LOCAL EDUCATION NEWS

The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) and Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) received top honors at the 2025 ACT State and District Summit for their leadership in preparing students for postsecondary success.

Franklin Special School District educator Ginger Colvett is being celebrated statewide as a 2025–26 Tennessee Teacher of the Year finalist for her remarkable work championing literacy, inclusion, and opportunity for English Learners.

Tennessee Nature Academy has secured a 23-acre permanent campus site in Cane Ridge, thanks to a $2 million land donation from the McGowan family. The tuition-free public charter school will use the forest, stream, and wetland-filled property to deepen its outdoor-based, hands-on learning model for grades 5–12. Groundbreaking is set for July 30, 2025.

A national study finds just 12% of certificates and industry credentials significantly raise wages—leaving many Tennessee workers struggling as rent and home prices outpace income.

Anderson County Schools’ Teacher of the Year finalist Chrissy Rose is a dedicated third-grade teacher at Grand Oaks Elementary known for her innovative, trauma-informed teaching methods.

The Jackson Museum School would utilize a “museum model” similar to schools in Atlanta and Chattanooga, which infuses subjects like science and math into weekly expeditions to local cultural centers.

Knox County Schools is preparing for a busy start to the 2025–26 school year, as officials implement major budget cuts and introduce new policies aimed at enhancing student focus and well-being.

For the last five years, students at Valor Collegiate Academy have been able to participate in school-based athletics on Overton High School teams as part of an agreement between the schools.

The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) released the 2024–25 Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) results Tuesday afternoon, revealing year-over-year improvements in student proficiency across every tested subject and grade level.

Memphis-Shelby Public Schools says district staff are monitoring pending federal decisions that could affect approximately $17 million in funding for district programs.

Attorneys for American Classical Education notified the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission last month that the charter operator had made the “difficult decision” to terminate its agreement signed in March.

The proposed kindergarten through sixth-grade school would operate under a “museum model” that integrates immersive learning experiences into the curriculum.

In years past, district leaders in Nashville have given staff more time to review the sometimes-expansive applications by scheduling charter decisions in the July school board meeting.

Memphis-Shelby County School Board Chair Joyce Dorse Coleman announced Promise Academy Hollywood’s voluntary closure at Tuesday night’s meeting.

The school board is expected to vote next week on the proposed $2.5 million sale of the Wooddale building.

Grundy County teachers may get their $2,300 bonus after all, but it will come a year late following Tuesday night’s vote.

Hamilton County Schools (HCS) appointed new leaders Monday to positions the district considers key to supporting students, teachers and school principals.

Starting this fall, students in Williamson County Schools will face significant new restrictions on personal cell phone use during the day.

Just two years ago, chronic absenteeism was a crisis at Compass Berclair school in Memphis. During the 2021-22 school year, more than half of its students — 55.5 percent —missed at least 10 percent of school days, threatening their academic progress and overall well-being.

The audit was among multiple options lawmakers considered for the district, following the controversial firing of former Superintendent Marie Feagins after less than a year on the job.

All three applicants have the ability to appeal to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission that has overturned at least one MNPS charter denial four years in a row.

Seven years ago, a group of sixth-grade boys walked through the doors of Chattanooga Preparatory School for the very first time. Last month, they returned as the school’s first-ever graduating class.

The board unexpectedly decided late last week to hold votes on amended applications from the Rock Academy, the Forge School, and Rocketship Public Schools at Tuesday night’s meeting.

Interim Superintendent Dr. Roderick Richmond continues to lead Memphis-Shelby County Schools, unveiling a 100-Day Plan and proposing a $1.85B budget focused on literacy, safety, and communication. Richmond has also reaffirmed his commitment to transparency and academic progress across the district.

Speaking before at the Rotary Club of Nashville Monday, O’Connell reaffirmed that his office has done nothing to warrant the investigations now underway in the U.S. House Judiciary and Homeland Security committees, though the mayor said both are taxing vital Metro resources.

Six years ago, a young family hoping to move to Williamson County, Tennessee faced a real estate market where the median home sales price was $521 thousand dollars. Today that number has exploded to $1 million.

At Tuesday’s budget meeting, Board Member Zach Young said the district could do a better job attracting hard-to-fill specialty teaching positions if the raise was higher than 3 percent.

Lawmakers passed the legislation last month that requires each school district in the state to create a policy for a student to serve as a nonvoting school board member.

The resolution states that the district’s legal department has provided guidance to principals about how to respond to requests or visits from ICE so that “no immigration enforcement agency is permitted access” to students or confidential student records without a legal right to do so.