The Forge School Offers a Solution to Nashville’s Architecture, Construction, and Engineering Needs

Stock image of students learning on a construction site (Photo by Adobe Stock)

Derrick Williams says an important moment in his proposed public charter school’s creation came when he shared the details of The Forge School with his daughter.

Williams says she wants to be an architect and immediately saw the potential of a school that’s designed to provide hands-on, real-world learning to students who are interested in careers in architecture, construction, or engineering.

“I saw the excitement on her face,” said Williams. “Literally, she said if this was in place when I was in sixth grade, seventh grade, I definitely would have gone to a school like that.”

Derrick Williams (right) and Sara Tuttle (left) (Photo by The Forge School)

Williams and Forge co-founder Sara Tuttle met when both were administrators in Metro Nashville Public Schools’ (MNPS) social emotional learning program. He says the pair always knew they worked well together, and began working on the framework of a sixth through twelfth grade public charter school to meet a specific employment need in Middle Tennessee in the architecture, construction, and engineering fields. Charter schools are free public schools operated under a “charter” with a school district or the state.

Students at The Forge School will begin working on career certifications as early as the sixth grade, and their academic journey will include job shadowing and internships with school partners to help prepare for a high earning career immediately after high school or college.

“There is a high demand for these jobs, and they don’t have enough people to fill the positions,” said Williams. “We just wanted to provide an opportunity for students to, one, get an early start and an early introduction into an industry that they may not have known about …or maybe they did know about it but they would have to wait either until high school or college to get a better understanding or get exposure to these fields.”

Forging a New Education Path

Although MNPS does have some schools that offer programs in architecture, construction, or engineering, none encompass all three. Williams says the difference is important because these areas intertwine, and exposure to each will make students more valuable to future employers.

Additionally, teachers at The Forge School will blend concepts of architecture, construction, and engineering into other subjects.

“History will not just be history; they may be learning about the history of architecture. They may be learning about the history of engineering,” said Williams. “I think the whole idea of contextualized learning, that project-based learning, offering real-world work-based learning opportunities for students, is one of the other things that will make us unique.”

Appeal Begins This Week

Members of the Metro-Nashville Public Schools Board of Education denied the Forge’s application to open the school in June, prompting Williams and Tuttle to appeal to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission. That board will hold a public hearing on Friday for parents and other supporters to make the case for the school.

If commissioners overturn the MNPS decision, The Forge School will open for an initial class of sixth and ninth graders in August 2026.