001Good evening everybody. I just had two quick announcements. I wanted to recognize Mr. Ashford Hughes for work that he did last week and in one of my clusters in the Whites Creek cluster at Richard Dinkins Middle School. He along with Mr. Thomas Francis and Mr. Tony Hall hosted a workshop for fathers at that school and I just wanted to recognize the work that they're doing going above and beyond engaging our families and inviting men to support their children in the academic setting and so they had fathers, uncles, grandfathers, even cousins coming out to support their children and and get engaged in the academic environment. So I appreciate the work that you're doing and just wanted to shout them out. And then my other announcement is that it's not too late. We have 10 ready coming
002up and it's not too late to help proctor in our schools. And so we're asking if you have some availability during the day go to the pencilforschools.org website and sign up for any volunteer opportunities to help proctor at 10 ready for our students and our teachers. Thank you. Students, junior school board member. You're the only other person. >> [laughter] >> Hi. First announcement, early voting starts tomorrow and ends April 30th for Davidson County. So make sure you all go out and vote. Second, Mayor's Youth Council is hosting a resource drive. We are hoping to get donated hygiene essentials, hair care products, non-perishable foods, new socks and underwear, gently used clothing, books and comfort items. We hope you drop these donations off by February 17th at the Oasis Center. Um and then E.can is hosting a
003college readiness workshop April 19th from 2:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at 4506 Nolensville Pike, Nashville, Tennessee. The topics will be scholarships, financial aid, college search, ACT/SAT, resume, extracurricular extracurriculars and more. And lastly I wanted to shout out that two of our wonderful debate teams went out this past weekend to have nationals at Harvard Harvard. Um So congrats to our two um teams who were able to go and do that have Harvard debate champs championships. So yeah. District 6 Thank you, ma'am. Just a couple of announcements. Just a reminder that we are currently accepting applications for our next junior student school board member. The applications are open now through April 30th at 5:00 p.m. All information must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. on April 30th in order for your application to be considered. Please go to
004the MNPS website and look for the applications. I am excited that we are getting those applications in but we certainly want to encourage more young people to apply. If you are a rising junior, this is your opportunity to sit in one of these seats up here. So please apply. Also on April 25th at from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. there will be an Antioch Community Health and Wellness Fair held at Antioch High School at 1900 Hobson Pike. Again, that's Saturday, April 25th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. there will be food trucks, activities and Metro Public Health is one of the sponsors along with Antioch Care Now and Wellpoint. So please join us at that event. It's a family-friendly event. We hope to see you all there. Thank you. Thank you and the last announcement
005is is early voting starts tomorrow. So April 15th through the 30th. >> May 3rd. May 5th. Thank you. That concludes announcements. I call this meeting to order. We have a quorum with all six well eight um eight school board members present. Um we'll start the pledge of allegiance. I will lead the pledge of allegiance. So will everyone stand. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. All right. I will accept a motion to approve the agenda. Is there a motion? Motion to approve. Motion be made by member Maze. Is there a second? Second by Vice Chair Nabatanzi Kenny. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? We will go on to words
006recognition. Dr. Battle. All right. Good evening, Chair Player and board members. Tonight I'm excited to recognize some outstanding graduating seniors who've been stars of their high schools. It's always a pleasure to recognize our Academies of Nashville's students of the year as they prepare to graduate next month. Each of these 12 students, one from each of our 12 zone high schools has gone above and beyond in striving for excellence in representing our schools and the Academies of Nashville's our internationally known model of rigorous relevant small learning communities that expose our students to career pathways throughout their high school experience. I want to thank their principals, academy coaches and teachers, their parents and other family members, the business partners who work with the academies and everyone else who has played a role in these students' lives their
007high school careers and their success. Thank you as well to everyone on our Academies of Nashville and Career and Technical Education team here at the Support Hub. And thank you to Deloitte and to PENCIL for sponsoring our student of the year program once again this year and giving each of these students some supplies to help them start the next chapters of their lives after graduation. So let's hear a little more about these outstanding student leaders. I know at least a couple of them are participating in athletic events tonight but students, as I call your name, please come up front and then we'll get a big group photo at the end. First up we have from Antioch High School Kobe Belton who will attend the University of Memphis on an academic scholarship to pursue a degree
