Woodland Acres Elementary is currently facing the replacement of our Principal, Kimberly Jennings. This petition is intended to highlight the many great things she has brought to our community and school and to share the reasons why we need her leadership to continue.

Principal Jennings started at Woodland Acres Elementary in the beginning of the 2021 school year after the faculty and community were given the opportunity to take part in the interview process. During her interview she demonstrated her passion for students, her experience with literacy implementation, her involvement with ESOL growth and development and focus on mental health for faculty and students. Her commitment to developing relationships within the community was evident during her interview. Before the school year started, she made it a point to host "meet and greets" individually with the faculty to learn about their passions and concerns. She also hosted a "meet the principals" for the community. Faculty and staff were welcomed to provide input on the upcoming school calendar and grade levels were brought together to make decisions for their teams. As a school we were given a voice. Our opinions were heavily taken into consideration when making final decisions on schedules, routines, and implementation of programs. Many challenges have been presented this year including starting the year with 8 teacher vacancies, which created hardships in multiples areas throughout the school. This put her at a disadvantage from the start. Despite this challenge, Principal Jennings used an all-hands-on deck approach and even herself assisted with covering classes at times. She is the prime lead by example type of leader who not only is consistently looking for feedback but also providing endless support to ensuring the success of our faculty and staff.

During the year many programs were brought to our school to support students. One behavioral program we used was SNAP which aims to keep students in school and out of trouble. This mentorship provided students the opportunity to express their frustrations and develop conflict/resolution skills. She invited teachers to attend the TEACH conference where we were able to network and receive all day professional development. This year she brought on our first full time media specialist in several years where students are now able to check out books. Recently Julia Landan College and Preparatory School donated over 3000 gently used books to help revamp our library! Guest motivational speakers have attended faculty meetings to bring knowledge on diversity, inclusion, and mental health awareness. Through these meetings we were provided coping strategies to navigating a challenging year, insight to being culturally responsive educators and how to build relationships with students and their families.  A partnership between UNF and Woodland Acres was utilized to provide on-going professional development to our faculty in key areas where teachers have expressed the need for support. This partnership and collaboration was achieved only through the constant reflection, communication and effort by Jennings to give our teachers what they need. 

Our campus now has multiple clubs to drive student engagement. Through her leadership we now have a full time News Crew which is student led, Teachers of Tomorrow which builds character and leadership in students, and a Garden Club that has planted vegetation and brought baby chicks on campus. There have been multiple parent engagement events hosted including FSA prep, middle school transition night for our 5th graders, the character book parade and the start up of our school PTA.

Principal Jennings’ vision for Woodland Acres Elementary is powerful to say the least. She believes in not only in the academic success of our students but also their mental health. She empowers her faculty to make decisions in the best interest of students and above all leads with a nurturing and graceful manner. Losing her as our leader will be detrimental to the work done to create normalcy after the challenges our faculty and students have faced this year. Jennings has envisioned many great things for our school. We have many plans for the upcoming years. This effort and work should not be given up on, but only be allowed to grow and mature.  Please sign this petition to save our principal so that the great work we are doing at Woodland Acres can continue.