Nashville charter schools playing a prominent role in Reward school recognition

Public charter schools are playing a prominent role in Nashville’s recognition for improved academic performance.The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) announced Monday that Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) has increased the number of Reward schools this year to 48 achieving the top accountability status during the 2021-2022 school yearNearly 30% of those 48 Reward Schools (14 total) are public charter schools. Districtwide less than 20% of schools are public charter schools.TDOE recognizes schools as a Reward school when they demonstrate high levels of performance and/or improvement in performance by meeting their annual measurable objectives across performance indicators and student groups.“None of the achievements we’re talking about happened by accident. They happened by design,” said Dr. Adrienne Battle, Director of Schools. “And they happened because of everyone’s hard work, resilience, flexibility and dedication. Students, teachers, support staff, principals and their school leadership teams, families, and community partners: We all did this together, and everyone should be extremely proud. This was an incredible team doing extraordinary work under difficult circumstances, with all students in the in-person environment for the first time since the start of the pandemic.”Metro Nashville Public Schools additionally announced it has been designated as an “Advancing” school district by TDOE based on annual state testing results. This is the second highest rating a district can achieve in the state’s accountability model.

Charter School Contributions

Rocketship United is among the 14 public charter schools receiving the Reward school designation. The K-4th grade multicultural school says it searned the distinction by increasing the success rate of its mostly low-income students at a faster rate than many other elementary schools in Nashville during the 2021-22 school year.“After the unfinished learning resulting from COVID-19 closures and interruptions, it is encouraging to see our students learning at an accelerated pace, which we know is the only way to reach our goal of closing achievement gaps,” said Rocketship United in a statement.  “We are proud of our Rocketeers’ progress, but we also know that there is much more work to be done. We know we will get there and grow beyond where we were before the pandemic by continuing to focus on each student’s individual needs and personalizing their learning.”Other Nashville public charter schools earning the Reward school distinction include East End Preparatory School, Explore Community School, KIPP Academy Nashville, KIPP Nashville College Prep, KIPP Nashville College Prep Elementary, Liberty Collegiate Academy, Nashville Classical, Nashville Prep, Purpose Prep, Smithson Craighead Academy, Strive Collegiate Academy, Valor Flagship Academy, and Valor Voyager Academy.

Exiting Priority List

The Tennessee Department of Education also announced seven Nashville schools are exiting the priority list. These include MNPS schools Alex Green Elementary, Cumberland Elementary, McMurray Middle, Robert Churchwell Museum Magnet Elementary, Warner Elementary and Amqui Elementary along with LEAD Neely’s Bend that’s exiting under the Achievement School District.Priority schools are the consistently low performing schools based on multiple years of TCAP assessment data (bottom 5%) or have less than 67% graduation rate during the most recent school year.LEAD Public Schools says it has used several key strategies to turn around their student performance at LEAD Nelly’s Bend including establishing robust processes and structures to support teachers, including feedback protocols, lesson plan protocols, and interim assessments.“I am beyond proud of the commitment of our staff and the discipline of our students to accomplish our goal of exiting the priority list,” said Dominique Torres, principal at LEAD Neely’s Bend. “By prioritizing delivering high-quality instruction to our students, we have transformed the culture of our school where high expectations have become the Neely’s Bend way. We’ve created an environment where students feel proud to be at school, and they are focused on how they can improve their academic achievement and positively contribute to a strong school culture. This is just the beginning in our mission to exponentially grow our students.”Overall, MNPS has gone from 24 district-run priority the schools named in 2018 to 18 schools in the latest release. Eight schools, including one charter, have been newly designated with priority status for a total of 19.