James A. Jeffries Elementary School was named after the late James A. Jeffries.  Mr. Jeffries was a banker and civic leader in the community and a member of the Board of Education from 1945 to 1960.  During those years, he served two terms as president of the board.

Jeffries has a unique design.  The building consists of several pods of classrooms which are connected to a central core facility by wide hallways.

The school was designed by the architectural firm of Harold Casey and Associates and built by the Bramer Construction Company.  The building cost approximately $1,500,000 which was a part of a $6,000,000 bond approved by the voters in 1978.

When the facility opened in the fall of 1980, it housed two different student bodies. It was known as "Disney-west" for a short time when a problem with fumes at Disney forced that school's temporary closure in January of 1980.  The students at Disney were moved to the Jeffries building for the remainder of the 1979-1980 school year.

The school board in place at the time of Jeffries dedication consisted of:

Mrs. Roseann Bentley, President                       Larry Dixon, Vice-president

    William Hart                                                   Jack Cole

Mrs. Mary Pilant                                              Mrs. Jackie McKinsey

The administrative staff which worked closely with the construction of Jeffries was:

Dr. J.E. Kuklenski, Superintendent of Schools John Sweeney, Deputy Superintendent

Dr. Wanda Gray, Director for Elementary Education

Jim Neely, Director of Building Services

Bev Herndon, Coordinator, Planning and Construction