The Beacon

“We Won’t Go Back”: JR senior Edie Young speaks at the Women’s March

Edith Corrigan Conaty, Managing Editor • November 11, 2024

A crowd roared with cheers and applause after senior Edie Young said “We aren’t just here to be controlled like objects—we are human and we are here to make a difference” at the Women’s March...

Jackson-Reed test scores improve, District scores continue to suffer post-pandemic

Cole Zich, Written Content Editor • October 21, 2024

Last school year, DCPS introduced Comprehensive Assessments of Progress in Education (CAPE) testing, replacing the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers as the city-wide standardized...

Students banned from “senior steps” during the school day

Landon Green, Contributor • October 21, 2024

During the first senior town hall of the 2024-25 school year, administration announced that sitting on the “senior steps” in the atrium is banned. Principal Sah Brown said that the biggest factors...

DCPS introduces new grading policy

October 15, 2024

Starting this year, DCPS introduced changes to its grading policy. These updates include changes to late work deadlines and revisions. Before, students had until the end of the term to turn in late...

Security threats alarm community

Edith Corrigan Conaty and Gil Leifman • October 15, 2024

Jackson-Reed has faced several security incidents since the beginning of the school year, including the confiscation of a handgun from a student’s backpack, an outside threat of violence, and a general...

Auditorium awaits completed repairs

Edith Corrigan Conaty, Managing Editor • October 15, 2024

In October 2023, $550,000 in funds were granted to repair the broken auditorium, but repairs have yet to be completed. The ineffective auditorium has placed restrictions on theater productions since...

Student organizations face stricter guidelines

Isadora Groves, Editor-in-Chief • October 15, 2024

Starting this fall, student organizations will face new DCPS guidelines on club formation and operation. In a mandatory Club and Activities Advisory Meeting in mid-September, leads and sponsors were told...

After lawsuit, Christian athletes chapter returns to JR

Rohini Kieffer and Gil Leifman • October 15, 2024

The Fellowship of Christian Athletes, a 70-year-old international religious group that was barred from Jackson-Reed in 2022 following accusations of LGBTQ+ discrimination, has returned to the school after...

Washington Teachers’ Union to vote on five-year contract

Dani Wallace and Gil Leifman • October 15, 2024

After operating under an expired contract for a year, the Washington Teachers’ Union (WTU) reached a tentative agreement for a five-year contract with DCPS. “We had to go through the whole contract...

Phone ban? Not here.

Isadora Groves and Rohini Kieffer • October 15, 2024

At the first senior town hall of the year in August, Principal Sah Brown addressed a packed auditorium. He emphasized Jackson-Reed’s position on a current trend across the DMV: phone bans. “You...

Student’s handgun confiscated at security during school hours

Edith Corrigan Conaty and Gil Leifman • September 21, 2024

On Wednesday, September 18 in the afternoon, a Jackson-Reed student’s handgun was confiscated by security and did not make it into the building. The gun was in the student’s bag as they tried to enter...

History made: JR alum Maisie Derlega wins national Doodle for Google competition

Dani Wallace, Managing Editor • June 28, 2024

With thousands of applicants from around the nation, only one for Google’s prestigious Doodle for Google comes out on top. The winner for this year's competition was none other than recently graduated...