About JHS
Meet the Principals
Welcome to our website! My name is Nick Skretta, and I am the principal of Jefferson High School. I have served the School District of Jefferson since 2005, and am a proud graduate of Jefferson High School.
Hello- I am Rick Lehman, Associate Principal of Jefferson High School and also a proud Eagle Alumni serving the District in this position since 2016.
On behalf of our faculty and staff, we would like to welcome you to Jefferson High School. We are committed to ensuring that students are ready for the future. We embrace preparing our students to have the academic, social, and emotional skills needed to succeed in college or career, and life.
We believe, “Strong Schools = Strong Community”. The support of the community makes it possible for the School District of Jefferson to provide high quality education and facilities that prepare students to be active, engaged community members. Our school facility consists of a new academic wing, 1000-seat auditorium, large commons, new swimming pool, three gymnasiums, greenhouse, business education tiered-seating labs, science labs, and a newly renovated outdoor athletic complex, as well as updated Woods, Metals, Agriculture, and Automotive shops.
Jefferson High School has earned the great distinction of being ranked as one of the top high schools in the State of Wisconsin by the US News and World Report. We have also been ranked the #1 high school in Jefferson County on the Wisconsin academic report card since 2014. We are extremely proud of these honors!
In addition to our long history of exceptional core offerings, we also offer Advanced Placement (AP) courses and ACT test prep.
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We offer 18 AP courses with many students annually testing to earn anywhere from 12 to 40 credits before they start their freshman year of college.
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Some students also take advantage of our AP and ACT prep courses offered free to our students. Other districts charge up to $400 for these prep courses.
Students also enjoy interest-based opportunities at Jefferson High School. Over 80% of our student body participate in at least 2 of the 30+ opportunities for clubs and enrichment. Our students have earned countless state, national, and even international honors within their involvement in clubs such as HOSA, FBLA, DECA, Forensics, and more!
Jefferson High School has one of the most active and recognized FFA programs in this part of the state.
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We have over 60 active members who participate in multiple leadership and community events throughout the year.
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Our FFA students have been recognized on a state and national level.
Jefferson Music and Theater Departments offers high quality opportunities to our students:
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Our Theater Department has won multiple “Tommy Awards” and has been invited to Scotland and to Hollywood.
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The Jefferson High School Band was recognized in the Spring of 2015 as a top high school band in the U.S.
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Our choir participants have been recognized at the state level
Over 50% of our student body participate in one or more of the 18 WIAA sponsored sports we offer. Jefferson High School student-athletes have had these recent achievements:
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Our Boys’ Track program won the 2021 Division 2 State Championship.
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Our Football team has over 11 straight playoff appearances.
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We had our first Girls Wrestling State Champion in 2022.
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Our Baseball team won the Division 2 State Championship in 2014.
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Both our Baseball & Softball teams were State Runners-Up in 2022.
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Our Girls’ Golf team won the Conference Championship in only the second year of the program.
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Our Girls’ Track program won the 2016 Division 2 State Championship.
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Our Girls’ Swim, Boys' Swim, Girls’ Gymnastics, Boys’ Tennis, and Girls’ and Boys’ Cross Country teams have had state qualifiers in the past several years.
As you can see, we have much to be proud of and our students continue to impress with their academic, artistic, athletic, and extracurricular accomplishments! Jefferson High School continues to be rich in spirit, tradition, and excellence. We believe that our passion, purpose, and pride make our school community a special place. Through the cooperative efforts of students, parents, staff, and community members, we continue to maintain the highest standards of learning and Empower Futures Together!
You can contact us at: skrettan@sdoj.org, (920) 675-1111 or lehmanr@sdoj.org, (920) 675-1110
Student School Hours
Following the school calendar, student school hours for all grades are:
7:45 a.m. to 3:05 p.m.
Location
History
Timeline:
1839: The first school building in Jefferson was erected out of logs on the west side of Rock River.
1840- a frame house on the east side of Rock River was converted into a school to form a second district in Jefferson.
1851- A brick school was built in Jefferson's east side school district, while a frame school was constructed in the city's west side district
1870- A new school was erected in each district.
1879- Following Jefferson's incorporation as a city the school districts were unified establishing the School District of Jefferson. The city purchased the former Jefferson Liberal Institute on the west side of the Rock River (constructed as a Universalist school in 1868).
1880- The building re-opened in the Fall as Jefferson High School, offering a general four-year degree.
1895-96- An addition was built on the school
1907- The attic suffered a fire. When the attic was rebuilt, a gymnasium and auditorium were constructed within it.
1911- A sewing room, kitchen and dining room for domestic science were created on the second floor of the school. Jefferson High School instituted a high school degree specializing in commercial courses such as bookkeeping, accounting, typing, commercial law, and shorthand.
1915- A teaching specialization was added.
1918- An agriculture specialization was added.
1924- Jefferson High School was destroyed by fire and it took nearly a year to replace the structure.
1925- The new Jefferson High School opened in September with 220 students enrolled in grades 9-12. The foundation of the new high school was constructed using brick salvaged from the old building. The old cornerstone, dated 1868, was also incorporated into the new high school.
A New Building
1964- A new Jefferson High School building was built on Milwaukee Ave. opening in 1964. The 1925 building on Copeland Avenue became Jefferson Junior High School.
1967- A planned high school addition was built.
Mid 70's- Another addition was built which included adding a swimming pool, auditorium, and administrative offices.
1976- The Jefferson School District reorganized the grades from a junior-senior high school system, to a middle school (grades 6-7-8) and high school (grades 9-10-11-12) system. At that time, Jefferson Junior High became Jefferson Middle School.
1990s- Computer labs and a technology education lab (2002) were added to the high school.
2012- A referendum was passed in 2010 in order to add on to and renovate the high school including the addition of a commons, pool, and gym area, an academic wing addition, and a remodel of the library, old pool, and gym spaces.
2014- Thanks to generous community donations a greenhouse was added to the high school agriculture department.
Framing our Future Facilities
A referendum passed in 2022 for building updates and to renovate and expand the agriculture and technical education classrooms and labs. An addition was added to the south side of the school. Check out the Framing our Future Facilities website to see the most recent updates!