As the start of the school year approaches, Shelby County Schools and surrounding suburban districts are releasing guidelines on how they’ll reopen safely, amid rising COVID-19 cases and uncertainty around the Delta variant.

The sites are for future schools, looking 15 to 20 years down the road, Superintendent Ted Horrell said. 

State education commissioner Penny Schwinn visited an SCS Summer Learning Academy at Lowrance K-8 School.

Masks will be required when the coming SCS school year begins, but field trips, athletics and reopened playgrounds will come back again. 

The university raised more than $35 million, including a record of $26.5 million for academic support when unemployment was at record highs and the campus mostly was quiet.

In addition to helping with back-to-school paperwork for kids, adults can get copies of birth certificates, and free COVID shots from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. July 17 at the health department.

The two teachers’ unions in Memphis used to be one. But a battle over local control caused them to split.

The facility at the University of Memphis opened June 30 with a variety of amenities for students. 

The Lakeland School System is on track to open the district’s first high school, filling a void as the only one of the six suburban systems without one.

Perea Preschool is no longer connected with Church Health, instead being absorbed into Perea Elementary School, as of July 1.

The pandemic curbed the speed of pilot departures in the industry, but officials see a shortfall ahead as commercial pilots retire.

Shelby County Schools Superintendent Joris Ray announced 38 leadership positions in the district are being filled, including 24 new principals.

Jeff Cohran brings experience of world tours and years in the music industry with pop star Janelle Monáe to the faculty at the University of Memphis.

The district voted to approve a $750,000 contract for Educational Epiphany, a company whose proposed contract teachers protested earlier this year. 

Students and staff have been notified; campus leaders will help those who have difficulty getting access.

The COVID-19 pandemic reduced some revenue streams to a trickle at four-year colleges and universities. But coming out of the pandemic, administrators believe they are smarter and more efficient. “Really, what the pandemic did is it accelerated the pace of change,” said U of M President M. David Rudd.

Six recipients from across the UT System honored with award and $3,000.

Jeff Mayo was rewarded with a raise, bonus and contract extension for his leadership of the district during the coronavirus pandemic.

Collierville Schools’ Board of Education will review revisions to its grading policy Tuesday. The proposal also eliminates some measures taken due to the pandemic.

We asked teachers and students how their educational experiences have shifted in the past school year, as they navigated changing start dates, completely virtual schooling, vaccinations and meeting with classmates on-screen.

Two nonprofits organized a colorful way to hand over scholarship checks of $2,000 each to 104 girls and young women on Friday, June 18.

LeMoyne-Owen welcomed back students — prospective or current — for the first since the campus closed last March at the COVID-19 pandemic’s beginning; a moment that brought joy and excitement to staff and faculty at Memphis’ only HBCU.

Overton High School’s class of 2021 walked across the stage during an in-person graduation after the pandemic took away months of in-person learning and senior celebrations. 

Shelby County Schools officials say the Head Start contract with Porter-Leath is unprecedented in terms of its autonomy. A Porter-Leath representative says the relationship started to go bad two years ago.