Categories
Opinion

Germantown: Your Turn on Schools

David Pickler

  • David Pickler

This should be good. There’s a meeting at Germantown City Hall at 7 p.m. tonight to talk about schools. I don’t think they’ll be booing David Pickler and Mark Norris.

What snow? As of noon Monday, it was game on. With timely action on a schools bill expected in Nashville today, and possibly some court filings, counter-moves, or shenanigans elsewhere, there will be fresh red meat for a big crowd meeting on its home court in the belly of the beast.

It was a quiet weekend here in Lake Wobegon, also known as Midtown. The Super Bowl took airtime and print space and blogosphere energy from the schools story, which I sense is testing the patience and attention span of everyone involved in it. Sort of like the Black Eyed Peas halftime show.

And I think that is part of the strategy of merger opponents. Killing with delay, kindness, and confusion is a time-tested winner.

That goes for the white men in suits and boots in Nashville who dominate the legislature and the governor’s office. As my colleague Jackson Baker has described in detail, Norris brilliantly crafted a bill that can and will be seen as giving away a lot while actually giving away very little, and assuring special school district status for Shelby County down the road, if not sooner.

Delay worked for annexation opponents a few years ago when Memphis was on the verge of taking in Southwind and a bunch of schools in southeastern Shelby County. The neighborhoods avoided higher taxes, and the county school system avoided losing so much of its black population that it’s lopsided racial imbalance might have drawn renewed interest from the federal courts. Southwind is supposed to come into the city of Memphis in 2013. Where have we heard that year before? Oh yes, its the year that the city and county school systems will merge in Norris’ bill. We’ll see.

Delay works for Memphis City Schools Superintendent Kriner Cash. He can never seem to come up with numbers when the media and elected officials need them, whether it’s the enrollment, the number of kids who fail to start school until after Labor Day, or the number of pregnant girls at Frayser High School. He talks vaguely about closing some schools, but doesn’t look ready to identify specific schools on the chopping block. “Right-sizing” MCS is off the table at least until the referendum.

Last Thursday the Memphis City Council delayed, for a week, finalizing its support of surrendering the MCS charter. Harold Collins was pushing for final action, and when I saw him later that evening at a public meeting at Whitehaven High School he looked visibly distressed at the ability of Norris to persuade some city council members of his honorable intentions.

“Do you really trust him?” he asked me. Hey, I’m the one who gets to ask the questions.

I told Collins I thought he had no choice but to wait, given that five other council members — all the white guys, at that — were going to vote against it. Not a good outcome. Collins glumly agreed. The trouble is that the council’s “nuclear” option may now be the nuclear dud. Defused. Outfoxed. Killed with kindness and confusion.

I disagree with some of my media colleagues who suggested that the moratorium on March 8th may be irrelevant. Symbolic is not the same as irrelevant. It is good to engage people, good to know how Memphians feel, good to follow through with what the school board started on December 20th, good to play by the rules. A split vote for surrender on the school board followed by a split vote for surrender on the city council without a referendum would have been a disaster.

Better to keep talking, have the referendum, get a big turnout, see what happens, then argue about what it means.

I ran into civil rights lawyer Richard Fields Saturday. He said he plans to file a lawsuit to enjoin the state from taking any action. Fields has the bona fides on this issue. We will see. If he does something, we shall report it.

Categories
Special Sections

Education

Memphis City Schools

2597 Avery (416-5300)

mcsk12.net

Shelby County Schools

160 S. Hollywood (321-2500)

scsk12.org

MEMPHIS CITY SCHOOLS OPTIONAL PROGRAMS

The Memphis City Schools optional program gives parents options in selecting a public education that can best fit their children’s talents and abilities. Optional elementary programs focus on different approaches to education. These programs enrich, supplement and broaden the standard school curriculum. Optional programs at the middle school and high school levels are designed to prepare students for college and careers. Optional schools are tuition-free to city residents and accessible to all parts of the city.

There are two types of schools in the Memphis City Schools Optional Program. Most programs exist as a school-within-a-school, which means the optional program is offered in addition to traditional classes or programs. However, 9 schools exist primarily as optional schools (see asterisks). Most students who attend these 9 schools participate in the optional program.

Bellevue Middle School

575 S. Bellevue Blvd. (38104) 416-4488

mcsk12.net/schools/bellevue.js/bellevue.html

College Preparatory — Optional program emphasizes the liberal arts with a focus in honors English, math, science, and social studies. Electives also include conversational Spanish, band, art, computer science, orchestra, vocal music, and musical keyboarding.