008in sports management. Kobe, if you're here, come on up. Kobe's not here. We also have from Cane Ridge High School, the student of the year is Along Gaul who will attend Union Commonwealth University on a football scholarship and major in sports medicine. We're also recognizing from Glencliff High School, we have Aliyah Lopez who plans to attend a four-year university to pursue a degree in business. From Hillsboro High School, the student of the year is Elijah Van Der Heiden who will attend Berry College and study either biology or psychology in the pre-med program while playing soccer at the collegiate level. From Hunters Lane High School, we have Shamai Felton who is on her way to Middle Tennessee State University to study social services. From James Lawson High School, let's give it up for Jeremy Lemkey who
009plans to attend a four-year university and hopes to work in the arts focus on lightning design and technical direction. Y'all give it up for Jeremy. From Maplewood High School, we have the student of the year um and that is Chris Vestal who plans to major in computer engineering at either Vanderbilt Tennessee State, Fisk, UT Chattanooga, UT Knoxville, Belmont, Austin Peay, the University of Memphis or Tennessee Tech. From McGavock High School, we have Paul Ann Wan who will attend Vanderbilt on a four-year full ride scholarship through the Nashville Vanderbilt Scholars Program which is part of our University MNPS portfolio. I have to keep reading. >> [laughter] >> From John Overton High School, the student of the year is Shane Ning who is attending heading to Belmont University to major in architecture. >> [applause] >> FROM PEARL
010COHN HIGH SCHOOL, we have Donovan Marshall who will attend Georgetown College in Kentucky and major in environmental sciences on A FOOTBALL SCHOLARSHIP. >> [applause] >> FROM STRATFORD STEM MAGNET HIGH SCHOOL, let's give it up for Kiana Butler who is planning to go to college and wants to work in the medical field furthering what she has already learned in her bio STEM pathway AT STRATFORD. >> [applause] >> AND FROM WHITES CREEK HIGH SCHOOL, the student of the year is Janae Gaines who will attend Tennessee State University on a four-year full ride TSU trailblazer scholarship through the UNIVERSITY MNPS PROGRAM. >> [applause] >> JANAE PLANS TO MAJOR IN biology and ultimately become an anesthesiologist. So y'all once again help give it up for our Academies of Nashville students OF THE YEAR. >> [applause] [applause] >> ALL RIGHT,
011IF WE CAN LET'S get pictures of our students first. And then if board members if you can stand behind and if we have any principals, teachers, academy coaches, family members here if you want to come up and surround our students of the year we would love to get a quick photo. >> [laughter] >> Oh yeah, yeah. They're in they're going to be the next for me. They'll wrap up the juggernaut Oh yeah, no I know. >> [laughter] >> Oh wait, can Can y'all slide back? Look this way real quick. We're going to need we're going to need all the space. Oh maybe I need to be up front. And then families we're going to go to our reception across the way. Which door do you want us to take? All righty. We're going to the
012wellness center. That one? That's the one. The right into it. Thank you students and families and they are all off to a reception at the wellness center across the street to celebrate their great success. So have some cake and some punch and cookies and punch and cookies and more sugar. All right, now we'll move on to Now we'll move on to Dr. Battle for the director's report. All right, thank you so much um chair player. Good evening again board members. Before we jump into our report today I'd just like to we'll do something more official here shortly when we can get them on the agenda but I do want to acknowledge our visual performing arts team as well as our three schools Cane Ridge High School, Hume-Fogg Academic Magnet School and Warner Arts Magnet School
013who are all represented in our documentary three-part series that was released and premiered I should say on Saturday. Congratulations to them for those of you who've been following along we're really excited about our district produced documentary series that follows three of our arts programs across the district that really highlights the talents of our educators and our young people particularly coming on the heels of our every student known documentary and great work. So shout out to those three schools, their principals, their school community as well as Franklin Willis of visual and performing arts, the entire visual and performing arts team as well as well as our partners in the moving picture boys. If you missed the premiere the trailer please go back last night we dropped the first episode of the three-part series on YouTube. You
014can stream it by visiting our all of our socials and we'll connect you to it but you can go directly to it on YouTube as well. What will happen next is over the next two weeks we will release a new episode as a part of the documentary series again very proud of the team and just the incredible talent that is on display through the documentary titled Music City High a celebration of the arts in Nashville public schools. So again kudos to everyone and thank you to the entire team. They're not all here but let's give them a round of applause for their incredible work. And thank you to everyone who came out on Saturday. We did have two different premieres and I'll just say I should save some of this but watching our very own
015students watch themselves on the big screen was pretty incredible a goosebump moment. So [clears throat] really proud of them and we'll get them here to celebrate here soon. Tonight we are showcasing none other than the amazing Maplewood cluster who is here. I am going to turn it over to our chief of academics and schools Dr. Renita Perry. She will kick them off and then we'll hear from those incredible leaders representing the cluster work. Thank you. Thank you Dr. Battle. Good evening board chair and board members. It is truly my honor to introduce the Maplewood cluster. Where our vision for MNPS reimagined is not just a framework but a lived experience for our students. In this cluster we see a clear and intentional pathway from elementary to middle school to high school grounded in aligned instruction,
