Local Education, Memphis Sky Arnold Local Education, Memphis Sky Arnold

Empower Memphis Career and College Prep opens in Memphis next year, bringing elementary career exploration to life

ParagraphLife has been busy for Muna Olaniyi ever since the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission unanimously approved her dream of opening a career based public charter school to serve families in Orange Mound and South Memphis.Empower Memphis Career and College Prep remains on track to open in the fall 2024, but Olaniyi says there are still a lot of important decisions to make before then.

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Charter Commission director backs proposed public charter schools in Nashville, Memphis and Jackson

Four proposed public charter schools in Memphis, Nashville, and Jackson are all receiving new support from a key state board leader.Tennessee Public Charter School Commission Executive Director Tess Stovall recommended commissioners approve those schools’ appeals at two meetings later this week.

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Local Education Brandon Paykamian Local Education Brandon Paykamian

Denied proposed public charter schools make their appeal to the state this week

Proposed public charter schools have not found an easy road to approval in Tennessee this year.Local school boards approved just two charter applications, American Classical Academy-Rutherford and the Tennessee Career Academy in Memphis. School board members in Shelby, Davidson, Madison, Montgomery, Robertson, and Maury County denied every other application to open a new public charter school in their communities this year.Six of those applicants are appealing to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission beginning this week. Commissioners have the option of overturning charter application denials and members did just that with three high-quality applications in Nashville last year.

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Local Education, Memphis Sky Arnold Local Education, Memphis Sky Arnold

Memphis-Shelby County Board denies proposed public charter school that meets state standards but leaves door open for one that doesn’t

A short-handed Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) Board of Education chose an unexpected path in the public charter school approval process Tuesday night. With several members absent, the board voted to support a proposed public charter school that failed to pass multiple reviews while denying others the district itself rated higher.

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Nine proposed public charter schools are up for vote this month. Will school boards follow the recommendations from independent reviewers who gave five applications high marks?

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.

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Local Education, Memphis Sky Arnold Local Education, Memphis Sky Arnold

District recommends denial for every proposed public charter school in Memphis, including one that met state standards

Four proposed public charter schools may face a tougher road to finding approval in Memphis.The Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) charter review team is recommending school board members deny applications from every proposed public charter school this year, including Pathways in Education, CHANGE Academy, Empower Memphis Career and College Prep, and the Tennessee Career Academy.

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