Memphis Local, Sports, Business & Food News | Daily Memphian | Chalkbeat Tennessee

Althea Greene remains MSCS board chair for second year

jajones@chalkbeat.org (Chalkbeat Tennessee) — Wed, 27 Sep 2023 18:43:31 -0500

“I pray that my colleagues, that we will lead together,” Greene said Tuesday. “We will march together. We will disagree, but disagree together.”

New MSCS custodial contracts would give school staff more input

jajones@chalkbeat.org (Chalkbeat Tennessee) — Fri, 22 Sep 2023 18:43:06 -0500

Under the proposal, which the school board will consider next week, the district would contract with four cleaning companies.

Memphis school board member Frank Johnson recovering from stroke

jajones@chalkbeat.org (Chalkbeat Tennessee) — Mon, 18 Sep 2023 18:03:08 -0500

The former teacher joined the school board last October to represent District 7, which includes east Whitehaven, Oakhaven and Hickory Hill.

Memphis’ Peabody Elementary closes for mold cleanup, forcing hundreds of students to relocate

jajones@chalkbeat.org (Chalkbeat Tennessee) — Mon, 18 Sep 2023 09:57:48 -0500

Students at Peabody Elementary School will attend class at two other buildings while the school district works to eliminate mold from the 114-year-old structure.

Aspire Memphis plans to spin off into its own charter organization, separate from the California group that founded it

jajones@chalkbeat.org (Caroline Bauman) — Fri, 11 Jan 2019 04:00:06 -0600

Aspire is spinning off its four Memphis schools into a new, independent charter school organization. The 1,600 students would officially transition at the beginning of the 2020-21 school year if the plan comes to fruition.

Educators combat chronic absenteeism in Tennessee’s state-run school district

jajones@chalkbeat.org (Caroline Bauman) — Thu, 10 Jan 2019 14:58:27 -0600

Research has shown that when students have more “familiar faces” around them in class, they’re less likely to be chronically absent, so nonprofits like Communities in Schools are sending staff members into local schools to combat absenteeism.

Aspire Memphis’ future in question as board weighs paths forward

jajones@chalkbeat.org (Caroline Bauman, Chalkbeat TN) — Mon, 5 Nov 2018 14:48:39 -0600

Facing a roughly $2 million operating deficit and lagging academic progress, a California-based charter organization that runs four schools in Memphis is reconsidering its future in the city – even floating the possibility of pulling out of the area altogether.

Tennessee students improve slightly on ACT in a year when national scores backslide

jajones@chalkbeat.org (Marta L. Aldrich) — Thu, 1 Nov 2018 04:00:07 -0500

Tennessee’s average ACT score ticked up slightly this year, again landing above 20 and defying national trends on the college entrance exam, according to results released on Wednesday.

How Memphis students came face to face with the painful history in their school’s backyard

jajones@chalkbeat.org (Laura Faith Kebede) — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 13:14:12 -0500

A few yards across from the parking lot of an all-boys Memphis school lies a small, tree-lined courtyard, where a class of eighth-graders studies a large historical marker.

Memphis high school’s prized planetarium still needs upgrades, but students are already fascinated by what it can do

jajones@chalkbeat.org (Laura Faith Kebede) — Mon, 8 Oct 2018 05:21:04 -0500

Keshawn Glover remembers hearing his dad talk about field trips to Craigmont High School’s planetarium decades ago, but last week the high school senior got to experience the school’s crown jewel for himself.

Texas minister rallies Tennessee pastors against private school vouchers

jajones@chalkbeat.org (Marta W. Aldrich) — Wed, 3 Oct 2018 12:46:35 -0500

A Texas pastor who has fought private school vouchers in his home state is bringing his call of support for traditional public education to Tennessee.

Tennessee’s 2018 graduation rate steady at 89 percent

jajones@chalkbeat.org (Marta W. Aldrich and Laura Faith Kebede) — Mon, 1 Oct 2018 12:20:55 -0500

Just over 89 percent of Tennessee’s public high school students graduated on time in 2018, maintaining the state’s record-high rate from last year, education officials announced on Monday.

At least 5 Memphis schools now risk a state takeover

jajones@chalkbeat.org (Laura Faith Kebede) — Fri, 28 Sep 2018 04:00:06 -0500

While Memphis mostly received good news when the state listed its most underachieving schools last week, at least five Shelby County schools appear to be at risk of state takeover.

17 schools in Tennessee’s turnaround district remain priority schools six years after first takeovers

jajones@chalkbeat.org (Caroline Bauman) — Fri, 28 Sep 2018 04:00:06 -0500

Most of the schools that were taken over by Tennessee’s turnaround district remain on the state’s priority list six years after the intervention efforts began.

Memphis moves from problem child to poster child on Tennessee’s new school improvement list

jajones@chalkbeat.org (Marta W. Aldrich and Laura Faith Kebede) — Sat, 22 Sep 2018 11:33:32 -0500

The city that has been the epicenter of Tennessee’s school improvement work since 2012 got encouraging news on Friday as fewer Memphis schools landed on the state’s newest list of troubled schools.