Grades: 6-8

Enrollment in program: 194

School enrollment: 516

Dr. William Herbert Brewster Elementary

2605 Sam Cooper Blvd. (38112) 416-7150

mcsk12.net/schools/brewster.es

Enriched Academics — Program incorporates project-based learning with emphasis on accelerating students’ learning in math, arts, science, and technology. This new facility houses 36 classrooms that include music rooms, science and computer labs, a library/media center, and a multipurpose room.

Grades: 1-5

Enrollment in Program: 33

School Enrollment: 491

Brownsville Road Elementary School

5292 Banbury (38135) 416-4300

mcsk12.net/schools/brownsvilleroad.es/brshome.html

Enriched Academics — Students are scheduled into enriched math, science, and language-arts classes where higher-level skills are emphasized. All students receive instruction in computer skills and develop artistic talents and an appreciation for art through art classes.

Grades: 1-5

Enrollment in program: 265

School enrollment: 733

Central High School

306 S. Bellevue Blvd. (38104) 416-4500

msck12.net/schools/central.hs/centralhomepage.html

College Preparatory — School offers quality academic experiences for college-bound students, including honors-level courses in all academic areas. During the sophomore, junior, and senior years, students may earn college credit through Advanced Placement courses in nine areas. Central’s recent renovation includes a new two-story classroom building, a gymnasium as well as state-of-the-art library and science facilities.

Grades: 9-12

Enrollment in program: 480

School enrollment: 1,411

Colonial Middle School

4778 Sea Isle (38117) 416-8980

msck12.net/schools/colonial.ms

Arts and Academics — The Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA) program focuses on art, vocal music, instrumental music, orchestra, drama, creative writing, dance, and piano. Through the enriched academics program, students participate in academically challenging courses in language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies.

Grades: 6-8

Enrollment in program: 490

School enrollment: 986

*Cordova Elementary

750 Sanga (38018) 416-1700

mcsk12.net/schools/cordova.es/newindex.htm

Enriched Academics — Innovative teaching and learning strategies such as the Reading Renaissance/Accelerated Reader program, the Accelerated Math program and inquiry-based problem solving, along with exploratory classes are used throughout the school. Exploratory classes include computer, physical education, foreign language, Orff, and instrumental music. A hands-on approach to learning allows students to develop their decision-making and problem-solving skills.

Grades: 1-4

Enrollment in program: 616

School enrollment: 745

*Cordova Middle School

900 Sanga (38018) 416-2189

cordovacougars.com

Enriched Academics/College Preparatory — Academically enriched program builds on Cordova Elementary’s foundation. The networked classrooms allow for sharing of innovative educational software and programs. Incorporating audio and video equipment with computer technology allows students to produce a wide range of multimedia projects.

Grades: 5-8

Enrollment in program: 1,147

School enrollment: 1,147

Craigmont High School

3333 Covington Pike (38128) 416-4312

craigmont.org

College Preparatory for International Studies — The international focus at Craigmont is on social studies, arts, language arts, and foreign languages. The program exposes students to issues of international scope to foster understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity.

Grades: 9-12

Enrollment in program: 168

School enrollment: 1,319

Craigmont Middle School

3455 Covington Pike (38128) 416-7780

mcsk12.net/schools/craigmont.mi/index.html

Enriched Academics/International Studies — School offers programs that prepare students to live and work successfully in an increasingly global society and allows them to better understand the cultures and people of the world.

Grades: 6-8

Enrollment in program: 153

School enrollment: 998

*Delano Elementary

1716 Delano (38127) 416-3932

mcsk12.net/schools/delano.es/index

Computer/Technology — Technology is integrated throughout the instructional program as students develop skills in the areas of critical thinking, reasoning, communication, reading, writing, and math. Students engage in real world experiences using a variety of tools that include multimedia, computer technology, digital cameras, and closed circuit TV. It is a 2005 U.S. Department of Education “No Child Left Behind” Blue Ribbon Award recipient.

Grades: 1-6

Enrollment in program: 230

School enrollment: 294

*Double Tree Elementary School

4560 Double Tree (38109) 416-8144

mcsk12.net/schools/doubletree.es/doubletree.html

Montessori/Technology — A modified Montessori school, Double Tree offers concepts like multi-age grouping, non-graded work, individualized instruction, and the use of self-correcting manipulatives. Using computers and technology, students communicate ideas and share knowledge with schools throughout the state, nation, and world.