016strong feeder patterns, and a deep commitment to ensuring every student is known. Maplewood exemplifies what it means to deliver on our GPA experiences through a focus on high quality instruction, meaningful career exploration, and supporting the whole child. This cluster is bringing the Maplewood promise to life. As students move along this journey they are developing the confidence, the knowledge, and skills to become our to become students who are college and career ready equipped to think critically, act with purpose, and contribute meaningfully to our community. Tonight you will hear from our leaders who are building more than strong individual schools. They are building a connected, coherent system designed to ensure every student in the Maplewood cluster is prepared to lead and thrive in Nashville public schools. Come on up Maplewood cluster principals. >> Good evening, everyone. We
017proudly represent the Maplewood cluster located in District 1 under the leadership of school board member Mr. Robert Taylor. I'm Myata Alexander, principal of Ross Early Learning Center. I'm Shelley Hood, principal of Tom Joy Elementary. I'm Michael Beno, the principal at Chadwell Elementary. I'm Jocelyn Adams, the principal of Hattie Cotton Elementary. I'm Dexter Adams, the principal of Ruby Wells Elementary. I'm Cheryl Bowman, the principal of Schwab Elementary. Hello, I'm Keisha Cox, principal at Jerry Baxter Middle School. And I'm Sonya Brooks, principal of Maplewood High School. Together, we are the Maplewood cluster, where students are empowered and every dream is nurtured. In the Maplewood cluster, every student's journey is grounded in three key experiences: high-quality instruction, career exploration, and support for the whole student. These through-lines make up the Maplewood promise. At the pre-K level, we build
018the foundation, developing early academic skills, social-emotional growth, and a love of learning that ensures our students enter elementary school ready to learn. At the elementary level, we strengthen that foundation through high-quality instruction, helping students master essential skills, build confidence, and begin connecting learning to the world around them. At the middle school level, students explore their interests more deeply, growing in independence, discovering potential career pathways, and developing the skills to take ownership of their learning. At the high school level, students apply their learning in meaningful ways, engaging in rigorous coursework, real-world experiences, and clear pathways that prepare them for college, career, and life. Tune in as we take a journey to explore the GPA experience in the Maplewood cluster. Welcome to the Maplewood cluster, the premier place for learning in East Nashville. Here, students grow through
019high-quality instruction, discover their futures through career exploration, and thrive because we support the whole student. Across our schools, Maplewood offers the strongest student, family, and community supports [music] in MNPS. Here, students are known. Here, dreams are nurtured. The Maplewood cluster, where every student is empowered and every dream is nurtured. Before we dive into each school, [music] let's take a look at the Maplewood journey. Students move through a clear, intentional pathway that grows with them. In early learning and elementary school, [music] students are discovering possibilities, building strong foundations, and learning what's possible for their future. In middle school, students are exploring pathways, deepening their learning, and beginning to connect interests to careers. [music] In high school, students are owning the journey, taking on a rigorous coursework, and preparing for college, careers, and life beyond graduation. At
020every stage, students experience the same three through-lines: high-quality instruction, career exploration, and support for the whole student, each one deepening as the students grow. Your path, your choice, [music] our commitment. Pre-K readiness, the first step in the Maplewood journey. Before elementary school, our youngest learners begin their journey in high-quality pre-K environments that lay central foundations for success. [music] Through purposeful play, early literacy and math instruction, social-emotional learning, and strong family partnerships, our students build the readiness skills they need to enter [music] kindergarten confident, curious, and prepared. I learned how to read at Ross. I learned how to count at Ross. Elementary schools, discovering possibilities. Elementary schools build on pre-K readiness and expand [music] the Maplewood through-lines with purpose and joy. At Tom Joy Digital Literacy and Leadership Magnet School, [music] we believe that every child
021has innate leadership ability. >> [music] >> Our core purpose is to communicate their worth and value with such clarity that they begin to see it in [music] themselves. We actively promote diverse leadership opportunities, [music] both within the classroom and throughout the larger school community. Students engage in meaningful roles that build confidence and skills. [music] They broadcast our morning meetings. They serve as school ambassadors, >> [music] >> and they lead a variety of service learning projects. Here at Tom Joy, I love that they donate food for our families in need. Here at Tom Joy, I love it when we can learn um new things every day, especially in ELA and math. Students begin imagining their future by exploring community roles, participating in career days, and engaging in project-based learning. Being the first MNPS Elementary AVID school,
022we truly emphasize and believe our students are college, career, and life ready by connecting learning through a high-quality curriculum and community engagement. At Ruby Wells, we expose our students to colleges and careers because we believe that if they see it, believe it, they become intrinsically motivated to [music] become it. When we learned about black history, I wanted to try being a better person. When we learned about architect and building and designing, I wanted to be a architect. Our schools build strong classroom communities through SEL routines, mentoring, and celebrations that help students feel safe, valued, and confident. At Chadwell, we believe behavior is a skill, and skills can be taught. We set clear expectations through our Chipmunk Code, and consistently practice what it looks like to meet them every [music] day. Each classroom has a calm
