Dr. Jessica Cantley, Magnet Coordinator

Dr. Jessica Cantley leads the strategic direction and development of our magnet program, ensuring that CONNECT, EXPLORE, and CREATE remain central to our educational mission. Dr. Cantley coordinates magnet recruitment, program coherence across disciplines, and the integration of arts and science throughout our curriculum.

Dr. Cantley holds a B.S. in Psychology with a Theater Minor from Francis Marion University, a B.A. in Secondary English Education from Francis Marion University, a Master of Teaching and Learning from Francis Marion University, and an Ed.D. in Educational Innovation and Curriculum Studies from the University of South Carolina. She is Gifted and Talented certified.

Dr. Cantley was voted JPT's Teacher of the Year for 2025-2026. She has presented research at the PCAS/ACAS Conference in New Orleans on the validity of horror literature in schools at the secondary level. She has facilitated virtual and in-person meet and greets for her students with authors including Joe Hill, Grady Hendrix, Paul Tremblay, Santiago Garcia, Wiley Cash, Justin Phillip Reed, and Jamila Minnicks. Her work has been published in FMU Literary Magazine Snow Island Review. She has served as a cooperating teacher for Francis Marion University student teachers and has worked closely with Mychal Wynn of the Mychal Wynn Foundation to help develop a strategic path forward for JPT. Dr. Cantley has also conducted ongoing research into stakeholder perception of our school in collaboration with John Jenson, an Identity Consultant at Jostens Renaissance. She teaches dance classes at Palmetto Arts Academy in the after-school hours.

Dr. Cantley firmly believes that student-centered classrooms with student voice and choice are paramount to successful education. She believes learning should be fun and that students benefit from learning to find comfort in the space of frustration during the learning process. She views education as reciprocal—a give and take between student and teacher so that both learn something from the journey. Her pedagogical approach is rooted in constructivist theory.

Dr. Cantley is a married mother of two children, Alice and Dax. She shares her home with a chihuahua mix dog named Puppy.

Fun fact: Dr. Cantley has an injury to her jaw from a mosh pit, maintains an active cosmetology license, and has a 12-foot-tall skeleton named Fred that lives in her front yard for about half the year.

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Contact: [email protected]