Metro Nashville Public Schools outlines alternative learning redesign plans

Metro Nashville Public Schools Chief of Student Support Services Elisa Norris discusses alternative learning centers' impact on the district at Tuesday's school board meeting. (Screenshot/Brandon Paykamian)

Metro Nashville Public Schools' alternative learning centers, or ALCs, will provide students with support "every step of the way" under redesign plans unveiled by district leaders at Tuesday’s school board meeting.

According to Elisa Norris, the district’s chief of student support services, the district has made moves recently to enhance student services within the district’s alternative learning centers, which include offering students with access to “transition success specialists,” who act as case managers or liaisons for students who are entering or leaving ALCs.

Moving forward, she said, the district is looking to provide students with more workforce opportunities and establish “student success centers” where students can receive additional academic supports, among other plans. She said the overall goal of the redesign is to make sure “students feel supported every step of the way.”

“Our vision for this redesign process is to ensure that all MNPS students in every educational setting have the SEL [socio-emotional learning] and academic supports they need to succeed,” she said. “Right now, we continue to focus on strengthening academic opportunities ensuring successful transitions to and from ALCs, and enhancing wraparound supports.”

Norris said the district’s ALCs will be rebranded as “ACE (Amplify, Cultivate, Engage) Centers,” which emphasize socio-emotional learning and are designed to provide rehabilitative personalized supports for students with zero tolerance infractions. She added that students will be assigned to student success centers based on need and can attend those at 20-day, 40-day or 60-day intervals.

“More intensive wraparound supports have been added to provide comprehensive SEL and mental health supports for students. These include social workers who assist students in navigating complex social and emotional needs and provide counseling and coping strategies and access to community resources, school psychologists who support behavioral and mental health needs, psychiatrists who support student mental health and coordinate care, and nurses who provide medical and emotional support,” she said. “Student success centers are cluster-based programs that keep students on a path to success in the least restrictive setting possible."

Metro Nashville Schools Director Adrienne Battle lauded recent efforts to redesign the district’s ALC system.

“We did what we said we were going to do after the pandemic, [which was to] set in to make sure alternative learning schools were serving our students effectively,” she said, adding that “additional investments will be needed” as part of the district’s “aspirational budget.”

In other business, the board announced that rising junior Hannah Nguyen will serve as the new Metro Nashville Public Schools’ Board of Education junior student member, beginning in September.

"These board members are amazing, and I can’t wait to work alongside them and be in service to you all," she said during the meeting.