023corner where students learn to regulate their emotions and behavior. And when students need extra support, we provide mentoring, mental health therapists, and targeted supports to help every child grow. Because at Chadwell, we don't just teach students what to learn, [music] we empower them to thrive. I feel safe when I'm at school, when people lift me up, give me hugs, and help me when I'm doing the wrong thing. Through Community Achieves, Communities in Schools, and strong partnerships, we ensure students and families receive the supports they need to thrive. This is one of the defining strengths of the Maplewood cluster. [music] With Communities in Schools and Community Achieves supports, Maplewood's elementary [music] schools offer wrap-around services that remove barriers and uplift families, setting us apart as the cluster with the strongest community supports in Metro Nashville Public
024Schools. At Schwab Elementary, we love connecting with our community. From events like the Maplewood High School Back to School Bash and Fall Festival to family engagement programs, we're committed to building relationships that matter. I'm a Schwab ambassador. We represent our school at community and family events. I love helping with our clothing drive and our parent incentive store. Elementary students step into leadership roles and learn the power of their voice through service projects, classroom contributions, and student-led events. At Hattie Cotton, we believe every scholar has the power to make a positive impact on our school community. Leadership starts early as some of our youngest scholars proudly [music] make important classroom and school contributions by serving as scholar ambassadors and taking on roles that help them practice responsibility [music] and teamwork. As scholars grow, their leadership opportunities
025expand through programs such as Beta Club, Girl Scouts, and Young Bow Leaders. These experiences empower our scholars to lead with confidence, serve others, and develop essential life skills. [music] I love being at Hattie Cotton at Beta Club because we get to do service projects to help people that need it. Middle school, exploring pathways. At Jerry Baxter Middle School, students deepen their learning and discover new interest as all three Maplewood through-lines expand. High-quality instruction, preparing for rigor. Students engage in advanced coursework, project-based learning, and high school credit opportunities that build [music] academic confidence. At Jerry Baxter, we offer three high school credit courses and honors classes that focus on curiosity, rigor, relevance, [music] while preparing scholars to exceed expectations in middle school, high school, [music] and beyond. This class helps me get ready for high school
026because we collaborate, learn new skills, and think at high levels. Career exploration, discovering interest and passions. Students explore steam electives, pathways, and hands-on learning that help them identify their strengths and passions. At Maplewood High School, students take full ownership of their future as our throughlines reach their fullest expression. >> [music] >> Students participate in AP, honors, dual enrollment, and rigorous CTE courses that prepare them for college-level work. Our freshman students build a strong foundation through honors English 1 and integrated math 1. Sophomores, juniors, and seniors earn their OSHA 10 industry certification, deepen their readiness through expanded honors [music] offerings, AP US history, AP Spanish, AP seminar, and early exposure to dual enrollment [music] from universities such as Spelman, Howard, Georgetown, Arizona State, and many more through the National Ed Equity Lab. This year, our sophomores
027will have early access to earn [music] an associate's degree in health science through Nashville State Early College. From pre-K to graduation, the Maplewood cluster delivers high-quality instruction, expands career exploration at every stage, and surrounds students with the strongest community supports in Nashville. Students enter our schools to learn >> [music] >> and depart to serve. Here, students are seen. Here, they are supported. Here, they are empowered. The Maplewood cluster, your [music] path, your choice, our commitment. Welcome to the Maplewood >> [applause] >> We hope you've learned more about our cluster. I want to take this time just to highlight our automotive pathway, which in the video. Maplewood is proud to house the only in-school replica of the Firestone Complete Automotive Training Center, not just in the state, but in the nation. Our automotive pathway provides students
028with hands-on real-world experiences, industry-aligned aligned training through which provides students with hands-on real experiences and confidence that they need to go out into the real world. Bridgestone, who has been our partner and a lifetime vital resource, not only provide those real world experiences, but mentorship and direct access to the careers in the automotive industry, resulting in multiple students graduates from Maplewood securing employment upon completion of the program. This is the Maplewood promise that every student will will experience high-quality instruction, discover their path through meaningful career exploration, and be supported as a whole child every step of the way. Because here, every student is empowered and every dream is nurtured. Now, before we step away, we do want to share with you the launch of the Maplewood cluster magazine. It's a new platform designed to celebrate,
