IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: Trustees appoint Ramón Javier as next Head of School. Click here to read more.
Our Mission
The mission of George Jackson Academy is to educate high-achieving boys, regardless of their families’ economic means, and to inspire courage, integrity, empathy and leadership. Students are presented with rigorous academic challenges that enable them to realize their highest potential. Founded in the Lasallian tradition — education of the head, the heart, and the spirit — the school is committed to graduating young men of character who excel in high school and beyond.
Our History
George Jackson was a boy who made his dreams come true.
Even at the age of ten, George was larger than life. He was quick-humored and quirky. With magnetic warmth and wit, George made friends easily in his South Harlem neighborhood.
Still, George felt different. He was voraciously curious. He loved to read. He loved music and movies. But the elementary school he attended was overwhelmed and under-resourced. His sharp intellect and creative spirit went unfulfilled, and George was in danger of falling through the cracks.
George’s mother, Hennie, saw that he needed something more. Determined to find the right school for him, she met Brother Brian Carty, founder and principal of the Monsignor Kelly School for bright, underserved middle school boys.
George found a home at Kelly, joining a brotherhood of boys who shared his love of learning. Thanks to Kelly, George was well-prepared for high school at Fordham Prep, and he ultimately graduated from Harvard University. He would go on to live his childhood dreams, becoming a celebrated film producer and the CEO of Motown Records.
George died tragically of a stroke at the age of 41. Driven by a love for George and a reverence for a life-changing education for boys, Brother Brian and George’s Monsignor Kelly classmates rallied. Named after the sensitive, gifted boy who grew into a man of keen intellect and deep heart, George Jackson Academy was born in 2003.
Thanks to George, hundreds of dreams are coming true.
George Jackson Academy’s 400+ alumni have attended the city’s and nation’s most prestigious high schools and colleges. Many are now teachers, doctors, artists, and executives.
Thanks to George Jackson, the man and the school that bears his name, hundreds of young men are poised to make a difference in their own lives—and the lives of so many others.