When it comes to playing football, Tennessee Athletic Director Chris Snoddy has a word of advice: take the head out of it. “I think we want to do more with the heads than we used to, the head has kind of become a big thing. Part of the influence of the NFL everyone wants to [...]

More than 200 new public school teachers in Nashville sat as students recently during a four-day training in the New Teacher Induction Program. It’s a regular event this time of year for Metro Nashville Public Schools. But this time, there are significant changes, including a new format focusing on major content areas like classroom management, [...]

Rutherford County Schools (RCS) get high marks in rankings released by the Tennessee Department of Education.  RCS and Franklin Special School District are the only two in middle Tennessee on the list of those achieving “exemplary” status—meaning they met targets during the 2011-2012 school year. The rankings are the first since the state’s new accountability [...]

Here is a theory on how to motivate more girls to be interested in science and math: connect those subjects to art and creativity. That’s the goal of an all-girls program in Nashville called Art2STEM. It’s a year-round program, but this summer, 50 girls spent a week mixing art with science—painting and making pretty objects while [...]

When it comes to science class, some teachers are just as intimidated as their students. “I was a little nervous because I know nothing about science,” says Dorcas Wallace, an experienced middle school teacher who was recently asked to teach the  4th grade science classes at her school. “It meant I had to go back [...]

Anthony Geraci is a food and nutrition expert who has a tall order. He oversees the massive central kitchen and the entire food service system for Memphis (Tennessee) City Schools. But he was hired to do more than plan the 100-thousand meals served in the school system each day. “Putting healthy kids in front of [...]

State education officials in Tennessee will allow select charter schools to take over ten low-performing public schools in Nashville and 31 in Memphis, beginning in 2013. The announcement is part of the Tennessee Achievement School District, an aggressive plan by the state to turn around failing schools as part of the federally-funded Race to the [...]

What does it take for a school to be labeled one of the best in the country? The faculty and students at Merrol Hyde Magnet School think they know the answer. The Hendersonville, Tennessee, school was listed among the best public high schools in the country by U.S. News in its annual ranking of schools. [...]

A street marketing campaign in Nashville could be a pathway to college for some Latino teens. It’s part of a fundraising drive to provide college scholarships for Latino students like Federico Gonzalez. “I’m really happy because I finished with my first year in college and I’m helping with this program right now—fundraising the scholarship,” says [...]

Laws that will affect Tennessee public school classrooms highlighted the legislative session that ended on May first. One of the most talked about is a proposal to revamps how education is taught in public schools (House Bill 3621). The bill would promote abstinence. But a more controversial section would discourage instructors from promoting any action [...]