029highlight, and capture achievement and growth, as well as honor our journey and communicate the greatness that is happening every day in the Maplewood cluster. We are the Maplewood cluster. As we close, I want to extend my sincere appreciation to the outstanding principals of the Maplewood cluster for your leadership, your commitment to our students, and the intentional work you do every day to bring this vision to life across your schools. I want to extend a special thank you to Executive Director Dr. Shantrell Portel for her steady leadership, support, and dedication to ensure the coherence across all of our schools. The collective efforts this Maplewood cluster is not just a group of schools. It is grounded, it is connected in community, aligned in purpose, and focused on ensuring every student is known, they are empowered, and that
030every dream is nurtured. Thank you all for your continued leadership and for the impact you are making for our students and our families. At this time, I'll turn it back over to our Director of Schools, Dr. Adrienne Battle. All right. Thank you so much, um Chief Perry. Thank you so much uh to our leaders of the Maplewood cluster. Um just amazing um job articulating the pathway um in your cluster and just the connectedness across all of your schools. Um so, I will pause and turn it over to our chair to see if there are any questions for us. Are there any questions or comments? You go ahead. No, go. Maplewood, wow. So, we love a good give takeaway. So, thank you for this. Um couple of things. So, I saw that I I heard that
031Ida B. Wells has an AVID program, and I saw that Hattie Cotton has one, too. How many other schools in your cluster? You better shut it up. All of your schools have AVID programs. That's why y'all rock like you do. Um so, I absolutely enjoyed that presentation. Uh but, I love y'all for so many other reasons. Um so many so many reasons. Um Dr. Brooks, I think you know where I'm going with this. And uh Dr. Portel, I think you know where I'm going with this. We gave y'all some good folks from the Antioch cluster. So, >> [laughter] >> there you go. I love your I love your teams for for so many things. Um just a couple of other things, I want to give you a shout-out. Um your JROTC uh team at uh
032Maplewood High School have been rocking with us for a long time. Every single year, they have been the um the color guard for the MLK Day convocation, and they have always done an amazing job, and I thank you for that. And also, um I have a special connection. My one of your football coaches is my cousin, and I really do enjoy y'all having uh him there. So, thank you so much. I The presentation was amazing, and I just I absolutely learned so much more. This is going to help me learn even more. So, thank you so much for being here. Y'all rock. Uh Rachel. Oh. Okay, Erin O'Connell Block. Thank you. That uh thoroughly enjoyed the presentation and all of the information. I actually just have like a functional question, which is all of these
033fantastic uh videos, etc., are they available somewhere? Like, I would like to rewatch the video cuz I feel like there things I missed in um presentation uh and also just to be able to share it with people alongside this, which is awesome. Um and curious where these might appear. And also, if maybe everyone's going to do one. Um so, we >> Thank you for leading the way. Definitely. Certainly. Um we will get the videos um to everyone so that you have them at your disposal. We'll get them all in one place um for you. I will um share, if they don't mind, um they shared um their newsletter or is that what y'all calling it? Magazine, excuse me, magazine with other principals, and it was a hit. Um and that um I don't know, they
034might have got fussed at a little bit, um but they came out with their magazine and didn't tell anybody else. Um so, they've gotten lots of questions about how and when, but I believe the vision is that you all will have these um for your family and parent nights, for engagements, and for those who are interested in joining the Maplewood cluster, um they are planning to have these at the ready um to share more information about their cluster pathway. Um I share in marketing. Um yeah, I just want to uh echo the sentiment. I absolutely love these. Great marketing tool, hint hint. Um and so, hopefully we can get these out um and hopefully it's replicated um in clusters across MNPS. Um I'm going to let y'all explain that to your colleagues, okay? >> [laughter]
035>> Yeah. Um yeah, you didn't started a charge >> [laughter] >> for other for other clusters. Um but, kudos. Thank you for the great work that's happening um in Maplewood in the Maplewood cluster um and all the work that you're doing. Um I I hear about the Maplewood cluster often. A lot of great things that are happening in schools um across the Maplewood cluster, and so just really proud of the work that you're doing um and that families are choosing you all um to to attend. And so, thank you. Thank you. Uh Portia Woods. Oh. I'll have you go last. This is your cluster. Um remember Elrod. Thank you. So, I obviously haven't had a chance to read this documentation. So, my question will probably be in here. But I know that particularly with your
036emphasis on career exploration, what are the pathways that y'all provide? I think I missed that within all the information we received. What pathways do you have? Can you come to the mic, please? Thanks. We have two career academies. And so, we have our entrepreneurship and innovation academy, which has our cosmetology as well as our business entrepreneurship pathway. It also has our automotive pathway. In our second career academy, we have our health science and STEM academy, which has therapeutic um therapeutic pathway as well as our diagnosis. And then this year, we will also have our surgical tech, which will actually have a class that has started as well with that. And we'll have early college for our sophomores in the fall through our health science STEM academy. Okay. And And if we can add as you
