Tennis Star helps provide another winner for public charter school students
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.“Every student has the right to a first-rate education to help open doors later in life. That includes a safe and inspiring environment in which to learn,” said Agassi. “Rocketship Public Schools does an amazing job creating opportunities for students, and I’m excited to help welcome this wonderful new campus to serve even more students and families in Nashville.”Rocketship Dream Community Prep is the third Rocketship school in Nashville.The charter operator’s two other Nashville schools were recently named Reward schools by the Tennessee Department of Education, the highest honor bestowed upon schools for student achievement and performance.“Our mission at Rocketship Public Schools is to unleash the full potential of each individual child, regardless of their family’s income, zip code, or background,” said William Hill, Executive Director of Rocketship Tennessee. “With both of our first two campuses recognized as Reward Schools by the State of Tennessee, we are excited to bring the same level of excellence and opportunity to families in Southeast Davidson County with this third campus.”“While the construction team was hard at work bringing our physical school to life, our families had a parallel project underway to build the heart of our school – our school community,” founding Principal Jessica Alexander said. “Our parents advocated for approval to open this school, chose the school’s name, and even helped interview our teachers. Rocketship Dream wouldn’t exist without the families who helped us build it from vision to reality.”Agassi, and the Turner-Agassi Education Facilities Fund, have helped fund, plan, and build all of Tennessee's Rocketship campuses.In total, the Turner-Agassi Education Facilities Fund has developed 124 schools across the United States, serving just under 60,000 students. Turner-Agassi led the way on site selection, acquisition, design, contracting, and construction in addition to covering all required development costs.Turner-Agassi leases their facilities to schools until they reach their pre-determined enrollment and grade-configuration goals. Once those goals are met, school operators can purchase the sites.“Our Fund is dedicated to helping the very best charter school organizations scale up and grow in order to expand their positive impact to reach even more students, families and communities,” said Glenn Pierce, Turner Impact Capital’s President of Education Initiatives. “It’s extremely rewarding to help Rocketship put even more young people on a path to long-term success in college and careers, while making a long-term investment in the Antioch community.”The 37,000-square-foot Rocketship Dream Community Prep campus includes 19 classrooms, two learning labs, a cafeteria, a gymnasium, and a turfed outdoor soccer field.
