Board members Tammy Sharp, Katie Darby, Stan Vaught, and Vice-Chair Frances voted in support of Novus SMART, while Chair Claire Maxwell, Butch Vaughn, and Caleb Tidwell voted against it.

Members of the Rutherford County Schools Board of Education denied Rocketship’s application in April, but multiple members encouraged the charter operator to make revisions and resubmit for a vote tonight.

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.

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.

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.

Leaders of Rocketship Public Schools and Novus SMART Academy (K-8) have the option of submitting an amended application for approval this summer.

The board voted down applications from the Rock Academy, the Forge School, and Rocketship Public Schools Tuesday.

The Metro Nashville Public Schools Board of Education is scheduled to vote on applications from Forge School, the Rock Academy, and Rocketship Public Schools Tuesday night.

Eric Dailey has been named the new executive director of Rocketship Public Schools in Tennessee, according to a Monday announcement from the charter operator.  

School boards in as many as six counties could vote on applications this year for new public charter schools.A diverse group of potential charter operators sent 21 charter application letters of intent to school districts across the state, the first step in this year’s new start charter application process. Those operators include an existing charter operator, prior applicants who failed to receive approval, along with a host of new organizations with no experience in Tennessee.A diverse group of potential charter operators sent 22 charter application letters of intent to school districts across the state, the first step in this year’s new start charter application process. Those operators include existing charter operators, prior applicants who failed to receive approval, along with a host of new organizations with no experience in Tennessee.

It’s been sixteen years since Andre Agassi retired from the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tour, but he’s still serving up aces in communities across the country, including Nashville.The former tennis star recently teamed up with Rocketship Public Schools to create a third high-quality public charter school in Nashville. Rocketship Dream Community Prep, serves the Antioch community of Davidson County, providing more than 350 K-4th grade students with music-enriched curriculum.