Grades: K-6 (K-3 in Montessori)

Enrollment in program: 512

School enrollment: 512

Downtown Elementary School

10 N. Fourth (38103) 416-8400

mcsk12.net/schools/downtown.es/downtown.html

Enriched Academics/Social Studies — Special emphasis in social studies as well as enrichment in all the basic courses. Frequent field trips to business, historical, educational, and cultural sites downtown are part of every child’s learning experience. Guest speakers from businesses and organizations, as well as parents working and living near the school, enhance the students’ learning opportunities.

Grades: 1-6

Enrollment in program: 227

School enrollment: 631

East High School

3206 Poplar (38111) 416-6160

mcsk12.net/schools/east.hs./site/index.shtml

College Preparatory for Health Sciences/Engineering and Allied Health — Designed for students who will pursue careers in health sciences, allied health, computer science, and engineering. The students are prepared for college level courses.

Grades: 9-12

Enrollment in program: 56

School enrollment: 930

Grahamwood Elementary School

3950 Summer (38122) 416-5952

mcsk12.net/schools/grahamwood.es/index.html

Enriched Academics — Students achieve a high level of learning through the challenge of a strong academic program and superior faculty that provides successful learning experiences for all students. Parents play a vital role.

Grades: 1-6

Enrollment in program: 507

School enrollment: 1,039

*Idlewild Elementary School

1950 Linden (38104) 416-4566

mcsk12.net/schools/idlewild.es/index.html

Science/Technology — The enriched Science and Technology optional program combines an emphasis on academic excellence with hands-on experience in developing students’ science and computer skills.

Grades: K-5

Enrollment in program: 516

School enrollment: 516

*John P. Freeman Optional School

5250 Tulane (38109) 416-3156

mcsk12.net/schools/jpfreeman.es/freeman.html

Enriched Academics/College Preparatory — Designed to stimulate creativity and develop critical thinking. The accelerated academic curriculum is broadened by introducing students to a varied range of cultural activities that stimulate their interest and provide a motivating atmosphere for learning.

Grades: 1-8

Enrollment in program: 604

School enrollment: 604

Keystone Elementary

4301 Old Allen (38128) 416-3924

mcsk12.net/schools/keystone.es

Enriched Academics — Includes basic skills in the curricula and enhances the application of learning through an outdoor classroom, as well as science and computer labs, an Orff music program, and an outstanding library/media center. The U.S. Department of Education identified Keystone as one of the most academically superior schools in the state and nation.

Grades: 1-5

Enrollment in program: 388

School enrollment: 454

Kingsbury High School

1270 N. Graham (38122) 416-6060

mcsk12.net/schools/kingsbury.hs/khswebsite.html

Technology and Careers — Students learn to integrate math, science, and English while they focus on modular tasks and hands-on projects. This program prepares for successful citizens and competent workers, as students have the opportunity to enroll in two- or four-year colleges or begin a career.

Grades: 9-12

Enrollment in program: 33

School enrollment: 1,449

Lester School

320 Carpenter (38112) 416-5969

mcsk12.net/schools/lester.es/index.htm

Focused Literacy/Technology — Focused literacy is an instructional concentration designed to raise the level of students’ skills in all language arts, including reading comprehension, writing, and conversation. There are two computer labs and all classrooms have internet access and at least four student work stations.

Grades: 1-8

Enrollment in program: 489

School enrollment: 614

Overton High School

1770 Lanier (38117) 416-2136

overtonhs.net

Creative and Performing Arts — Provides artistically inclined students the opportunity to pursue intense study in vocal music, instrumental music, theory, orchestra, dance, drama, visual arts, broadcasting, and creative writing. College prep classes are available in all subjects.

Grades: 9-12

Enrollment in program: 430

School enrollment: 1,497

Peabody Elementary School

2086 Young (38104) 416-4606

mcsk12.net/schools/peabody.es/peabody.html

Enriched Academics/International Studies — This multicultural mecca provides the traditional MCS curriculum as well as an Enriched Academics optional program, incorporating international studies as a distinguishing feature.

Grades: 1-5

Enrollment in program: 117

School enrollment: 425

*Rozelle Elementary School

993 Roland (38114) 416-4612

mcsk12.net/schools/rozelle.es/rozelle.html

Creative and Performing Arts — Instructors use the arts to teach academic subjects as well as to develop students’ talents. Artistic talents are enhanced through special classes: visual arts, Orff music, strings, drama, creative writing, and dance.

Grades: 1-5

Enrollment in program: 384

School enrollment: 429

Sherwood Elementary School

1156 Robin Hood Ln. (38111) 416-4864

mcsk12.net/schools/sherwood.es/sherwood.html

Academic Enrichment through the Arts — Students are required to read classic and current literature and periodicals. Problem solving and critical thinking activities are used to develop students’ listening, speaking, observing, thinking, and writing skills.

