geometry MYP, Biology MYP and IB, Humanities MYP and IB, Language MYP and IB, Physical Education MYP, Algebra II MYP, Math Studies IB, Theory of Knowledge IB, Psychology IB, Technology IB, Art MYP and IB, French MYP and IB, and Spanish MYP and IB.

For the program, students must complete a Personal Project in their 10th grade year and sign a contract, write Internal Assessments for World Literature, Mathematics, Humanities; create 12 art pieces to be sent off with their Developmental Workbooks; and take an exam in Language, Math, Humanities, Science, Psychology, Theory of Knowledge, and a foreign language in the IB Diploma years. If the composite score of the IB exam is high enough, then the student may qualify for the IB Diploma. Students who aren't as esteemed are granted the IB scholarship. Community Service (CAS hours) is calculated into the equation. Obama Magnet Elementary serves IB grades Pre-K-5 and Northwest Jackson Middle School serves IB grades 6–8.

The AP Program is offered at the school.

Feeder pattern

The following schools feed into Jim Hill High School:

  • Middle Schools
  • Northwest Jackson Middle School (IB)
  • Peeples Middle School
  • Elementary Schools
  • Isable Elementary School
  • Key Elementary School
  • Obama Magnet Elementary School (IB)
  • Shirley Elementary School
  • Wilkins Elementary School

Notable alumni

  • Al Coleman, former NFL defensive back (1967–1973)
  • Roosevelt Davis, former NFL defensive end for the New York Giants (1965–1967)
  • Jimmi Mayes, musician and author
  • Richard Wright, author

References