Hamilton County School Board votes down two proposed public charter schools

(Logos by the Little Kings and Queens Charter Academy and the Tennessee Wildflower Public School)

Gwen Howard spent more than a decade teaching in Montessori-focused classrooms in Nashville and Williamson County before moving to Chattanooga to serve as the principal of the Montessori Elementary at Highland Park public charter school.

She now hopes to use that Montessori experience founding what would be Hamilton County’s eighth public charter school.

Gwen Howard (Photo by the Tennessee Wildflower Public School)

Howard is the director of the proposed Tennessee Wildflower Public School (TWPS) that is proposed to serve up to 120 K-5 grade students in mixed-grade classrooms. The proposed school would be a part of the Wildflower Foundation that supports more than 70 small, teacher-led Montessori micro-schools across the country.

“As an authentic Montessori school, TWPS naturally puts students at the center and holds integrity in education throughout our operations, teaching and learning, and family engagement,” said school leaders in their application. “TWPS sets out to radically shift student access to a Montessori education in Chattanooga and re-center Montessori in its founding roots in equity and social justice. TWPS embodies Montessori philosophy for every member of our community - this philosophy spans from our instructional pedagogy to the wider idea that “freedom within limits” is a model for both students and adults.”

Members of the Hamilton County School Board unanimously voted the Tennessee Wildflower’s application down on Thursday, along with a proposal for the Little Kings and Queens Charter Academy. Under state guidelines, both will have the option of submitting an amended application for approval this summer

The district’s charter review team found the Tennessee Wildflower’s application partially met state standards but ultimately lacked details, goals, and specifics for supporting special populations or a public demand for the school. School leaders will have the option of addressing these critiques in an amended application.

“The team did not explain how state standards will be met, especially in mixed-age classrooms, nor did they provide evidence supporting the models’ fit for the student population,” said district Charter School Coordinator Fannie Moore. “The academic plan lacks details, specific goals, and a clear strategy for serving all students, including special populations.”

Little Kings and Queens faces heavy criticism

School board members provided much more pointed criticism before unanimously voting down the application for Little Kings and Queens Charter Academy.

The proposed public charter school would serve up to 43 students in grades K-3 and would be directly connected to the Little Kings and Queens Child Development Center in East Ridge.

The district’s charter review team found Little Kings and Queens failed to meet every state requirement and Moore told board members that the team lacked confidence the school could open successfully.

The school board member who represents East Ridge put his opposition more bluntly, questioning the time the district had to spend reviewing the application.

“There is no way I would allow my child to be instructed there. It just blew me away that we had to go through this on an organization that had no clue what they were doing in a very, very poor location,” said District 8 Board Member Larry Grohn.

Both denied schools are among the 11 proposed new charters up for a vote this month in five counties.