Grades: 1-5

Enrollment in program: 174

School enrollment: 778

Snowden School

1870 N. Parkway (38112) 416-4621

snowden.go.to

Enriched Academics/College Preparatory — Snowden offers exciting alternatives for the student who is interested in preparing for college and who can meet and maintain the academic standards of the school. The rigorous academic schedule is blended with activities that includes Spanish, orchestra, Orff music, band, CLUE, foreign languages and art.

Grades: 1-8

Enrollment in program: 643

School enrollment: 1,549

*Springdale-Memphis
Magnet Elementary School

880 N. Hollywood (38108) 416-4883

mcsk12.net/schools/sprindalemagnet.es/springdale.html

Exploratory Learning — This challenging academic program provides an environment that encourages students to ask questions and find answers. Explore the World through the Eyes of Education is the focus.

Grades: 1-5

Enrollment in program: 231

School enrollment: 304

*Vollentine Elementary School

1682 Vollintine (38107) 416-4632

mcsk12.net/schools/vollentine.es/homepage_1.htm

Individually Guided Education (IGE) — Vollentine’s IGE program incorporates a comprehensive support system involving the use of team-teaching, departmentalization, shared decision-making, collaborative planning, heterogeneous grouping, and the use of multilevel, multicultural, and multimedia materials.

Grades: 1-5

Enrollment in program: 320

School enrollment: 388

White Station High School

514 S. Perkins (38117) 416-8880

whitestation.net

Optional program: College Preparatory — Program is designed to provide a broad liberal arts foundation for college-bound students in the fields of science, mathematics, medicine, law, architecture, education, business, public service, and social service.

Grades: 9-12

Enrollment in program: 1,139

School enrollment: 2,237

White Station Middle School

5465 Mason (38120) 416-2184

mcsk12.net/schools/whitestation.ms/site/index.shtml

College Preparatory — Offers an academically enriched instructional program in the areas of English, mathematics, science, social studies, fine arts, and foreign languages.

Grades: 6-8

Enrollment in program: 419

School enrollment: 787

Whitehaven High School

4851 Elvis Presley (38116) 416-3000

mcsk12.net/schools/whitehaven.hs

College Preparatory/Business and Finance — Offers students a broad scope of opportunities, from a finance program emphasizing career preparation to a college prep program that includes advanced placement classes designed to prepare students for the rigors of college work.

Grades: 9-12

Enrollment in program: 267

School enrollment: 1,723

Willow Oaks Elementary School

4417 Willow (38117) 416-2196

mcsk12.net/schools/willowoaks.es/willowoakshomepage.html

Enriched Academics — Curriculum stresses a high level of learning in reading, mathematics, science, social studies, computer technology, and the arts in an enthusiastic, supportive environment.

Grades: 1-5

Enrollment in program: 262

School enrollment: 669

Wooddale High School

5151 Scottsdale (38118) 416-2440

mcsk12.net/schools/wooddale.hs/whs/index.htm

College Preparatory and Aviation/Travel and Tourism — Wooddale is designed for students seeking a strong, varied liberal arts foundation. Optional program follows a broad outline for a major in language arts, mathematics, science, or social studies. The aviation/travel and tourism program is an integrated aeronautics curriculum that enhances the study of math, science, engineering, technology, travel and tourism, preparing students for post-secondary education or training in these fields.

Grades: 9-12

Enrollment in program: 134

School enrollment: 1,606

Wooddale Middle School

3467 Castleman (38118) 416-2420

wooddalemiddle.net

Enriched Academics/College Preparatory — Program offers an enriched academics program in the areas of language arts, mathematics, science, social studies as well as a wide range of exploratory classes: health, Facing History and Ourselves, art, choir, conversational Spanish, drama, band, and orchestra.

Grades: 6-8

Enrollment in program: 74

School enrollment: 1,163

Charter Schools

Charter schools are independent public schools of choice. They control their own budget, curriculum, staffing. Memphis’ charter schools maximize students’ potential by focusing on specific academic interests and employing creative learning techniques. Charter programs prepare children for college by learning how to function productively in a global and technologically advanced society.

Circles of Success
Learning Academy (COLSA)

867 S. Parkway E. (38106) 322-7978

circlesofsuccess.org

Grades: K-5

Enrollment: 120

Sponsor: The Works, Inc.

