Meet Vernon Jones Jr.
I am honored to be able to introduce myself to you via our webpage. I hope to have the opportunity to meet you face to face as we move together forward to ensure an excellence education for all children, in every classroom, in every community. It is a work that will take all of us. I believe in what we can accomplish together. Parents, students, teachers, school leaders, community members, business and non-profit partners must come together and move forward.
Where it started
From the start of my life I have been a fighter. I was born premature at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center, weighing in at 2lbs and some ounces. I was born to teen parents, a mother and father who were just getting a grip on their lives and here I came. My first twenty-eight days of life were spent in an incubator to help me build up my strength. As my mom tells the story it was touch and go day to day and at one point she thought I was gone due to a mistake by the staff. My praying grandmother and grandfather saw me through. They were rocks of strength for my mom and father and here I stand today. I am grateful. What an amazing family I have been blessed with! I thank God daily for them. They have instilled in me the importance of faith, the value of family and friends, and the responsibility that we have to fight injustices in our time to make the world better for the next generation.
My Elementary Education
My first school experience was in Aurora at Elkhart with Ms. Bullock. I loved her! She laid the foundation for me and birthed a love for learning. Always will be grateful for her. My mom and father were young and married and life presented so many challenges. I ended up leaving Elkhart and then attending Sable Elementary. I had such great teachers at Sable! Life brought us more challenges as a family when my parents divorced when I was 8. My mom remarried and we moved to southeast Aurora. I finished my elementary education at Dartmouth. What a rewarding time I had there. Dartmouth gave me more great teachers and I developed friendships that I still have today! I still remember our school song!
Secondary Education
I attended middle school at Columbia Middle School and high school at Rangeview High School. (I am an adopted Manual Thunderbolt!) Both schools helped to shape me into the man that I am today. My passion that every child, in every classroom, in every community deserves an excellent education is flamed by the AWESOME education and experiences that I had at Columbia and Rangeview. It was at Columbia that I discovered my love for music, athletics, and the importance of healthy peer groups. Rangeview helped to shape me as a leader, to find and utilize my voice through speech and debate, to discover new talents via the arts, and affirmed my appreciation for and understanding of all people because of our diverse student body. I graduated from Rangeview prepared for success. I remain indebted to the wonderful teachers and school leaders that believed in me, challenged me and helped me grow.
I am honored to be able to introduce myself to you via our webpage. I hope to have the opportunity to meet you face to face as we move together forward to ensure an excellence education for all children, in every classroom, in every community. It is a work that will take all of us. I believe in what we can accomplish together. Parents, students, teachers, school leaders, community members, business and non-profit partners must come together and move forward.
Where it started
From the start of my life I have been a fighter. I was born premature at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center, weighing in at 2lbs and some ounces. I was born to teen parents, a mother and father who were just getting a grip on their lives and here I came. My first twenty-eight days of life were spent in an incubator to help me build up my strength. As my mom tells the story it was touch and go day to day and at one point she thought I was gone due to a mistake by the staff. My praying grandmother and grandfather saw me through. They were rocks of strength for my mom and father and here I stand today. I am grateful. What an amazing family I have been blessed with! I thank God daily for them. They have instilled in me the importance of faith, the value of family and friends, and the responsibility that we have to fight injustices in our time to make the world better for the next generation.
My Elementary Education
My first school experience was in Aurora at Elkhart with Ms. Bullock. I loved her! She laid the foundation for me and birthed a love for learning. Always will be grateful for her. My mom and father were young and married and life presented so many challenges. I ended up leaving Elkhart and then attending Sable Elementary. I had such great teachers at Sable! Life brought us more challenges as a family when my parents divorced when I was 8. My mom remarried and we moved to southeast Aurora. I finished my elementary education at Dartmouth. What a rewarding time I had there. Dartmouth gave me more great teachers and I developed friendships that I still have today! I still remember our school song!
Secondary Education
I attended middle school at Columbia Middle School and high school at Rangeview High School. (I am an adopted Manual Thunderbolt!) Both schools helped to shape me into the man that I am today. My passion that every child, in every classroom, in every community deserves an excellent education is flamed by the AWESOME education and experiences that I had at Columbia and Rangeview. It was at Columbia that I discovered my love for music, athletics, and the importance of healthy peer groups. Rangeview helped to shape me as a leader, to find and utilize my voice through speech and debate, to discover new talents via the arts, and affirmed my appreciation for and understanding of all people because of our diverse student body. I graduated from Rangeview prepared for success. I remain indebted to the wonderful teachers and school leaders that believed in me, challenged me and helped me grow.
