Five Tennessee school districts across the state received letters of intent for 17 proposed new public charter schools by last week’s deadline. Letters of intent are the first official step in next year’s new start charter application process.

Tennessee has awarded the Jackson-Madison County School System (JMCSS) with the highest score for academic growth (Level 5) on the Tennessee Value Added Assessment System (TVAAS), a recent announcement said.

Members of the Jackson-Madison County School Board voted unanimously Thursday to withdraw a lawsuit they approved less than a year ago, in hopes of stopping the county’s first public charter school.

That lawsuit would have challenged a decision last year by the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission to approve American Classical Academy Jackson-Madison.

According to an announcement, the 2024-25 TN Rural STEM Collaborative will bring together teachers from rural schools across the state for professional development opportunities to enhance their STEM teaching practices.

Jackson Madison County School System Superintendent Dr. Marlon King was named the 2025 Southwest Tennessee Regional Superintendent of the Year by the Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents (TOSS) at Thursday’s regular school board meeting. The board also issued a proclamation making September 2024 Suicide Prevention Awareness Month in the district.

Shelby County Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. called on local officials to work together and figure out how to cover the remaining costs needed to construct a new STEM education lab at Whitehaven High School at Wednesday’s Shelby County Education Committee meeting.

For nearly 15 years, the Memphis Grizzlies Preparatory Charter School has leveraged community partnerships with the Memphis Grizzlies NBA team to provide boys with hands-on learning and a focus on literacy and math. Now leaders want to extend those opportunities to girls.

The Memphis-Shelby County Schools charter review team recommended school board members approve an application for the Memphis Grizzlies Preparatory STEAM School for Girls at Tuesday’s work session meeting. The proposed school would be one of three all-girls public charter schools in the state.

Memphis-Shelby County School Board member Frank Johnson announced on Facebook that he’s officially dropping out of the District 7 school board race, citing health issues and the recent death of a family member.

Two early intervention resource agencies for young children with developmental delays and disabilities at University of Memphis received three new grants from the state to support their work in the coming years, a recent announcement said.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Marie Feagins has appointed Janice Tankson as the district’s new superintendent to oversee key educational programs and drive student success.

The Memphis-Shelby County Schools Board of Education passed a resolution during a special meeting Tuesday asking Superintendent Marie Feagins to halt further layoffs until she can present a more detailed personnel plan.

In a joint video message, Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) Superintendent Marie Feagins, Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner, Jr., and Interim Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis emphasized that they believe firearms have no place in schools.

Mental health is a growing concern for children across the country and a new report shows Tennessee is no exception.Earlier this month the Tennessee State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE), NashvilleHealth, and the Belmont Data Collaborative joined together to release a report called “Connecting the Dots: Mental Health and Student Success in Tennessee” that explores the mental health challenges facing Tennessee youth.

The Star Academy program at Haywood County Middle School is showing success in helping at-risk students advance, with Tennessee awarding a $1 million grant to support its implementation.

Jackson-Madison County School System (JMCSS) leaders celebrated the district’s surge in graduation rates outpacing the state’s improvement.From 2021, the district’s graduation rates grew from 85.7 percent to 90.5 percent. This 4.8 percent gain surpasses Tennessee’s gain of 1.9 percent by nearly three percentage points during the same period of time.That growth places JMCSS’s graduation rate just .1 percent lower than the state average.

The Jackson-Madison School Board officially authorized its attorney to begin pursuing a legal challenge to last month’s decision to grant the county’s first public charter school.Board attorney Dale Thomas says he now plans to file a lawsuit in hopes of overturning the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission’s decision in favor of the application from American Classical Education (ACE) to open a school in Jackson.  The commission’s decision overturned an earlier vote by school board members against ACE in July.

The Jackson-Madison County School System (JMCSS) announced the launch of a new teacher grant program aimed at supporting innovative teaching methods, professional development opportunities, and classroom resources.The Supporting Teachers' Academic Resources (STAR) initiative will offer teachers the opportunity to apply for grants of up to $1,000 each.

The Jackson-Madison School Board is considering court action to prevent the county’s first public charter school from opening.Board members voted Monday morning to pursue a legal challenge of the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission’s decision to approve an appeal from American Classical Education (ACE) earlier this month.  That decision overturned the district’s denial of ACE’s application in July.“This has been a long, frustrating process. We were crystal clear and very deliberate in following the state’s guidelines and rules during the entire process. So, we stand behind our decision,” said School Board Chairman James “Pete” Johnson.ACE first gained attention last year when Governor Bill Lee expressed support for the organization in his State of the State address, but the group faced criticism over its connections to Michigan based Hillsdale College and controversial statements Hillsdale President Larry Arnn made about teachers on video.