City University School of Liberal Arts

1500 Dunn (38118) 368-9890

cityuniversityschool.org

Grades: 9-10

Enrollment: 240

Sponsor: The Influence 1 Foundation

Memphis Academy of Health Sciences

3925 Chelsea Ext. (38108) 382-1441

mahsmemphis.com

Grades: 6-8

Enrollment: 300

Sponsor: 100 Black Men of Memphis

Memphis Academy of Science
and Engineering (MASE)

Middle school: 20 S. Dudley (38103) 448-6273

High school: 1254 Jefferson

discovermase.org

Grades: 6-12

Enrollment: 550

Sponsor: Memphis Biotech Foundation

Promise Academy

1635 Georgian Dr. (38127) 358-7752

promiseacademy.com

Grades: K-2

Enrollment: 180

Sponsor: Promise Academy, Inc.

Soulsville Charter School

910 McLemore (38106) 942-7627

Located adjacent to the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. Provides an academically rigorous, musically rich environment with the mission of fully preparing students both academically and emotionally for college.

Grades: 6-12

Enrollment: 120

Sponsor: Stax Music Academy Charter School, LLC

Southern Ave. Charter School of Academic Excellence
and Creative Arts

3310 Kimball (38111) 743-7335

southernavcharter.org

Grades: K-3

Enrollment: 103

Sponsor: Children’s Care and Development Center, Inc.

STAR Academy

3260 James (38128) 387-5050

staracademycharter.com

Grades: K-4

Enrollment: 198

Sponsor: Golden Gate Development Corp.

Yo! Memphis Academy of Visual
and Performing Arts

2140 S. Third (38109) 947-5353

yomemphisonline.com

Grades: 9-12

Enrollment: 180

Sponsor: Yo! Memphis Foundation, Inc.

Private Schools

Area code is 901 unless otherwise noted.

Information, including enrollment and tuition rates, is from 2007.

Bodine School

2432 Yester Oaks Dr., Germantown (38139) 754-1800

bodineschool.org

School for students with dyslexia and dyslexia-related learning disabilities.

Grade levels offered: 1-8

Tuition: $12,300-$14,600

Financial aid: available

Enrollment: 85

Student/faculty ratio: 6:1

Religious affiliation: none

After-school care offered: no

Bornblum Solomon Schechter

6641 Humphreys Blvd. (38120) 747-2665

bsssmemphis.com

Student body: co-ed

Grades: 1-8

Tuition: $9,650-$9,950

Enrollment: 206

Student/faculty ratio: 7:1

Religious affiliation: Jewish

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

Briarcrest Christian Schools

6000 Briarcrest (38120) 765-4600

briarcrest.com

Student body: co-ed

Grades: K3-8

Tuition: $3,895-$10,225

Enrollment: 1,600

Student/faculty ratio: 12:1

Religious affiliation: nondenominational Christian

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

Additional locations:

1620 Houston Levee (38018) 737-1356

Grades: K3-5

10103 Raleigh-LaGrange, Eads (38028) 751-6400

Grades: 9-12

Central Day School

2005 Winchester Blvd., Collierville (38017) 255-8134

centraldayschool.com

Student body: co-ed

Grades: K-8

Tuition: $4,400-$5,000

Enrollment: 365

Student/faculty ratio: 17:1

Religious affiliation: nondenominational Christian

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

Christ Methodist Day School

411 S. Grove Park (38117) 683-6873

cmdsmemphis.org

Student body: co-ed

Grades: PreK-6

Tuition: $2,550-$8,650

Enrollment: 381

Student/faculty ratio: 9:1

Religious affiliation: United Methodist

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

Christ the King Lutheran School

5296 Park (38119) 682-8405

ctkschool.com

Student body: co-ed

Grades: PreK-8, including special education Horizons and Discoveries classes

Tuition: $2,265-$6,100

Enrollment: 350

Student/faculty ratio: 10:1

Religious affiliation: Lutheran

Before- and after-school care: yes

Christ the Rock Christian Academy

8800 Winchester (38125) 751-7122

ctracademy.org

Student body: co-ed

Grades: K3-8

Tuition: $4,200

Enrollment: 300

Student/faculty ratio: 9:1-20:1

Religious affiliation: nondenominational Christian

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

Evangelical Christian School

7600 Macon (38018) 754-7217

ecseagles.net

Student body: co-ed

Grades: 6-12

Tuition: $5,300-$10,265

Enrollment: 1,502

Student/faculty ratio: 14:1

Religious affiliation: nondenominational Christian

Before- and after-school care offered: all lower schools

Additional locations:

1920 Forest Hill-Irene (38139) 754-4420

Grades: K-5

735 Ridgelake Blvd. (38120) 683-9013

Grades: Jr.K-5

ECS at Fisherville

11893 Macon, Eads (38028) 853-7705

Grades: Jr.K-3 (grade levels advancing each year up to fifth)

