MNPS Guarantees Pathway to Hume-Fogg for Supersized Meigs Class

Metro will honor a coveted pathway to Hume-Fogg Academic High School for all Meigs Academic Middle School students who qualify — despite a historically large class admitted to the magnet middle school by error in 2024. While it’s a relief for parents and students who count on top academics at Meigs and Hume-Fogg — both among the state's best-performing schools — the large class size may crowd out newcomers who depend on a lottery option for admission.

An unspecified admissions mistake two years ago brought Meigs' sixth-grade class to 310 students, up from 170 the year before. The same year, Meigs dropped fifth grade as part of a countywide shift by Metro Nashville Public Schools to gradually move fifth grade from middle schools to elementary schools. The same class began eighth grade last month with 287 students. Meigs students have a rare privilege within MNPS — if they meet certain testing and grade thresholds, a rising eighth-grader is guaranteed passage to Hume-Fogg. 

Parents have begun questioning the feasibility of this year’s class entering Hume-Fogg next year. Last year’s incoming class at Hume-Fogg was 208 students; no incoming class in the past decade has exceeded 231 students. Enough qualified students could boost that precedent by 20 percent. Even a large portion of the Meigs class could foreclose lottery options for qualified students across the county hoping for a seat at the city’s oldest and best-performing public high school. 

“We do not have seat projections at this time,” MNPS spokesperson Sean Braisted tells the Scene. “We would have those closer to February when we are in the school options process. All students who have a guaranteed pathway to Hume-Fogg, apply to attend, and meet the academic qualifications will have a seat offered and available to them.”

The supersized class may have other ramifications at Hume-Fogg. The numbers of economically disadvantaged students and Black students have both declined at Hume-Fogg in recent years as the numbers of white, Hispanic and Asian students have increased. Meigs’ eighth-grade class — at 69 percent white, it is an outlier among Metro public schools’ racial demographics — could accelerate these trends.