037all notice, each of the schools are on their avid journey. Yes. Um and so, that is also consistent across all of our schools. And y'all are STEM. We're STEM and avid. STEM and avid um focus. And so, that consistent thread flows through their planning and their connections across the cluster. Okay. I have to ask the Firestone automotive pathway. Would you like a tour now? I'll get to that. I remember TJ. TJ. TJ, right. Sorry. Um are we allowed or is the public allowed to use that service? Is that something that y'all provide services with? Can I speak to that? Hello. Hello, TJ. TJ. Yes and no, and I want to be careful with putting that out there. We don't have the same customer or the same student base that had the knowledge to do things
038that we did before the pandemic. And we're still trying to catch up. So, it depends on the day and it depends on if the kids are available because I'm not allowed to keep them all day cuz I got a boss right here. Don't play. Go to class. >> [laughter] >> But yeah, so if you could just email me if it's something simple we can get through, then you know, we'll work you in. If we can't, we'll send you to a Firestone. You can't go wrong. We'll get you a discount. >> Okay. >> [laughter] >> Okay. But in I didn't know if you needed hands-on experience. Like if you did, I mean, I got a car, but I know other people do, too. Just just shout at the girl, okay? Just holler. Yes. And then in
039July or prior to the start of the school, our pathways submit an intent to operate form, which allows the access to to serve customers. Okay. Very cool. Um And on on that note, just in case we're going to switch gears, they'll be back because we just recently received notice about our continuing partnership. So, we'll have the team back to celebrate that shortly. Good. Okay. Um other than that, I appreciate y'all's presentation. I echo everybody's sentiment that this is a good idea. I mean, the first place I thought of with this was the school readiness fairs and the other fairs that we have, you know, to kind of help y'all stand out. It's a really cool idea. I look forward to looking through it. Admittedly, the school that I've been in the most within your cluster
040is I.D. Wells. I know that I was there when we had Council of Great City Schools and some other and also frankly because it was the first avid school elementary school. I remember that pretty clearly. And so, I appreciate y'all being here, giving us some of your time, and having such a good explanation of everything. And if I have any other questions, I will send them on. Thank you. All right. Vice Chair Buckingham. I just I just have a quick clarifying question. The early college program, what will students earn a associate in? In health science. In health science. Thank you. All right. Um Chairperson Mays. Member Mays. No, I don't. [laughter] And I just wanted to give for those of you who may not know her, TJ. TJ has been a constant at Maplewood and
041the Bridgestone uh setting for a really long time. And you rock, friend. Thank you for always serving our kids. And thank you for making them want to be in that space with you. I appreciate you. Yes. Anyone else before we go? Board Member Taylor. The floor is yours. It's your question. Well, I just wanted to thank you all for coming out tonight. Um I have gotten a chance to get into pretty much everybody's building. I haven't gotten the chance to see every principal when I was in your building, but I've been there and and I see the great work that you're doing with our students. I see the love and concern that your staff and your teachers have for our children. And and I just want to applaud you all and give you all kudos
042tonight for the hard work that you're doing in the Maplewood cluster. I think often times um other clusters try to take some of the shine, but you all are doing some amazing work over there with the students that you have to serve. And so, I thank you for that work. I do have one quick question. Um it's about the um the early college program again. Um we have partnerships with Ascension, Saint Thomas, and Vanderbilt there. Is that Yes. Okay. And then are they supporting the students once they they complete the early college program? Can you talk a little bit about that? Uh We just had the kickoff this fall. Yes, we just had our kickoff this fall. And so, yes, we have our partnership through Nashville State. And so, our students currently are taking those
043courses and we've identified students in the 10th grade who are actually will be doing that course in the fall. Great. I just wanted to make sure that the parents were aware that that was going on at Maplewood so that they can know that when they send their child to Maplewood, they're going to have that opportunity to have that two-year degree. And then that they're partnering with Ascension, Saint Thomas, as well as Vanderbilt throughout their program with Nashville State Community College. Yes, we do have a marketing piece. Again, it'll be implemented in the fall. So, we've had conversations with our freshmen, our rising 10th graders, and their parents. And the goal is to continue to have that conversation with all of our parents, letting them know that they have access to early college at Maplewood High
044School. So, we do have a one-pager that will be going out in addition to the conversations that we've already had. Great. Great. Great. Well, thank you so much. Okay. Just Can I add? I think the beauty about the early college partnership, the academy experiences as we've I'm highlighting the automotive tonight is the level of preparation students are going to receive as early as pre-K through their elementary experience, through middle school so that they can knock it out of the park in high school and beyond. And so, that alignment, that articulation that's happening across all of our schools is just going to continue to elevate their program experience, not only the early college, but also the partnership with N Neon where students are taking college courses in their high school classrooms on a daily basis. Yeah.