Fayette Academy

15090 Highway 64, Somerville (38068) 465-3241

fayetteacademy.com

Student body: co-ed

Grades: K-12

Tuition: $4,500-$4,700 ($650 bldg. fee per family)

Enrollment: 780

Student/faculty ratio: 15:1

Religious affiliation: nonsectarian

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

Elliston Baptist Academy

4179 Elliston (38111) 743-4250

ellistonbaptist.org

Student body: co-ed

Grades: PreK-12

Tuition: $3,450 (multi-student discount available, books not included)

Enrollment: 104

Student/faculty ratio: 9:1

Religious affiliation: Baptist

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

Emmanuel United Methodist Kindergarten

2404 Kirby (38119) 754-3607

Student body: co-ed

Grades: Toddler-K

Tuition: $1,215-$4,725

Enrollment: 283

Student/faculty ratio: 4:1-10:1

Religious Affiliation: Methodist

Before- and after-school care offered: no

First Assembly Christian School

8650 Walnut Grove (38018) 458-5543

facsmemphis.org

Student body: co-ed

Grades: Jr.K-12

Tuition: $3,394-$6,710

Enrollment: 636

Student/faculty ratio: 11:1-18:1

Religious affiliation: interdenominational Christian

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

Additional location:

8229 Rockcreek Pkwy. (38106) 384-3816

Grades: K3-K4

Grace-St. Luke’s Episcopal School

246 S. Belvedere (38104) 278-0200

gslschool.org

Student body: co-ed

Grades: PreK-8

Tuition: $6,050-$10,400

Enrollment: 500

Student/faculty ratio: 9:1

Religious affiliation: Episcopal

Before- and after-school program offered: yes

Harding Academy

1100 Cherry (38117) 767-4494

hardinglions.org

Student body: co-ed

Grades: early childhood ages 2-3, grades 7-12

Tuition: $4,698-$8,995

Enrollment: 1,630

Student/faculty ratio: 14:1

Religious affiliation: Church of Christ

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

Additional locations:

8350 Macon (38018) 624-0871

Early childhood and kindergarten

8360 Macon (38018) 624-0522

Grades: 1-6

8220 E. Shelby Dr. (38125) 755-5662

Grades: Jr.K-6

1910 Sycamore View (38134) 372-1818

Grades: Jr.K-6

1106 Colonial (38117) 767-2093

Grades: Jr.K-6

Hutchison School

1740 Ridgeway (38119) 761-2220

hutchisonschool.org

Student body: female only

Grades: PreK-12

Tuition: $4,450-$13,900

Enrollment: 855

Student/faculty ratio: 18:1 (elementary-high); 8:1 (early childhood)

Religious affiliation: nondenominational Christian

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

Immanuel Lutheran School

6319 Raleigh-LaGrange (38134) 388-0205

ilsmemphis.org

Student body: co-ed

Grades: PreK-8

Tuition: $4,700-$5,200

Enrollment: 220

Student/faculty ratio: 18:1

Religious affiliation: Lutheran

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

The LaGrange School

21450 Hwy. 57, LaGrange, TN (38046) 878-1499

TheLagrangeSchool.org

Student body: co-ed

Grades: early childhood-6th (7-9 available in 2008)

Tuition: $5,300 (part-time programs available)

Enrollment: 50

Student/faculty ratio: 12:1

Religious affiliation: Christian

After-school care offered: yes

Lamplighter Montessori School

8563 Fay (38018) 751-2000

lamplighterschool.org

Student body: co-ed

Grades: Pre K3-8

Tuition: $4,300-$10,700

Enrollment: 200

Student/faculty ratio: 12:1

Religious affiliation: nonsectarian

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

Lausanne Collegiate School

1381 W. Massey (38120) 474-1000

lausanneschool.com

Student body: co-ed

Grades: Pre K-12

Tuition: $7,150-$11,900

Enrollment: 750

Student/faculty ratio: 9:1

Religious affiliation: nonsectarian

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

Macon Road Baptist School

1082 Berclair (38122) 682-5420

maconroadbaptist.org

Student body: co-ed

Grades: K4-12

Tuition: $2,500-$4,100

Enrollment: 365

Student/faculty ratio: 20:1

Religious affiliation: Baptist

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

Additional locations:

Macon Road Baptist School East

11017 Highway 64, Arlington (38002) 867-8161

Grades: K3-3

Tuition: $4,500-$4,600 (lunch included)

