{"id":2367,"date":"2026-07-14T16:55:54","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T16:55:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/k12.mps.school\/jackson\/?page_id=2367"},"modified":"2026-07-14T16:55:54","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T16:55:54","slug":"2026-school-improvements","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/k12.mps.school\/jackson\/about\/2026-school-improvements\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 School Improvements"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In 2026, Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) is making a $2 million investment into Gwen T. Jackson Early Childhood and Elementary School.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-2368\" src=\"https:\/\/k12.mps.school\/jackson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2026\/07\/2026-Jackson-Entrance-300x127.png\" alt=\"Families stand in front of Jackson's colorful new entrance\" width=\"300\" height=\"127\" srcset=\"https:\/\/k12.mps.school\/jackson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2026\/07\/2026-Jackson-Entrance-300x127.png 300w, https:\/\/k12.mps.school\/jackson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2026\/07\/2026-Jackson-Entrance-1024x435.png 1024w, https:\/\/k12.mps.school\/jackson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2026\/07\/2026-Jackson-Entrance-768x326.png 768w, https:\/\/k12.mps.school\/jackson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2026\/07\/2026-Jackson-Entrance-1536x652.png 1536w, https:\/\/k12.mps.school\/jackson\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2026\/07\/2026-Jackson-Entrance.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Formerly the 21st Street School, our school was renamed in 2009 in honor of Gwen T. Jackson, a prominent advocate for early childhood education and community service. Despite our strong mission, the school\u2019s visibility and identity have been limited by our location just north of busy Center Street and our understated one\u2011story brick fa\u00e7ade along Hadley Street. As a result, we lack clear educational identity and visual presence within the neighborhood. The improvement project at Jackson will enhance the school\u2019s community presence, strengthen our visual identity, and improve the overall student experience and learning environment.<\/p>\n<p>Through collaboration with stakeholders, community members, students, and staff, MPS identified priorities and planned key improvements. These include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Major upgrades to the building\u2019s appearance:<\/strong> A new entrance canopy, fa\u00e7ade improvements, and enhanced signage to increase visibility and to promote awareness of the building\u2019s function as an MPS school<\/li>\n<li><strong>Improvements to exterior playground areas:<\/strong> An exterior shade structure, enhanced natural areas, playground surfacing, and some play equipment upgrades<\/li>\n<li><strong>Improved interior:<\/strong> New lighting, acoustic upgrades, a new colorful paint scheme, and enhanced wayfinding in the hallways, cafeteria, and gym to create a more welcoming and supportive environment for students, staff, and visitors<\/li>\n<li><strong>Enhanced exterior safety features:<\/strong> Site lighting, fencing, and vehicle protection posts<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Design of the project is complete, and final construction documents have been prepared. Work will be happening this summer with the goal of having all work complete by September in time for the start of the 2026\u201327 school year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 2026, Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) is making a $2 million investment into Gwen T. Jackson Early Childhood and Elementary School. Formerly the 21st Street School, our school was renamed in 2009 in honor of Gwen T. Jackson, a prominent advocate for early childhood education and community service. Despite our strong mission, the school\u2019s visibility [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":18,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_mc_calendar":[],"footnotes":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-2367","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","5":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/k12.mps.school\/jackson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/k12.mps.school\/jackson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/k12.mps.school\/jackson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/k12.mps.school\/jackson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/k12.mps.school\/jackson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2367"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/k12.mps.school\/jackson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2367\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/k12.mps.school\/jackson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/k12.mps.school\/jackson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}