The USJ Alumni Association is an active organization with the mission of helping alumni and their parents keep close ties with their alma mater. USJ Alumni are always welcome back to campus. Keep us up to date on new contact information, weddings, babies and career news!
USJ’s extensive fine arts program begins in the Lower School with visual arts and music enrichment classes. Starting in Jr. Kindergarten, classes stage annual musical productions. The visual arts department challenges our students’ artistic talents and showcases them throughout our school and the community through art exhibits and competitions.
The athletic program at University School of Jackson is a member of TSSAA’s Division II, one of the strongest in the state of Tennessee. USJ’s Middle and Upper Schools currently field 37 teams in 13 different sports.
Founded in 1970, University School of Jackson is an independent school that creates a foundation for life-long learning. From the developmental curriculum in the infant and toddler program to the Advanced Placement courses in the Upper School, USJ focuses on the needs of the individual student, providing the environment and opportunity for each student to develop his or her potential in academics, athletics, fine arts, and leadership.
University School of Jackson is a non-denominational, non-sectarian, college preparatory school dedicated to academic excellence and to the founding principles of faith, service, and scholarship. Our mission is to instill a passion in our students for academic, artistic, and athletic excellence, while committing themselves to personal integrity, mutual respect, and lifelong learning.
Our school relies on the generous support of donors in order to continue on a path of excellence. Whether large or small, these gifts have direct, positive impact on our school.
Carpool is the system we use to safely and efficiently get your child into the building in the morning and into your car in the afternoon. Please do not park your car in the carpool area and leave. School administrators have devised a carpool plan so that the process goes as smoothly as possible.
Parents can help the carpool process by following arrival and dismissal times.
Never park your car where it blocks traffic.
Students can help the process by getting to their carpool pick-up spot as soon as possible after dismissal.
The McClellan Road campus has four entrances, which are numbered.
Upper and Middle School Carpool
Middle School carpool flows on the east side of the McClellan Road campus to the cafeteria doors. Please form two lines on the outside, leaving the middle lane open so cars can exit when the child arrives. As you wait, pull your car up as far as possible. When students are safely in the vehicle, parents may pull to the outside lane to exit.
Middle and Upper School students are not to be dropped off or picked up in the front of the Upper/Middle School building during carpool hours. (7:15-8 a.m. and 3:05-3:25 p.m.)
The front parking lot will be one-way traffic from 7:30-8 a.m. and from 2:50-3:15 p.m. daily. Traffic will flow from east to west, entering from the Middle School drive and exiting through the Upper School drive.
Parents and guests will not be allowed to park in the Upper School parking lot waiting to pick students up after school. Students can only be picked up from the carpool line.
All buses will pick students up on the Upper School side of the building. Buses will enter the last turn into the parking lot and proceed to the curb area for pick-up.
Lower School
This is the plan with which we will begin the year, realizing changes in recommended regulations could necessitate changes in our carpool procedures. Please read everything very carefully. We are asking our parents to have perhaps a new level of patience that will help ensure the safety of our students as well as our school personnel. We know carpool may take longer, but it will be safer. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Masks for Jr. K - 5th grade students, parents of infants/toddlers, and all teachers will be REQUIRED both at drop-off and pickup carpool times.
We are still able to offer Early Bird service. The front office doors will not open until 7:15 am for students. Early bird students will wait on the six-foot markers outside as they wait for their temperatures to be taken by Early Bird personnel. Students will then sit socially distanced in the cafetorium until the 7:30 bell rings. They will then be escorted in a socially distanced line to their respective classrooms by school personnel.
Please note that no child can be dropped off at the front office entrance during the carpool times of 7:30 - 7:50 am. If you arrive later than 7:50 am, you must park and walk your child to the front office door (please acknowledge the six-foot markers if there is a line) for your child to have his/her temperature checked and then cleared to proceed to his/her classroom.
School personnel will be taking the temperatures of every student upon their arrival at their respective morning carpool drop-off points. If the student’s temperature is 100.0 or higher, the student will not be allowed to enter the building. A second reading can be taken after five minutes if the parent pulls to the side and requests it.
For students in the Infant/Toddler classes (Use School Entrance 3, turning left into the Early Childhood Gym parking lot.) Parents will park and walk their students into the building using the Early Childhood Gym entrance. Parents and infants/toddler students will then be temperature checked and then the parent will walk their child directly to his/her classroom. Parents should not enter the classroom. Please acknowledge the six-foot markers in front of the classroom doors if there is a line to drop off.
Parents of Jr. Cubs - 5th grade will not be allowed to enter the building for morning drop-off or afternoon pickup. ***THIS IS A CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS YEARS. Jr. Cubs and older will participate in the carpool process.
For dr/dental appointments during the day, parents will arrive at the front doors, press the button, and state the name of the child they are here to pick up. The parent may be asked to show identification through the window and will remain outside the building and wait for their child to arrive. Early childhood students will be accompanied to the reception area/front lobby door by school personnel. Upon the child’s return to school, the parent will again press the entry button, and only the student will enter, again having their temperature checked. Early childhood students will be accompanied back to his/her classroom.