Enrollment: 160

Student/faculty ratio: 20:1
Before- and after-school offered: yes

Macon Road Baptist School Lakeland

9182 Highway 64, Lakeland TN 38002

Grades: 4-7

Tuition: $4,500-$4,600 (lunch included)

Enrollment: 60

Student/faculty ratio: 15:1

Before- and after-school offered: yes

Margolin Hebrew Academy –
Feinstone Yeshiva of the South

390 S. White Station (38117) 682-2409

mhafyos.org

Student body: co-ed (Pk-8); female only (9-12);
males only (9-12)

Grades: Pre K-12

Tuition: $5,300-$12,300

Enrollment: 230

Student/faculty ratio: 14:1

Religious affiliation: Jewish

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

*Maria Montessori School

740 Harbor Bend (38103) 527-3444

mariamontessorischool.org

Student body: co-ed

Grades: 18 months-8

Tuition: $5,459-$7,400

Enrollment: 128

Student/faculty ratio: 20:1

Religious affiliation: none

After-school care offered: no; part-time enrichment offered

Marshall Academy

100 Academy Dr., Holly Springs, MS (38635) (662) 252-3449

marshallacademy.com

Student body: co-ed

Grades: K3-12

Tuition: $3,650-$4,100

Enrollment: 425

Student/faculty ratio: 16:1

Religious affiliation: nondenominational Christian

After-school care offered: yes

Memphis Junior Academy

50 N. Mendenhall (38117) 683-1061

Student body: co-ed

Grades: PreK-10

Tuition: $2,700-$5,000

Enrollment: 80

Student/faculty ratio: 10:1

Religious affiliation: Seventh Day Adventist

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

Memphis Oral School for the Deaf

7901 Poplar (38138) 758-2228

mosdkids.org

School for hearing-impaired children

Student body: co-ed

Grades: Birth-6th

Tuition: based on a sliding scale

Enrollment: 25

Student/faculty ratio: 2:1-3:1

Religious affiliation: none

Before- and after-school care offered: yes (students only)

Memphis University School

6191 Park (38119) 260-1300

musowls.org

Student body: male only

Grades: 7-12

Tuition: $14,350

Enrollment: 650

Student/faculty ratio: 10:1

Religious affiliation: nondenominational Christian

Before- and after-school care offered: no

New Hope Christian Academy

3000 University (38127) 358-3183

newhopememphis.org

Student body: co-ed

Grades: Jr.K-6

Tuition: sliding scale

Enrollment: 261

Student/faculty ratio: 14:1

Religious affiliation: nondenominational Christian

After-school care offered: yes

Additional locations:

New Hope Christian Academy Junior Kindergarten

3277 N. Watkins (38127)

K4 program only

Enrollment: 52

Presbyterian Day School

4025 Poplar (38111-6022) 842-4600

pdsmemphis.org

Student body: male

Grades: PreK-6

Tuition: $6,495-$12,990

Enrollment: 616

Student/faculty ratio: 9:1

Religious affiliation: Presbyterian

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

Rossville Christian Academy

280 High, Rossville (38066) 853-0200

rossvillechristian.com

Student body: co-ed

Grades: K4-12

Tuition: $4,400-$4,650

Enrollment: 320

Student/faculty ratio: 14:1

Religious affiliation: nondenominational Christian

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

St. George’s Independent School, Collierville Campus

1880 Wolf River Blvd., Collierville (38017) 457-2000

sgis.org

Student body: co-ed

Grades: 6-12

Tuition: $13,335 (scholarship assist. available)

Enrollment: 680

Student/faculty ratio: 9:1

Religious affiliation: Judeo-Christian

After-school care offered: yes (for middle school)

St. George’s Independent School, Germantown Campus

8250 Poplar, Germantown (38138) 261-2300

sgis.org

Student body: co-ed

Grades: K3-5

Tuition: $6,839-$12,297 (scholarship assist. available)

Enrollment: 425

Student/faculty ratio: 9:1

Religious affiliation: Judeo-Christian

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

St. George’s Independent School,
Memphis Campus

3749 Kimball (38111) 261-2200

sgis.org

Student body: co-ed

Grades: K3-4 (new grade level added each year through 5th)

Tuition: $6,839-$12,297 (scholarship assist. available)

Enrollment: 130

Student/faculty ratio: 9:1

Religious affiliation: Judeo-Christian

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

St. Mary’s Episcopal School

60 Perkins Ext. (38117) 537-1405

Admission office located on Lower School campus at 41 N. Perkins

stmarysschool.org

Student body: female only

Grades: PK-12

Tuition: $4,000-$14,400

Enrollment: 850

Student/faculty ratio: 15:1 (although it differs by grade level)

