Jeremy Sager has Helped Students in Memphis and Nashville Achieve Success. His ‘Two-Educator Model’ Could Do Even More in Rutherford County

Jeremy Sager standing with two students at a recent Novus SMART event (Photo by Jeremy Sager)

Jeremy Sager says he was dreaming of opening a school even before his first day as an English teacher at Craigmont High School in Memphis fifteen years ago.

Sager says while growing up, he spent time working with children at his mother’s childcare facility, and he taught Sunday School at church. Both experiences helped strengthen a childhood desire to create a place of learning.

“I’ve always had the thought of starting my own school. Even as a young child, you know, in the summertime when we would go to my grandparents’ house, we would play two things: we would play church and we would play school, and I always ended up being the principal, a teacher, and everything else,” said Sager. “I’ve always been around children, and I’ve always had a heart to want to lead them in the right direction and get them on the path to reach their goals.”

This week, Sager may get his wish. On Thursday, members of the Rutherford County Schools Board of Education will decide whether to approve Sager’s application to open Novus SMART Academy (K-8).

Two-Educator Model

The proposed public charter school is the culmination of Sager’s more than 15 years of education experience, which included teaching in classrooms, serving as the dean of instruction for public charter schools in Memphis and Nashville, and leading Nashville Prep as its middle school principal.

If approved, each Novus SMART classroom will have a licensed educator and a teacher in residence. The Two-Educator Model is something Sager says he “fell in love with” after seeing it in action at Purpose Prep in Nashville.

Sager says Novus SMART will have a ratio of one teacher for every 12 students, providing students with an opportunity to receive not only whole-group direct instruction but also intentional small-group and breakout instruction based on student need.

Another difference from most schools, Novus will provide a college and career focus right from the start, so that even kindergarten students will “know what college is.” Also, as the school’s name implies, Novus will implement a SMART (science, math, arts/electives, research, and technology) focus. 

“We wanted to implement a model where students and families understand that learning is a consequence of thinking, and good thinking is learnable by all students,” said Sager. “So, there is a space for students to be critical thinkers but also creative thinkers.”

Novus SMART staff (Photo by Jeremy Sager)

Back for a Second Time

Sager initially proposed establishing Novus SMART last year, but board members in Rutherford County voted his application down on a narrow 4-to-3 vote. The decision was largely made on financial concerns and went against the recommendation of the district’s charter review team, made up of staff, principals, educators, and parents who recommended approval.

Sager applied a second time earlier this year, and multiple board members expressed an interest in approving the school with some tweaks to the application.

The Right Fit

Sager tells the Tennessee Firefly that Rutherford County is the perfect fit for his school in part because of its growth.

The county has faced challenges building schools fast enough to keep up with the growing population. Sager says that has additionally made it more challenging for parents who want to enroll their children in one of the district’s magnet schools.

“Rutherford County is a growing community, and it’s growing faster than it can manage,” said Sager. “It’s really a great place to give back and really grow a family, and for that reason, that’s why so many people are moving to Rutherford County because of the opportunities and the community that it creates for people who are used to a smaller sense of community.”

If approved, Novus SMART would open to an initial class of kindergarten and first-graders next year, and then add a grade each year, until it serves more than 800 kindergarten through eighth-graders.

Charter schools are free public schools operated by a non-profit entity under a “charter” with a school district or the state.