College & Career
Rangeview prepared me for success on the next pathways of my life. I recently ran into Mrs. Nelda Chapman, who was my speech teacher at Rangeview, and I had to thank her because I graduated ready. For whatever my next life choice was, when I received my high school diploma, I was ready! I can't thank the teachers, staff, community of Rangeview, and my family enough for that reality. To be ready, to be well prepared for success, must be our aim for every child, in every classroom, in every community. I know it can be done because it was done with me.
I was accepted at Colorado Christian University and began my studies there after high school. College was always a spoken expectation in our family but like others in my family the cost of college required me to work full-time. Working full-time made the path to college graduation a little bit longer for me but it was my reality and my career opportunities were very rewarding. I thank God for the strength to press through some tough times to achieve my goal.
Personal note
One of the greatest things that happened on my way to college graduation was marrying my beautiful wife in July of 1998. Jaymie lights up my life and without my faith and her support I would not be where I am today. We've gone through some storms: we've lost children, we've lost a home, we've had years of plenty, more years of what some call poverty, we've experienced victory and the pain of defeat. Yet we stand. Change has been the constant theme. It has brought with it hurts and celebrations. We have not thrown in the towel and still believe that we live today so that we can lift the lives of others. We have lived in Northeast Denver for the last 11 years.
We've been blessed with four beautiful children, all are students in Denver Public Schools: Savanna (7th), Nathan (6th), Caleb (3rd), and Lily (K). My love for them drives me to seek the best for them and their peers. They are the whisper in my ear, and the stirring in my heart, that compels me to challenge us to deliver nothing short of an excellent education for all children.
If you want to talk further over coffee or host a "Conversation with Vernon" event in your home with members of your community, email me at Vernon@jonesfordps.com or call me directly at 303.949.3602. I look forward to getting to know you!
Together. Forward. FOR ALL CHILDREN.
Rangeview prepared me for success on the next pathways of my life. I recently ran into Mrs. Nelda Chapman, who was my speech teacher at Rangeview, and I had to thank her because I graduated ready. For whatever my next life choice was, when I received my high school diploma, I was ready! I can't thank the teachers, staff, community of Rangeview, and my family enough for that reality. To be ready, to be well prepared for success, must be our aim for every child, in every classroom, in every community. I know it can be done because it was done with me.
I was accepted at Colorado Christian University and began my studies there after high school. College was always a spoken expectation in our family but like others in my family the cost of college required me to work full-time. Working full-time made the path to college graduation a little bit longer for me but it was my reality and my career opportunities were very rewarding. I thank God for the strength to press through some tough times to achieve my goal.
Personal note
One of the greatest things that happened on my way to college graduation was marrying my beautiful wife in July of 1998. Jaymie lights up my life and without my faith and her support I would not be where I am today. We've gone through some storms: we've lost children, we've lost a home, we've had years of plenty, more years of what some call poverty, we've experienced victory and the pain of defeat. Yet we stand. Change has been the constant theme. It has brought with it hurts and celebrations. We have not thrown in the towel and still believe that we live today so that we can lift the lives of others. We have lived in Northeast Denver for the last 11 years.
We've been blessed with four beautiful children, all are students in Denver Public Schools: Savanna (7th), Nathan (6th), Caleb (3rd), and Lily (K). My love for them drives me to seek the best for them and their peers. They are the whisper in my ear, and the stirring in my heart, that compels me to challenge us to deliver nothing short of an excellent education for all children.
If you want to talk further over coffee or host a "Conversation with Vernon" event in your home with members of your community, email me at Vernon@jonesfordps.com or call me directly at 303.949.3602. I look forward to getting to know you!
Together. Forward. FOR ALL CHILDREN.
Current Employment
Administrator @ Manual, 2010-2011 SY
Director of Community Engagement @ Manual, 2011-2012 SY
Current Service
Trustee, YMCA of Metropolitan Denver Board of Trustees
President, Omar D. Blair Charter School Board
Senior Pastor, Kinship Church
Administrator @ Manual, 2010-2011 SY
Director of Community Engagement @ Manual, 2011-2012 SY
Current Service
Trustee, YMCA of Metropolitan Denver Board of Trustees
President, Omar D. Blair Charter School Board
Senior Pastor, Kinship Church