Memphis-area private schools are re-assessing the safety and security measures they have in place to protect students.

“That’s what this festival can really highlight: the healing power of the arts, and the significant impact the U of M arts program has on this city to impact change,” said Ryan Fisher, interim dean at the University of Memphis College of Communication and Fine Arts.

The state-funded Healthy Smiles Initiative will tackle Tennessee’s shortage of dentists and work to make dental care more readily available.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools also gave updates about Hanley School, Mt. Pisgah Early College Middle and High School and the former Shady Grove Elementary.

Strom was born in Chicago but moved to Memphis when she was five years old. She founded Facing History in 1976 after piloting a Holocaust curriculum in her eighth-grade humanities classroom in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Officers with the Memphis Police Department responded to the crash at East Mallory Avenue and Prospect Street at 4:46 p.m.

“I always say that my job is to come in and teach them to be champions for the planet,” said Emma Simmons of Clean Memphis.

Collierville is the only high school in Shelby County to have an Anatomage, expanding health science education opportunities on the campus that produced 40 certified nursing assistants in 2022.

“I’m excited for people to drive by and say, ‘There is Merit in Memphis’” said Lakenna Booker, Memphis Merit Academy’s founder and head of school. 

Bartlett City Schools will tackle removing asbestos from Ellendale Elementary, improving a drainage at Bartlett Elementary and projects at Bon Lin Elementary, Bon Lin Middle and Rivercrest Elementary.

New plans for the former Shady Grove Elementary include pre-K classrooms, new playgrounds, office space for district employees and resources for the surrounding community.

MSCS interim superintendent Toni Williams has decided she wants the top job — permanently. 

A tentative repair contract shows a projected final completion date of Aug. 15, a week after the new school year is set to start.

Interim Superintendent Toni Williams said a 10-year plan is in the works that would entail looking at building utilization, enrollment, school combinations, new buildings and wrap-around services for students.

The University of Memphis has brought back a former veteran professor to serve as its new and permanent second-in-command.

“As my school librarian taught me, not all books are right for every reader, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t right for the library.”

Former MSCS deputy superintendent John Barker has proposed a new vo-tech charter school for the district to consider.

Two contenders for Memphis mayor say they have already decided they will not keep Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis as Memphis Police director if they are elected.

A new state bill working its way through the state legislature would provide options for deciding when to implement the third-grade retention process.

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Amendment to controversial third grade law passes first legal hurdle

The amendment would allow students to use their most recent benchmark test score to show they are proficient in reading and move on to the next grade.

The South Memphis congregation was the oldest African American church in the Presbytery of the Mid-South. 

The school board is set to name a new superintendent in April, with the person starting between May and July.

“Imagine being in the bronze age without bronze. We’re in the information age and they got no access to info.”

Physicist Alan Lightman has conversed with both the Dalai Lama and humanoid robot BINA48. Lightman is a MIT professor, bestselling author and native Memphian.

The school recently took home 19 awards from the 2023 Tennessee High School Press Association Awards, including Overall Best TV Station for its AHS TigerLife channel on YouTube.