Campus Highlights

Jacksonville Country Day School is conveniently located on Jacksonville's Southside, adjacent to the intersection of Southside Boulevard and Baymeadows Road.

The lush 19-acre campus is secluded from these busy thoroughfares by a perimeter of beautiful trees and shrubbery. The busy outside world virtually disappears, giving the impression of a bit of "country" within the active city.

The Das Family Welcome Center is your first stop when you visit the campus. We are pleased that prospective parents and students are able to book on-campus tours so they can see our busy school in action. Oftentimes parents will drop by to have lunch with their children. 

Please be sure to sign in and receive a visitor's pass at the front desk.

Our classrooms are varied, depending on the needs of different grade levels.

Our Early Learning classrooms feature large gathering spaces and work tables. Some rooms have lofts that the students enjoy. Each room is full of toys and manipulatives and books!

In first grade, the students graduate to individual desks. Our school has adopted the Apple Classroom system, so each room is equipped with enough iPads for every student.  Teachers use white boards as well as electronic screens for instruction.

Fourth graders are assigned their own iPads which they can take home for research, review, and homework. These iPads will stay with them through 6th grade. Students in grades 4 - 6 are also excited to have lockers!

JCDS holds two important beliefs: 

1. For the younger grades, playing is learning.

2. For all grades, recess is necessary.

In keeping with our beliefs, JCDS has no less than 4 play areas for our students, each one designed for the needs of different ages.

For Early Learning, the Greenspace Learningscape features many areas for the students to explore, develop motor skills, and use their imagination. At any given time, you may observe students climbing trees, playing make-believe on the stage, or practicing the culinary skills with mud pies. Adjacent to the Green Circle is another area with a sliding board, a sand box, and pedal-powered vehicles for them to ride.

The Main Playground features a field for playing ball, a circular track for getting in your steps, and a set of monkey bars and slides.

Our large field area is used for both physical education classes, after school sports, and recess. The main field is large enough for soccer and flag football. The spider web and the "parkour" equipment provides challenges and great fun for our older students.

Our recently renovated science and technology areas are places our students enjoy engaging and challenging activities that develop logical thinking, engineering, and imagination.

Our Technology Lab boasts a room full of iMac computers that students may use to design projects for our 3-D printers. Oftentimes, students will bring in their iPads to work on coding, using a variety of robots designed for different skill levels.

The Makerspace allows students to construct physical objects for a plethora of different projects. First graders design and build themed shadowboxes, while 6th graders may devise contraptions for the Early Learning students to use on the playground.

The musical programs at JCDS offer a wide range of options for students of various grade levels and interests.

All students receive regular music education, which may include music theory, singing, and playing simple instruments.

Each grade level puts on one major show sometime during each school year.

Students in 3rd grade and above may choose to participate in our award-winning Band and Drumline programs. Individual instruction in various instruments is also available.

A large dedicated music room with risers and Orff instruments, as well as an auditorium well-equipped with new lighting and audio systems are well-used by our music programs.

JCDS boasts two art studios -- the main studio and the smaller "Mona Lisa Studio" used by the younger students.

Students work with a number of different media, both 2-D and 3-D. The main art studio is quite large with plenty of space to work. The art teacher uses technology to demonstrate techniques on a large screen for the students.  

Clay projects are finished in our kiln, while many flat pieces of students artwork are framed and decorate many offices and corridors around campus.

The grand Dining Room is one of the premier features of JCDS, with its soaring ceiling and tall windows. 

It is also one of the students' favorite places on campus. They have a few minutes to enjoy the company of their friends, and to savor some of their favorite dishes prepared by our Executive Chef and his staff.

Typical meals range from kid-friendly fare such as pizza and burgers to more sophisticated servings of chicken parmigiana, pasta with bolognese sauce, or teriyaki chicken. There is also a full salad bar and homemade soup du jour.

In Florida, aquatic sports are a part of life. JCDS boasts not one, but two pools for our students!

The Junior-Olympic sized, temperature-controlled main pool is used during PE classes in the early fall and spring. 

We also have a smaller "kiddie-pool" that is more appropriate for the younger students. As the students gain confidence in swimming, they will usually migrate themselves to the larger pool.