Tag Archives: Nashville schools

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MNPS School Board Elections 2026

TC Weber offers some insight into this year’s round of Nashville school board elections:

Did you know the Metro Nashville Public Schools board is holding an election this year?

Go ahead. Be honest.

Yeah. That’s what I thought.

Let me catch you up.

This year, the even-numbered seats are up—Districts 2, 4, 6, and 8.

Districts 2 and 8? Incumbents. No challengers.

District 4 has two candidates.
District 6 has three.

All Democrats.

Which means once the primaries are done, all four winners will run unopposed.

So if you’re looking for sweeping change…

You might be looking in the wrong place.

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Learning Through Food

Students at one Nashville high school are learning about business management and cooking by operating a food truck, NewsChannel5 reports:

McGavock High School students are getting hands-on experience in both culinary arts and business management through their food truck program called Raider Bites.

The program, which launched in recent months, teaches students everything from cooking and food preparation to financial management and customer service. Matthew Long, a student who serves as sous chef of the food truck, said the experience has prepared him for college and beyond.

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2026 Nashville “Teacherpreneurs” Announced

A media release from the Nashville Public Education Foundation (NPEF) announces the 2026 class of Nashville Teacherpreneurs and explains more about the program:

The Nashville Public Education Foundation (NPEF) announced the latest cohort of the Teacherpreneur program, marking its fifth year and continuing its partnership with founding supporter Amazon. Since 2021, the Teacherpreneur program has supported over 40 educators to develop their innovative solutions for removing barriers to student success, with winners receiving cash prizes and access to seed funding for implementation.

Some of the issues being considered by cohort members include creating employment certification pathways for multilingual students, increasing resources for family engagement programs, building support for first year teachers, and facilitating stronger connections to magnet school opportunities. The cohort experience will culminate in a pitch event in March 2026, where educators will present their ideas to a panel of community judges for a chance to win a share of $25,000, as well as funding to support the implementation of their ideas. The fifth Teacherpreneur cohort includes:

  • Courtney Antonello, H.G. Hill Middle School
  • Ashley Bolan, Hunters Lane High School
  • Mary Jo Cramb, Academy at Old Cockrill
  • Nakia Edwards, Oliver Middle School
  • Katie Fitzpatrick, Hume Fogg Magnet High School
  • Molly Goss, Cane Ridge High School
  • Heather Hall, East Nashville Magnet High School
  • Leigh Ann Harbort, Harris Hillman School
  • Madison Reeb, Valor College Prep
  • Likisha Rhodes, Cane Ridge High School
  • Louisa Saylor, Goodlettsville Elementary School
  • Debbie West, Waverly-Belmont Elementary School
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On Acting and School Administration

Nashville education blogger TC Weber talks about what passes for leadership in school system central offices:

Most district administrators began their journey as classroom teachers. They know kids. They know learning. They know what works and what absolutely does not. Deep down—buried under layers of jargon, compliance documents, and motivational posters—they recognize the absurdity of much of what they’re pushing.

Nobody who has spent more than 10 minutes with actual children believes that forcing every kid to be on the same page at the same time in the same way is a kid-centered practice. It’s not even an adult-centered practice. It’s a bureaucrat-centered practice.

No one with chalk dust buried in their bloodstream believes loading down a teacher with mandates, trainings, videos, forms, surveys, dashboards, rubrics, walk-throughs, and “fidelity checks” is a recipe for success. It’s a recipe for burnout, and we’ve watched that soufflé collapse again and again.

Go ahead, read it all>

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But Is Every Child Valued?

Nashville education blogger TC Weber offers a critique of MNPS’s “Every Child Known” slogan in light of the district’s policies and actions.

“Every child known” may actually be more accurate than “every child valued.”

That shift in wording—just one verb—changes everything.

Because when a district knows a child is in danger, knows their history, knows their struggles, knows the warning signs… and still fails them, what does that tell us about the hierarchy of value? What does that tell families? What does it tell students?

READ MORE>

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Career Explorations

NewsChannel5 reports on a program connecting high school students with career opportunities:

High school students in Nashville got a head start on their professional futures this week, participating in a career exploration event that connected them with representatives from different fields and industries.

The event, organized with help from Courtney Morgan, brought together freshmen students to learn about various career paths they might never have considered before.

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Scripted Success?

A Nashville education blogger takes on the use of scripted learning:

At a time when recruiting and retaining teachers is harder than ever, scripted instruction is a surefire way to push more of them out. After all, who needs trained professionals when you can browbeat employees into reading from a script?

This relentless pacing will ultimately cost the district its most talented educators. As one high-school teacher told me, “We’re getting to a point where I need to evaluate how much teaching I’m actually doing. Maybe it’s time to do something else.”

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What Time Should School Start?

Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) is studying school start times – perhaps with a look toward changing them to better meet the needs of students and families.

From the MNPS website:

Nashville Public Schools, in partnership with Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s Office and the Metro Nashville Board of Education, is conducting a districtwide review of school start and end times to better align with student well-being, family needs, and transportation efficiency.

This process is just beginning. No decisions have been made. The goal is to gather feedback, data, and community input to make informed decisions about potential changes that will be considered in the early part of 2026.

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NPEF Announces Teacherpreneur Application

The Nashville Public Education Foundation made the following announcement:

Since 2021, NPEF has led a cohort of educators through a unique professional learning experience designed to harness their expertise and innovation. Teacherpreneurs participate in 5 sessions over January and February to build out ideas that help advance positive outcomes for students.

Teacherpreneurs will identify an issue they want to address, research root causes of the issue, learn about change management theory, and use design thinking strategies to create solutions that help students thrive. Then, Teacherpreneurs will pitch their ideas for a chance to win cash prizes and seed funding to pilot their idea.

Information and application here.

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NPEF Welcomes New Leader

The Nashville Public Education Foundation (NPEF) has a new leader.

From an email:

We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Diarese George to our team! After an extensive national search, Dr. George has been selected as NPEF’s new President and CEO and will be starting in his role on August 4. He is currently the founder and executive director of the Tennessee Educators of Color Alliance (TECA) and previously served in a variety of roles serving the education ecosystem in Nashville and Tennessee, including as the director of recruitment for the Nashville Teacher Residency and as a high school teacher in the Clarksville/Montgomery County school district. We are looking forward to how his expertise and collaborative spirit will help NPEF advance outcomes for Nashville’s students. You can learn more about Dr. Diarese George in our official announcement here.

Diarese George
NPEF CEO

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