Four Public Charter Schools Approved in Jackson

The Jackson-Madison County School System logo. (Courtesy of Jackson-Madison County School System)

Students in the Jackson-Madison County School System (JMCSS) will soon have more options to attend the public school that’s right for them.

Tuesday night, the JMCSS School Board unanimously approved four new public charter schools, including Gestalt North Jackson Academy, Gestalt East Jackson Academy, Digitech Academy of Excellence, and Union Academy.

Charter schools are free public schools operated by a non-profit organization under a “charter” with a school district or the state. In Tennessee, charter applicants typically see their proposed schools receive an initial vote by school boards in April.

Superintendent Reverses Course on Charters

Tuesday’s approvals came at the behest of Superintendent Dr. Marlon King, who in the past has made efforts to keep charter schools out of the district.

King recommended approval for each school while acknowledging that many sections of each application fell into the "partially meets standards" category. The state’s rules state that public charter schools should be approved if all three major sections "meet or exceed,” but school districts have latitude to approve in other circumstances.

He went on to say he handpicked them because he felt approving them would offer value to the community and expand the district’s educational portfolio. King also pushed back on what he called the “myth” that charter implementation leads to districts losing jobs and money.

Gestalt North Jackson Academy and East Jackson Academy Model

Gestalt North Jackson Academy and Gestalt East Jackson Academy will have the same academic focus and grade structures. Both will focus on college and career readiness for grades K-2 in year one, then expand to grades K-8, with a capacity of up to 720 students, sometime after the fifth year of operation.

Before voting, JMCSS board member Andrea Michelle Givens-Moore gave an impassioned recommendation for approval of Gestalt North Jackson Academy and its co-founder and chief executive officer, Yetta Lewis.

“I want this state strategic intervention of the charters to be something that we really look forward to, and I trust you, Ms. Lewis, that you do the right thing by employees and our families, because the families are what comes first,” Givens-Moore said. “It's a very emotional thing for me, because I take a lot of pride in what I do for the school board in Jackson, Tennessee, and I made great strides to show that I am the right person in this position, so I want to stand behind you and do what's right.”

Digitech Academy of Excellence Model

Digitech Academy of Excellence will likely be located in West Jackson, and its academic focus will be digital technology.

Digitech’s application states that the school’s mission is to “provide an innovative, student-centered education environment that integrates digital learning with strong academic foundations and excellence.”

At capacity, the school will serve 600 students in grades K-8.

Union Academy Model

Union Academy will be located on the Union University campus and will serve 780 students in grades K-12 at its capacity in a classical model.

School Leader Dr. Rhonda Pettigrew, who is also a preacher and author, spoke at the meeting, saying all of the school’s students will be able to read before third grade and leave equipped to succeed in a “fast-moving digital technology world.”

“We have the same educational curriculum as Jackson Madison County Schools,” Pettigrew said. “So, it’s not all just tech; it is all-encompassing.”

Turbulent Charter History

The approval of these applications is a noticeable change from the district’s prior experiences with charter schools.

Two years after King became superintendent in 2020, board members voted down the proposed American Classical Academy Madison, amid criticism of its connections to Hillsdale College and comments from Hillsdale's president, saying that teachers “are trained in the dumbest parts of the dumbest colleges in the country.”

Board members voted down the school’s second application the following year, only to have the vote overturned by the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission. The district considered and then opted not to challenge the commission’s decision. Ultimately, they didn’t need to, as the leaders of American Classical Academy opted to withdraw their charter a year before the school was scheduled to open.

The ordeal soured the waters for public charter schools in Madison County, which in turn led board members to deny an application from the Jackson Museum School last year.

The charter commission also overturned that denial as well, and the school is now scheduled to open this fall.