The Story of Mr. Jacobs

Mr. Jacobs is our principal here at Lafayette. He went to school at Ballard High School, in Louisville, Kentucky, and he graduated in 1997. He says that his family moved to Louisville his freshman year. He then went to the University of Kentucky, after which he never left Lexington, and he was certified in social studies, and he decided to go into teaching. He originally taught as a humanities teacher at Dunbar High School, but was later asked by the principal of Dunbar if he ever considered going into administration. Then he became the assistant principal of Dunbar, for which he held the position for three years and says that he enjoyed it. Jacobs then found out about an opening for a principal position here at Lafayette, to which he took his chance and put his name in for consideration. Jacobs joyfully got the position and now has been principal at Lafayette for eight years.

What provoked him to be an educator was his childhood and growing up with his mom, who was also an educator. He then also worked with children which fueled his desire to be an educator. Mr. Jacobs also tried to go into physical therapy, to which he said that he did not like it. He then of course, went into education. Jacobs says that his favorite thing about Lafayette is its rich history\; starting as a WPA program to help get the country out of the Great Depression at the time. He also loves to interact with past alumni and hear about how proud they are to be from Lafayette.

Mr. Jacobs loves coming to work everyday, and watching us students grow and change into what we will be when we graduate. He loves working with the teachers, because they are so kind and passionate about their subjects, to which he claims that the best teachers are those who are uber-passionate about their subjects. Mr. Jacobs says that he never thought he would be an educator, let alone a principal for Lafayette.

He cares about each and everyone of us, no matter how much trouble some of us get into, and he tries to make himself available to students so they can have someone to talk to. He actually says that social media has helped the administration get closer to the students to let them know that they are not just there to reprimand them and take disciplinary action against them. Overall, he wants the students to feel comfortable enough to talk to the administration when they have a problem whether it’s small problem to a major one, he wants them to be able to talk to any of the administration and trust them.

About high school in general, he says, “I encourage students to take advantage of the time [in high school] to enjoy it, to develop relationships with teachers and students because those are the things that stay with you when you leave, and to just try and take advantage of everything that is afforded to you.” Jacobs believes that hard work here will prepare us for whatever is thrown our way in the future.

Next time you see Mr. Jacobs in the hallway, give him a fist bump.