Four Metro Nashville Public schools are receiving magnet school designations in an effort to enhance academics and reduce segregation in schools.
The new designations, awarded by the federal Magnet Schools Assistance Program, will bring specialized academic programming to each school along with a collective total of nearly $15 million by the end of the five-year grant cycle. They will add to an existing network of 10 other schools in the district that have received MSAP funding. (While there are even more branded magnet schools in the district, not all receive MSAP funding.) The purpose of the funding, according to the U.S. Department of Education, is “to promote desegregation, increase academic achievement, build educator capacity, increase family engagement and foster community collaboration.”
Glenview Elementary School, Paragon Mills Elementary School and Stratton Elementary School will transition to Spanish-immersion magnets that will include Spanish instruction in order to promote bilingualism in students — including Spanish instruction across various academic subjects. Stratton Elementary will also join the International Baccalaureate program, which prepares students for IB programs in middle and high schools. Brick Church Middle School, which recently transitioned out of the state’s Achievement School District and back into MNPS’ portfolio, will become an early college magnet. The program will prepare students who are on a pathway to White’s Creek High School’s early college program, where they can graduate high school with up to 60 college credits.
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While magnet schools vary on the programs they offer, from emphases on arts to academics, those that receive money through the MSAP program share a common goal: enhancing diversity in schools. Nashville’s schools have long been mandated to desegregate following 1954's landmark Brown v. the Board of Education case. (The city didn’t start slowly desegregating its schools until three years after, which resulted in community outrage among white residents and the bombing of Nashville’s Hattie Cotton Elementary School.) Even so, many schools still see overly represented student populations due to housing patterns, school choice and other factors. Glenview, Paragon Mills and Stratton elementary schools each have majority Hispanic/Latino populations. Brick Church Middle School’s student population is 80 percent Black or African American. White students constitute 10 percent or less of all four schools’ student bodies.
“Seventy years ago, the Brown decision declared that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal,” said MNPS chief of academics and schools Renita Perry at a press conference Monday. “Today, we reaffirm our dedication to that legacy by building educational environments that are bilingual, biliterate and multicultural. We believe these elements are not merely educational goals, but are essential in building a foundation where every student can thrive.”
