Houston High earned Germantown the top ACT scores in the state. At 25.6, the composite average is slightly below what the district saw in the 2018-19 school year.

A Shelby County Schools presentation to school board members this week provided the first systemwide look at student learning loss in the months since school buildings closed due to the coronavirus crisis. 

Students attending on the hybrid platform will learn remotely. Friday was already scheduled as a remote learning day. 

Stella Student Spaces has filed for a time extension for the approval it received two years ago to build 472 beds of student housing in an already congested neighborhood just west of the University of Memphis. But the filing does not mean what it appears, a U of M official says.

Tennessee Education Association President Beth Brown urged the governor this week to set firm guidance on when school buildings should close due to infection rates and ensure that all students and staff wear face coverings for those that remain open.

Linda Fisher is stepping down from the Germantown Board of Education after seven years. Fisher is the last original member on the suburban district’s board.

Shelby County Schools identified $7.6 million in savings from switching to all virtual instruction since August to make the increases happen. They apply to all full-time and part-time employees, regardless of performance.

Gov. Bill Lee wants to maintain funding for public schools in Tennessee’s next budget, even as a statewide decline in student enrollment would normally result in a decrease of at least $320 million.

The Shelby County Schools district says 65% of parents who responded to a survey want their children off-campus when school resumes in person in January; 24% chose in-school learning and 11% didn’t respond.

The project would add to $107 million in facility investments on the Park Avenue Campus since 2015.

Officials broke ground Wednesday, Nov. 11, on the Early Childhood Academy in Orange Mound, a collaboration of the University of Memphis and Porter-Leath.

tnAchieves is looking for mentors to help students entering the TN Promise program. This year, because of COVID-19, students and mentors will use a virtual platform.

Patents2Products pays salaries for researchers working on tech startups in U of M laboratories.

Jeff Mayo took over in the middle of a pandemic to steer the Arlington Community Schools. Now, he is preparing for his second semester at the helm.

The billboard campaign to encourage civic engagement is sponsored by an arts-based organization called For Freedoms.

Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn believes some families opted to home-school their children, and others enrolled their kids in private schools, especially in Memphis and Nashville. But the biggest decline was in kindergarten enrollment.

Shelby County Schools leaders said survey results won’t be released this week as school leaders do “one last sweep” with parents who have not responded.

There could be a shortage of teachers and monitors in January if survey results reflect what association leaders are hearing. 

The Tennessee State Board of Education has given initial approval to proposed revisions that increase coursework in basic statistics, including understanding and using data. 

Shelby County Schools plans to phase in students with disabilities by their grade, some as early as Jan. 4 

“As students, many of us are saddened when we see decisions made about our well-being that will not affect the decision-makers but will clearly affect us. We just hope this starts a true conversation where every argument is given equitable consideration.”

In September, the campus was among publication’s best universities in the world.

Facing History and Ourselves, Bridges, Girl Scouts: Heart of the South and the National Civil Rights Museum will participate in a panel discussion at Leadership Memphis’ annual Multicultural Breakfast Nov. 6 that will be held virtually this year. 

The partnership formalizes research, conservation and purity of groundwater efforts between the entities.

Wright Cox has been on the suburb’s Board of Education since the district’s inception. As he looks forward to the next four years, he is hopeful about the district’s future.