After School Care students’ parents will still use the front doors for pickup and will remain outside the doors until their student is brought to them.
Carpool tags for single riders will be issued by the classroom teachers on Come and Go Day. Carpool tags for lower school sibling students (traditionally known as “Mixed Carpool”) will be issued to the oldest lower school child on Come and Go Day.
Two carpool tags will be issued per family. Should you need additional tags for single riders, please contact your child’s teacher. Should you need additional mixed carpool tags (red or white tags), please contact Elizabeth Atkins ([email protected]).
MORNING CARPOOL DETAILS:
*****Sibling students must now enter the building one at a time at their respective grade-level drop-off point. Please do not pull away from your spot until your child has been temperature checked and cleared to come into the building.
USJ personnel will be stationed at all doors at the following grade level-specific drop-off points.
Jr. Cubs and Cubs (Blue tag) - Using Entrance 2, students will unload at the Cubs door, as they always have in the past.
Jr. K and K (Green tag) - Using Entrance 4, students will unload at the back of the building at the Jr. K doors, as they always have in the past.
1st Grade (Orange tag) - Entrance 4 - students will unload at the back of the building through the small black gate entrance to the playground (between the play equipment and the new small soccer field) and walk directly on the sidewalk, turning right at the tetherball pole, then left to enter into the 1st grade hallway door.
2nd Grade (Orange tag) - Use Entrance 2 - students will unload as in the past at the front of the building at the 2nd grade door.*
3rd Grade (Orange tag) - Use Entrance 2 - students will unload at the 2nd grade door on the front of the building as they have in the past.
4th Grade (Yellow tag) - Use Entrance 2 or 4 - Students will unload at the elementary gym foyer door, walk down the foyer hall, turning left into the fourth grade hallway.
5th Grade (Black tag) - Use Entrance 2 or 4 - students will unload at the soccer field gate on the elementary gym side** and walk across the soccer field, onto the concrete pad, then directly onto the sidewalk, turning left to walk directly into the 5th grade hallway door.
Lockers in Grades 1-5 will not be used. Students will walk directly into their respective classrooms to wash hands in the classroom sink (or use hand sanitizer) before unloading their backpacks at their desks. Heavy-duty hooks on the side of the desks have been provided for students to keep their backpacks at their individual desks. Other directives/adjustments will be made as needed.
AFTERNOON CARPOOL DETAILS:
Staggered dismissal times will continue as they have in the past. Dismissal times are as follows: Jr. Cubs & Cubs dismiss at 2:20; Jr. K and K dismiss at 2:20; Grades 1-3 dismiss at 2:30; Grades 4-5 dismiss at 2:40.
There will no longer be shuttle service between campuses.
Sibling students in Grades Jr. Cubs through 5th grade (traditionally called “Mixed Carpool”) will now be picked up individually at locations on the attached map. All younger siblings MUST REMAIN in the parent’s vehicle at all times. NOTE: Sibling students will all have the same red (1st - 5th siblings) or white (Jr. Cubs - 5th) carpool tag number, thus eliminating the need for a parent to have multiple tags. All students in the same family will have/learn the same number, even though they will be picked up at different locations.
All students will remain at their desks/tables in their classrooms until their carpool number is called. Teachers will stay at the door of their classrooms to help the students hear their numbers.
After School Care students and Brownsville or Bolivar bus students will remain in their classrooms until picked up by ASC or other school personnel.
***NEW THIS YEAR - We will not be offering drop-ins for After School Care. Carpool students who are not picked up by 3:00 pm will be escorted to the front office area where they will be monitored and socially distanced while they wait for their ride. Please note that these families will be charged the ASC late fees in these cases, which are: $5.00 for the first fifteen minutes, then an additional $5.00 per minute thereafter. Late fees must be paid upon arrival.
All students will exit the building using the pickup locations as designated on the attached map. In the afternoons only, for grades 1 through 5, two lanes will be utilized for pickup.
Grade Level
Drop-off Spot (7:30-7:50)
Pick-up Spot
Jr. Cubs/Cubs
Front Cubs Door
Front Cubs Door - 2:20 pm
Jr. K/Kindergarten
Back Jr. K Door
Back Jr. K Door - 2: 20 pm
1st Grade
Back Playground Gate
Back Playground Gate - 2:30 pm
2nd Grade
Front 2nd Grade Door
Front 2nd Grade Door - 2:30 pm
3rd Grade
Front 2nd Grade Door
Front 2nd Grade Door - 2:30 pm
4th Grade
Elementary Gym Door
Elementary Gym Door - 2:40 pm
5th Grade
Elem. Gym Side Soccer Gate
Elem. Gym Side Soccer Gate - 2:40 pm
Cellphones
Please do not use your cellphone in carpool. The safety of your children is our highest priority. Help us keep your children safe.
New Director of Auxiliary Programs and a New After School Care and Camp Bruins Coordinator
02/24/2021
USJ Announces New Director of Auxiliary Programs and a New After School Care and Camp Bruins Coordinator
After School Care and Camp Bruins Director Faith Dixon and Assistant Development Director Cathy Garrett recently announced that they would leave USJ at the end of the school year. Both of these administrators...