Leslie Jackson

Leslie is an Albuquerque native.  She attended Annunciation K-8 and graduated from St Pius X High School in 1999.  She spent her high school and college summers working for Albuquerque Parks and Recreation, eventually running her own site for their Summer Rec Program.  She has always been drawn to children and finds her passion in guiding and loving them.   She graduated from the University of New Mexico with a Bachelor of Science in Education with a Major in Elementary Education and an endorsement in Language Arts.  After graduation, she worked as a Title 1 Reading Specialist at Holy Ghost Catholic School working with the ESL community.   She married her husband Derek in 2004 and slowly transitioned into a military spouse.  The military took them to Del Rio, Texas for pilot training, where Leslie taught third grade.  The next year they moved to Tacoma, Washington where Leslie taught a second/third grade combination classroom.  Derek finished his military career in Clovis, NM where Leslie taught 4th grade for two years.  She quit teaching after having their oldest son, Ryan.   

She started her two children (Ryan and Emily) at Annunciation in 2018.   “There is something so special about walking the halls at ACS.  The friendships, the community and the warmth you feel is unlike any other school”.  She decided to dust off her teaching tubs and books and head back to a career in teaching.  This will be her sixth-year teaching Kindergarten at ACS.  She never thought she would ever teach 5-year-olds, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.  Kindergarten is a child’s first experience with school, and it is my job to make sure they love it!  She believes in teaching the whole child.  She focuses a lot of her class time on the social emotional development of each child.  She believes that her class is a family throughout each year and focuses on communication with parents and students.  

She will celebrate her 22nd wedding anniversary this year and currently has two children at St. Pius X (Emily 8th grade and Ryan 11th grade) and her youngest at ACS (Alex 5th grade). She has one dog and 4 turtles.   She enjoys all sports, the outdoors, cooking, gardening, and spending time with her family.   She also enjoys spending time with her ACS family!