Brick Church Middle School’s Proficiency Rates Drop Nearly 50 Percent Following Takeover by Metro Nashville Public Schools

Brick Church Middle School in 2024 (Photo by Sky Arnold)

During the August 2024 Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Dr. Adrienne Battle welcomed Brick Church Middle School back to the district, with a promise of improvement at the north Davidson County school.

“This year, we not only welcomed students back to schools across the district, but we also welcomed back one of our schools to the MNPS family. We have successfully launched the new-and-improved, back-and-better Brick Church Middle School,” said Battle.

MNPS initially handed over control of Brick Church Middle School to LEAD Public Schools in 2012 as part of a state effort to turn around struggling schools by converting them into public charter schools. Charter Schools are free public schools operated by a non-profit organization under a “charter” with a school district or the state.

LEAD applied to continue operating Brick Church once its charter expired in 2024, but MNPS leaders successfully opposed the request, clearing the way for a return to district operation that August.

A Tennessee Firefly analysis of the state’s School Report Card, released this week, found that student performance dropped in every subject once MNPS took over the school. Student proficiency in English language arts (ELA) under MNPS declined by more than 5 percent compared to the prior school year, when LEAD Public Schools oversaw Brick Church. Math proficiency dropped 5 percentage points, and both science and social studies dropped more than 10 percentage points.

These scores contributed to Brick Church Middle School dropping from a C to an F on the recent School Letter Grades.

LEAD Cameron Continues to Outperform District Schools

The School Report Card’s 2024-25 data also backed up LEAD Public Schools’ recent legal case involving one of its schools in south Nashville.

LEAD filed a legal challenge last year to prevent MNPS from rezoning students away from LEAD Cameron Middle School to Margaret Allen Middle School. Unlike most charter schools that have open-enrollment policies, LEAD Cameron serves as the zoned school for nearby students.

LEAD has argued that the rezoning plan would harm students by sending them to a lower-performing school, and the 2024-25 data support that argument.

Students at LEAD Cameron outperformed Margaret Allen Middle School in every subject on state testing, with proficiency rates 5 percent higher in ELA, 12 percent higher in math, and roughly 8 percent higher in both science and social studies. LEAD Cameron also received a higher School Letter Grade than Margaret Allen.