Metro Nashville Board Votes To Shut Down One of Its Highest Performing Elementary Schools

Image Credit: Rocketship Nashville Northeast Elementary / Facebook

The Tennessee Conservative [By Adelia Kirchner] –

Last Tuesday, the Metro Nashville School Board voted 8-1 in favor of shutting down one of their highest performing elementary schools, Rocketship Nashville Northeast Elementary School.

This is despite the fact that the district’s own charter school review team recommended that board members grant Rocketship’s request for a new charter agreement.

Board members in favor of shutting down the school compared Rocketship to other schools located in wealthier parts of the Nashville area, saying that Rocketship had not proven itself to do a better job than the district’s public schools.

“I understand that they’ve been within our school system for ten years, however they have not proven to be exceptional. I do not want mediocracy, I do not want them to be average,” stated Board Chair Rachael Anne-Elrod. 

Erin O’Hara Block was the only board member to vote against shutting down the charter school, partially attributing her decision to having visited the school personally.

“I saw high quality instruction going on in classrooms,” Block said. “It feels very hard to me to want to say to a school that’s been a Level 5 TVAAS (Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System) school and that might well be outperforming some of its neighboring schools.”

One Rocketship parent and immigrant, Jauana Luiz Cruz, spoke through an interpreter at Tuesday’s school board meeting, against shutting the school down.

Cruz explained that the transition of moving from Mexico to Nashville was a major adjustment for her son and that due to language barriers, her son hated school.

“We tried other schools, but he would cry and fight to the point I was already ready to send my child back to Mexico,” said Cruz. “He would tell me, ‘I want to go back.’”

This changed once he was enrolled at Rocketship.

“My son has done a complete transition in the little time he has been there,” said Cruz. “I used to cry every day and night and now I see him and he’s so happy and he makes me melt.”

“Academically he’s growing,” she continued. “He reads and comes home and goes straight to work. He loves learning.”

According to the most recent academic performance data for Tennessee, Rocketship outperformed every other elementary school in its area in Math and English. Only one other elementary school scored higher proficiency rates in Science.

Rocketship has also scored in the highest or second highest category for student growth every year since it opened. 

Yet the Metro School Board decided not to renew the school’s 10-year charter agreement to continue operating.

Under state law, Rocketship can still make an appeal to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission.

“This reckless decision will not have any immediate impact on our school,” stated Rocketship Executive Director Will Hill. “We have a strong case for a successful appeal.”

About the Author: Adelia Kirchner is a Tennessee resident and reporter for the Tennessee Conservative. Currently the host of Subtle Rampage Podcast, she has also worked for the South Dakota State Legislature and interned for Senator Bill Hagerty’s Office in Nashville, Tennessee. You can reach Adelia at adelia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.