045Yeah. So, great work. Thank you all. I appreciate you all. And and I look forward to seeing you all in the school near you. >> [laughter] >> And kudos to Dr. Chantrell Pertle, who is executive director supporting this amazing amazing team. Thank you all so much. We also have our elementary principal of the year with us and representing the Maplewood cluster. They They got a little bit of it all. We got reward schools. We got level fives. We got it all happening in the Maplewood cluster. So, um thank you all so much. Great job, Maplewood. Thank you, everybody. And I know it's literally school night, so you can leave. >> [laughter] >> You know, you have to get up early in the morning. And if you want to stay, you're more than welcome. >> That,
046too. >> [laughter] >> That, too. We're not trying to kick you out, but we want to give you a graceful out. All right. We will now move on to public public public purpose participation. Thank you. I can enunciate eventually. Yeah. There we have one person. Honey Hildreth, you're up. Oh, already? You're already. You know, I run a I run an effective meeting. I don't play. >> [laughter] >> So, I was looking Oh, I let me do the particulars. Honey Harris. Uh O Hickory. Um I think that's all I had to say. 2 minutes. So, let me say first, and I'mma use my 2 minutes, that I like to see these students come in here with these awards. My daughter is 32. She graduated from McGavock. My son is 14. So, I have seen Metro. She
047came that way. I moved down here. She started preschool down here. I've taught in Metro for 26 years. I'm 53. So, that's half my life I've been in Metro. I finished college, got a a good five Fortune 500 job, and came to Metro. So, I've seen the good, the bad, and the indifferent. I'mma leave it like that. But I want to say thank you to these principals who work, teachers, and support staff. And thank you to this board. I've seen it change over a thousand times. And I know y'all ain't never heard me say this many thank yous. And that's on purpose because now I'm about to tell you I need some money. >> [laughter] >> 26 years, y'all. It has gotten better, but I'm still not where I can support my MNPS child in
048Davidson County. I need y'all to do something for me. I've asked that and asked that and asked that and I'm asking again. I'm asking again. I need a raise. I need steps. I need bonuses. I need cost of living, whatever y'all can dig from under the couch, under the cushions, under the car seats. I don't care where you get it from and who you get it from, but I need it to support my child. I need it to live. I need it to show up every day for our MNPS students. Y'all have to take care of me so I can take care of them. Thank you, Ms. Honey. Uh now we'll move on to budget report. We'll have a We'll have to do a budget and finance committee report. Uh Vice Chair Nimali Kenny. Um
049thank you. We uh if you were not here for the budget meeting, um go back and uh you're welcome to go back and watch it on your YouTube channel um where we have budget and finance committee meeting that started at 4:00. During that meeting, we discussed the proposed or preliminary budget um that we look to propose um for the Metro I mean that we look to propose and approve um and all the details surrounding that. So, uh for more details, uh continue to look at that. Our next process now is to go back and continue to um dig deep in our budget, um find um uh find efficiencies as well as opportunities uh to continue to improve that budget um and we will be be presenting that budget soon uh to the mayor's office uh
050to include in his uh city budget schedule. Thank you. All right, thank you for that report. Now we'll move on to the governance issues. May I have a motion for the consent agenda? Move to approve. Uh moved by member Young. Is there a second? Second. Uh there's been a member There's been a second by member Elrod. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? It passes unanimously. Now we'll go into student student student board I cannot talk today. I know. I did Yeah, anyway. Uh student board member reports. We'll start with our junior board member, please. Hello to remaining audience. Um Good evening. Um this is a more of special report because me and Hannah recently attended the Student Congress on Policies and Educations, also known as SCOPE conference. This is Hannah's second year going
051and this was my first, so it was very very exciting to be able to attend this. Um so, just a description of the conference. Annually, the Tennessee School Board Association hosts the Student Congress on Policies and Education SCOPE conference. Uh this conference brings together 9th through 12th graders um from across the state to discuss currents current topics in education and we got to explore education issues through a mock school board meeting, uh group discussions and debates with our peers. Um these events are were designed to give students an understanding of how school boards work um and what we can do uh to help better them. Um so, like I said previously, me and Hannah uh attended this conference on March 3rd, I believe. Um and we debated with in committees that were full of people
052our grade level. Um this year's topic debated within the mock school board meeting was funding shall be moved away from related arts and shifted to CTE courses in the school district's budget. Um obviously, this kind of ironic timing because we are just now talking about the recent uh the new budget. But, um the consensus within my committee group was that some of the money should be removed from related arts and given to CTE courses or yeah, courses. Um students within my committee argued that CTE courses can give students a hands-on experience into workforces students are interested in and if implemented in schools, it gives them an more accessible pathway um for students to get a hands-on feel of what they're interested in. Um however, students that are interested in related arts can find opportunities outside
053of their school, so it seems kind of like a balance um given that they can find outside of outside opportunities for related arts rather than finding uh opportunities for like business and things like that. Um However, this was just in one of my groups. I don't know. Hannah, was it the same in your committee? About the same consensus um in mine. So, um in terms of I guess that debate that we were having. Um I had to leave a little bit early, so I didn't get to watch the the great debate stage, but SCOPE's a great opportunity. Um I recommend that the board hopefully send more kids next year cuz you have some counties that are bringing I mean, kids by the dozen cuz they're coming about 3 hours to just attend alone. Um it's
054also on Belmont University's campus, so it was beautiful to kind of see where I'm going to be sitting the next 4 years. Um but yeah, much love for SCOPE, much love for all the people that make SCOPE possible. Um it's also always nice to meet other board members from other districts across the state um and their superintendents and such. A lot of a lot of names that we'll talk about this later, guys. >> [laughter] >> Since uh you were able to attend with us, Ms. Hayes, but yeah, it was overall a pretty great time. Pretty sweet moment, but Yeah, really quickly, I want to give you a shout-out for saying that. I have been asking um other schools to send student representatives for a number of years, so thank you for throwing that out there.
