The attendance rate at JPA is very high. For the year 2008-2009, attendance exceeded 99%.
Some of our students and their parents travel considerable distances by foot, bicycle and boat. This shows a real commitment to education by students
and their families.
JPA students may have few resources at home, so we give them what they need to meet our high expectations. This includes not only study materials, but also practical requirements like uniforms and backpacks. JPA students must be clean and neat, so each month we supply soap, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes and, for older students deodorant. These provisions allow our students to focus on their studies free from distraction.
JPA buses transport nearly 50% of our students who live far from school or whose route would take them along a dangerous road. Our buses are equipped with seat belts which must be worn at all times and our drivers are well instructed in driving safely.
A hungry child can’t concentrate on lessons. Our modern, well equipped kitchen serves over one thousand meals per day. Our meals are chosen with good nutrition in mind; we use lots of fresh vegetables, lean meat and plenty of fresh fruit. Students eat three times each school day and they are active in expressing their likes, dislikes and wishes regarding the school menu. Each Friday we have ‘Special Food Day’ when we introduce students to food they may be unfamiliar with and also we make popular favorites like pizza and hamburgers.
To track the effectiveness of our meal program, we weigh and measure the students each month to calculate their BMI. This provides valuable information and allows us to identify students who are not gaining weight and also monitor the general upward trend in BMI to ensure that our students are of a healthy weight.
We track students' BMI data on a monthly basis to evaluate the effectiveness of our meal program. Generally, our students are of a healthy weight and new kindergarten students quickly gain weight at JPA. We have noticed that some students’ weight decreases slightly during school holidays showing that three healthy meals during school make a big difference.