Murfreesboro parents Amber and Scott Mitchell are currently looking for a school that will not only meet their special needs daughter’s academic requirements, but also one that meets her social emotional development needs.They believe the social emotional learning that’s woven into the fabric of Springs Public Schools’ Empower Academy’s self-driven curriculum may be the perfect fit. Their daughter is currently thriving in a self-paced Montessori model at kindergarten and Empower Academy would offer the option of continuing that in a Montessori-aligned approach.“What really drew us to Montessori to begin with was the individual teaching and catering the education to the individual rather than teaching one way to the group,” said Scott Mitchell.

Rutherford County Director of Schools James Sullivan wants to change the narrative around mental health in the district to provide additional resources to students who need them.Sullivan invited the nonprofit Volunteer Behavioral Health Care System to talk with the board about potentially expanding its Project BASIC (Better Attitudes and Skills in Children) program into Rutherford County Schools.

Springs Empower Academy students now have a picture of what their future school will look like.School leaders unveiled renderings Monday for the new K-8 public charter school that will open in fall of 2024 and serve up to 480 students in Smyrna. Rutherford County School Board members approved the K-8 public charter school last year and Springs Empower Academy is now in the process of purchasing land on Enon Springs road to build the school.

Members of the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission unanimously overturned a decision by the Jackson-Madison County School Board Thursday and questioned how “serious” district leaders were taking the process.Those comments came during Thursday’s successful appeal by American Classical Education to open the first public charter school in Madison County. School board members initially rejected ACE’s application to open American Classical Academy – Jackson-Madison (ACAJM) in July citing 74 deficiencies.The district didn’t send anyone to attend Thursday’s appeal hearing in Nashville and Commissioner Alan Levine criticized that decision, saying it makes it look as though the district isn’t taking the process seriously.

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.

Dozens of parents are lending their support to American Classical Education (ACE)’s appeal to open the first public charter school in Madison County.The Tennessee Public Charter School Commission received 80 written comments from the public related to ACE’s appeal and nearly 50 of them came from parents like Linda Lipford who are offering their support.

American Classical Education’s (ACE) appeal to open the first public charter school in Maury County faced a new criticism at Thursday’s public hearing with the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission.Maury County resident Jackie Marshall accused the organization of essentially trying to start a religious school on taxpayer dollars through its connections to Michigan-based Hillsdale college.“Hillsdale College is about theology. Considering Hillsdale’s Middle Tennessee Board, which is made up of conservative evangelicals, it worries me that this charter school will become similar to the religious private schools that Maury County has so many of. Keep religion, politics, and a false curriculum out of Maury County Public Schools,” said Marshall.

The Sumner County Board of Education voted to move $15.5 million out of reserves to fund the first wave of stadium renovations, rebuilds, and facility updates in the district.The need for renovations arose following the collapse of Beech High School’s bleachers last month. A portion of the visitors’ bleachers at Beech High School’s Shackle Island Stadium collapsed overnight following days of heavy wind and rain.

The most controversial issue at Monday’s Williamson County School Board meeting wasn’t even on the agenda.Nearly three dozen parents and students came to the meeting to express their opinions on whether pride flags should be allowed in district classrooms.The issue has gained attention across the country in recent years and the Williamson Herald reported the local Moms for Liberty chapter encouraged parents come to Monday’s meeting and urge the school board to adopt a policy that only allow the state and American flags in public schools.

Six Tennessee schools have been recognized as National Blue Ribbon Schools for their academic performance or their work to close achievement gaps between student groups

Shelbyville parents and educators gave the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) a lot to consider as it fine tunes the new system to provide an A through F grade to each public school.TDOE plans to unveil the School Letter Grades to the public in November and the department has spent the last few weeks hosting public events across the state to gather input.Thursday night’s meeting in Shelbyville provided a number of concerns from both parents and school leaders who don’t want the school grading system to devalue student growth in favor of student achievement.Bedford County Superintendent Tammy Garrett was among them, saying increasing the importance of student achievement on School Letter Grades won’t help with the teacher shortage poorer counties like hers are facing.

Rutherford County School Board members voted Shelia Bratton to be the new board chair Tuesday evening, replacing former chair Tammy Sharp.Sharp withdrew from serving another one-year term due to a medical diagnosis that she wishes to focus her full attention on.“I just wanted to thank everyone for the emails, the texts, and the phone calls in support of my well-being and my new diagnosis. I even had some people here tonight. Thank you, thank you everyone, and it was an honor for me to serve the last year and aside Dr. Sullivan and we’re gonna keep going. We’re gonna go from here,” said Sharp.

Accountability was the main focus for Cookeville parents, educators, and administrators during a Tuesday night discussion about how schools should be graded for serving students.The public meeting is the latest in a series of forums hosted by the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) to gather state input on how to improve the new School Letter Grades evaluation tool. The tool will provide an A through F letter grade for each public school when it launches in November.Grading schools based on student academic growth has been a common topic discussed in prior meetings, but this time, multiple speakers stressed the importance of School Letter Grades providing a measurement for student achievement and career/college readiness.

Rutherford County is home to two of the top readers in the state.Smyrna’s Stewart’s Creek High School Senior Taylor Aslup and Murfreesboro’s Oakland Middle School sixth-grader Gibson Weber were among four winners of the annual Tristar Reads contest.

Parents and educators in Dickson kicked off a series of town hall events across the state Tuesday night designed to help the state grade its public schools.The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) is hosting a total ten forums throughout August and September to fine tune the long awaited A-F School Letter Grades. When it launches in November, the new accountability resource will provide the public with a clear understanding of where schools fall on a grading scale in comparison to other schools.“What we wanna hear from you about is how do we measure a school’s academic progress. We’re thinking about developing a letter grade system for schools that’s really intended to provide parents and families with clear, understandable information that’s comparable across the state,” said a TDOE representative in the hearing.

Parents and educators in Dickson kicked off a series of town hall events across the state Tuesday night designed to help the state grade its public schools.The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) is hosting a total ten forums throughout August and September to fine tune the long awaited A-F School Letter Grades. When it launches in November, the new accountability resource will provide the public with a clear understanding of where schools fall on a grading scale in comparison to other schools.“What we wanna hear from you about is how do we measure a school’s academic progress. We’re thinking about developing a letter grade system for schools that’s really intended to provide parents and families with clear, understandable information that’s comparable across the state,” said a TDOE representative in the hearing.

Members of the Maury County Public Schools Board of Education narrowly voted down a much talked about application by American Classical Education (ACE) to open the county’s first public charter school.

The halls of Cheatham County’s middle and high schools will look a bit different when students return August 7.  Students will no longer be carrying backpacks to class.

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.

Special needs students in Rutherford County may get to live out their dreams of becoming superheroes in the near future.At Thursday’s Rutherford County School Board meeting, The Every Kid Is A Hero Foundation presented board members with a proposal to give special needs students in the district a chance to become heroes in a comic.“What we have done, we’ve become a foundation called The Every Kid Is A Hero Foundation,” said foundation representative Lee Colvin. “Within this county’s school system, what we’re trying to do is we’re trying to come in and we’re trying to work with the special needs high school programs.”