On the morning of September 18, the Dean of Instruction for Stanford Montessori Elementary School used her publicly funded time and email address to do something that had nothing to do with the education of her students.Sarah Blanchard sent out emails to not only encourage some of her school’s parents to oppose a proposed Montessori school, she also gave them questionable talking points for how to speak out from School Board Member and Stanford Montessori parent Dr. Berthena Nabaa-McKinney.

More than 30 parents in Donelson and Hermitage wrote the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission to urge members to overturn a decision by the Metro Nashville Public School Board.Last July board members denied Invictus Nashville Charter School’s application open a Montessori based K-8 public charter for students in the Donelson and Hermitage communities. Invictus supporters appealed to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission whose members have the option of overturning local district denials.

Multiple parents of students who attend Stanford Montessori Elementary school in Nashville’s Donelson community made the trip downtown Monday morning to speak out against a proposed public charter school that would also provide a Montessori based education in the area.They may have inadvertently made the case for the proposed school’s approval.

Public charter schools haven’t exactly received the warmest of welcomes from the Metro Nashville Public Schools Board of Education in recent years, but Dr. Brenda Jones hopes to change that Tuesday night.Dr. Jones’ proposed Invictus Nashville Charter School is one of three charter applications board members will be deciding whether to approve. The board denied all three in the initial round of the approval process last April. That vote followed a similar denial of every proposed public charter school the year before.Jones hopes Invictus Nashville will find an easier path with its education model that focuses not just on academic outcomes, but social and emotional outcomes, opportunities for students to direct their education, and help students figure out what they want to do and what they can do to pursue their goals.

The approval process for proposed new public charter schools is about to begin its second round for school districts across the state.Four school boards will be voting on amended applications this month from nine public charter schools that were all denied in the spring.

Brenda Jones has a personal reason behind her mission to establish a new public charter school in Nashville.In a city that’s increasingly full of transplants, Jones is a proud Nashville native. She grew up living in East Nashville’s public housing at James Cayce Homes and attended public schools nearby, but her experience going into high school was a lesson in how the education system can be improved.