Principal brings enthusiasm, experience to Jackson Linda Jewell comes on board at high school

Principal brings enthusiasm, experience to Jackson
Linda Jewell
comes on board
at high school

VERONICA YANKOWSKI Linda Jewell left her position as a vice principal in the Freehold Regional High School District to become principal of Jackson Memorial High School. One of her first tasks is preparing the school community for a Middle States evaluation.

JACKSON — Linda Jewell always wondered what it was like to be the "go to" person — now she knows.

Since Jewell took her position as the principal of Jackson Memorial High School in September she said she’s learned and appreciated just what being the "go to" person means.

Even though Jewell said her four assistants bring "incredible talent to their positions, the buck still stops at the principal’s door."

From the smallest problem to the largest problem, they all end up at her office.

"There is just no one there to buffer the situation anymore," she laughed.

An area resident all her life, Jewell was born in Freehold. Educated at Georgian Court College in Lakewood, Jewell earned a master’s degree in administration, supervision and curriculum planning. She also graduated with a master’s degree in education from The College of New Jersey.

Jewell comes to Jackson Memorial High School from the Freehold Regional High School District, where she spent 14 years, including the last four as vice principal at Freehold Township High School.

In her former district, Jewell served as a supervisor of extracurricular activities and athletics; as substance abuse coordinator; and as administrative supervisor for the adult high school, GED and community education school. She also served a year as an adjunct professor at Jersey City State College. She taught in the Freehold Borough school district from 1972 to 1988.

According to information provided by the Jackson school district, Jewell is the recipient of numerous awards that reflect a varied background in curriculum and athletics, including the U.S. Department of Education National Drug Free Schools award; the New Jersey State Interschol-astic Athletic Association sportsmanship award for Excellence in Leadership; and a Comprehensive Health HIV/AIDS Grant from the New Jersey Collegiate Consortium for Health in Education.

Additionally, the new principal has extensive training in community team training, crisis intervention, CORE team and community assessment for youth and social problem solving.

Speaking of Jewell’s selection as the principal of Jackson Memorial High School, Superintendent of Schools Margaret Hengel said, "She has a quality of progressive leadership and comes from a high school with 2,100 students. She is prepared for the job of principal of a large high school like ours.

"We’ve had wonderful feedback about Mrs. Jewell from everyone. She’s enthusiastic and has just the right spirit to take on the challenges of a large high school," Hengel added.

One of Jewell’s priorities right now is focusing on Jackson’s upcoming Middle States evaluation.

"This comes around once every 10 years," said the principal. "The Middle States evaluation gives your high school accreditation and makes your diploma worth something."

The principal explained that the self-study part of the evaluation will begin next year.

"This is a process which generates exclusive self-study within the school community to set goals. I’m very interested to see the input from our staff, community and parents," Jewell said.

The principal explained that the Middle States evaluation will be the school’s anchor and its compass for the next 10 years.

"It will give us direction and keep us rooted," Jewell remarked. "It’s a critically important component of any school. It’s a very arduous task and will be our focus for the next 18 months."

Jewell explained that the on-site visit from the organization will occur in two years and that until that time, the evaluation will be the exclusive focus of the staff.

"It’s an opportunity to chart our course. It’s very exciting as a principal to be a part of all this. As principal, you get to receive all the input," she said.

Jewell is planning to devote much of her time dealing with the increased growth of the high school’s student population. In order to meet the needs of her students, Jewell plans to look closely at the expansion of the school curriculum.

"There will be two levels of this curriculum. One level will address the basic needs, interests and abilities of our students. This will be in the core subjects. The next level of curriculum will add specifics which will be broad enough so there is something for everyone," she said.

Jewell remains a resident of Freehold with her husband, Gregory, a veterinarian, and their children, Elizabeth, a medical student at Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H., and a son, Christopher, who is in his second year of law school working toward his juris doctor and master of business administration degrees.

Jewell said she intends to continually support the many traditions of the Jackson school community.

"I will make myself as visible, approachable and as accessible to the parents, staff and students as I can," the new principal said.