055So, hopefully we'll have some schools that will pay attention. It is an amazing conference for our young people and we could literally send two students from every single school in our district to that conference and it is such a great opportunity. They learn a lot. They meet a lot of students from other districts around the state and I think they learn a lot as well and I have uh participated as a group leader for the last few years. Uh wasn't able to participate this year, but it has been an amazing opportunity to learn to listen and learn from these uh students from some of the other counties and the differences the vast differences of what we're doing in Metro compared to some of the school districts around the state. So, thank you both for going
056to that uh conference this year and for your feedback. It was and may I add that this time around we were finally able to kind of meet others um I guess student school board members with that bill passing in the General Assembly last year that I was able to co-author and lobby. Um so, it you know, being able to have that moment with somebody my age of like, "Whoa, like you know, like this was like a process that like you were part of or your school districts had this for years." Um is a really important conversation to have and knowing that that's something that's probably only going to get a little bit more competitive and people are just going to continue to value the voices of students and students are going to be continue making
057headlines in their local board meeting rooms is really amazing, so. Yeah, it's been amazing meeting now a whole bunch of people. I met um a lot of my Youth in Government folks that I attended the conference with and I got to see them. Yeah, you at local Youth in Government Day mentioning YIG killed my soul. Um anyways, yeah, a lot of love for Youth in Government and the fact that this was my first SCOPE conference, it was really really amazing. I wasn't expecting to have a I was expecting to be a little quiet since it's a lot of new people, but um it was it was nice. It was very nice to meet new people. Any who, um there were four main topics that were sort of debated afterwards. So, that was in our little
058committees the the mock school board meeting, but then we had um just an overall debate between uh committees. Um so, there were four topics distributed to grade level groups, so these committees each had a certain grade level. So, um for 9th grade, um the students the debate topic was students should have the option uh of substituting club sports such as kickball, club soccer, water polo, etc. uh for physical education requirements. Um the consensus was no, students should not have the option of substituting club sport uh physical education require requirements. Sorry. My speech is being a little weird today. >> [laughter] [gasps] >> Um but for the main reason being the physical education requirement was built uh to be a class to pass. So, it wouldn't make sense to simply allow a club sport to replace
059that, especially since club sports have a lot of money going into them uh from parents. Um for the 10th grade groups, um the world language require graduation requirement shall be an elective. Uh students voted against this. Um the world language require graduation requirement should stay as is um and it should be required to graduate. Um for my grade, it was the ACT shall be substituted for end of course examinations. Um our consensus was the ACT should not be substituted for end of course examinations. The top argument mostly being the fact that you would have to basically reframe the entire curriculum to go about the ACT and instead of it being specialized to the courses that you are taking which you take end of course tests examinations for. And then lastly for 12th grade which was
060a very heated debate. I literally remember cuz one of my youth and government people were was arguing very hard. But all students shall be required to participate in at least one extracurricular activity per year. The consensus was yes, students should be required to participate in at least one extracurricular activity per year. And our board recommendations is we don't really have any board recommendations, but we encourage you to consider the responses of Tennessee students when making or speaking upon these types of decisions and topics just in general. So yeah. Our senior school board member. Just to add to that this conference being hosted you know similar to you how you guys go to the conference with TSBA you know we have this student conference and you know we know that some of this feedback sometimes makes
061it back to you guys sometimes not. But I think it just echoes something that you know you we know that you guys value but student voice and if for you guys who were hopefully able to attend youth and local government last Thursday I hope you enjoyed that experience and got to hear from students from your cluster and what they think should be happening both inside of our schools and then also in our greater city of Nashville. So thank you for listening you guys. I know we all want to get out of here but we appreciate you. Thank you very much. That's why you participate on this board to hear your voice and to hear your your endeavors. So to thank you for doing that. So we want to hear what you say and that's why
062we're here and we don't want you to be decoration because you're smart intelligent women. Be no further business this meeting's adjourned. This has been a service of the Metro Nashville Network. If you would like to see this presentation again or for more information on this and other programs, visit nashville.gov.