Religious affiliation: Episcopal

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

SBEC – Southern Baptist Educational Center

7400 Getwell, Southaven, MS (38672) (662) 349-3096

sbectrojans.com

Student body: co-ed

Grades: K3-12

Tuition: $3,232-$6,600

Enrollment: 1,180

Student/faculty ratio: 14:1

Religious affiliation: Christian

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

Tipton-Rosemark Academy

8696 Rosemark, Millington (38053) 829-4221

tiptonrosemarkacademy.net

Student body: co-ed

Grades: Jr.K-12

Tuition: $5,380-$5,950

Enrollment: 630

Student/faculty ratio: 12:1-20:1

Religious affiliation: nondenominational Christian

Westminster Academy

Ridgeway Baptist Church

2500 Ridgeway (38119) 380-9192

wamemphis.com

Student body: co-ed

Grades: K-12

Tuition: $4,500-$8,000

Enrollment: 350

Student/faculty ratio: 8:1

Religious affiliation: nondenominational Christian

Extracurricular activities offered

West Memphis Christian School

1101 N. Missouri, West Memphis, AR (72303) (870) 735-0642

wmcs.com

Student body: co-ed

Grades: K-12

Tuition: $4,100-$5,500

Enrollment: 125

Student/faculty ratio: 12:1

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

Woodland Presbyterian School

5217 Park (38119) 685-0976

woodlandschool.org

Student body: co-ed

Grades: PreK-8

Tuition: $5,100-$8,950

Enrollment: 380

Student/faculty ratio: 10:1

Religious affiliation: Presbyterian

After-school care offered: yes

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS

CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF MEMPHIS

cdom.org

373-1219

Bishop Byrne Middle and High School

1475 E. Shelby Dr. (38116) 346-3060

bishopbyrne.org

Student body: co-ed

Grades: 7-12

Tuition: $4,400-$6,300

Enrollment: 290

Student/faculty ratio: 12:1

After-school care offered: no

Christian Brothers High School

5900 Walnut Grove (38120) 682-7801

cbhs.org

Student body: male

Grades: 9-12

Tuition: $7,600

Enrollment: 878

Student/faculty ratio: 11:1

Extracurricular activities offered

De La Salle at Blessed Sacrament

2540 Hale (38112) 866-9084

cbhs.org/delasalle

Student body: co-ed

Grades: K-7 (grades levels advancing each year up to eighth)

Tuition: $500-$4,450 (tuition based on family income/household size, scholarships available)

Enrollment: 137

Student/faculty ratio: 11:1

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

Holy Names Elementary

709 Keel (38107) 507-1503

holynamesmemphis.org

Student body: co-ed

Grades: 3-8

Tuition: $4,450

Enrollment: 90

Student/faculty ratio: 12:1

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

Holy Rosary Elementary

4841 Park (38117) 685-1231

edline.net/pages/HolyRosarySchool

Student body: co-ed

Grades: PreK-8

Tuition: $4,100-$5,600

Enrollment: 441

Student/faculty ratio: 14:1

After-school care offered: yes

Immaculate Conception Cathedral Schools

iccatherdralschool.org

Elementary/Middle

1669 Central (38104) 725-2710

Student body: co-ed

Grades: PreK-8

Tuition: $5,450

Enrollment: 368

Student/faculty ratio: 15:1

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

High School

1725 Central (38104) 725-2705

Student body: female only

Grades: 9-12

Tuition: $7,850

Enrollment: 148

Student/faculty ratio: 8:1

Extracurricular activities offered: yes

Incarnation School

360 Bray Station, Collierville (38017) 853-7804

goics.org

Student body: co-ed

Grades: PreK-8

Tuition: $4,500-$6,200

Enrollment: 256

Student/faculty ratio: 9:1

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

Little Flower School

1666 Jackson (38107) 725-9900

cdom.org

Student body: co-ed

Grades: PreK4-2

Tuition: $4,450 (based on family income/household size)

Enrollment: 60

Student/faculty ratio: 10:1

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

Memphis Catholic Middle and High School

61 N. McLean Blvd. (38104) 276-1221

memphiscatholic.org

Student body: co-ed

Grades: 7-12

Middle School: $4,200;
High School: $7,200; “Education That Works” Program

Enrollment: 160

Student/faculty ratio: 11:1

Our Lady of Perpetual Help School

8151 Poplar, Germantown (38138) 753-1181

olphonline.com

Student body: co-ed

Grades: PreK-8

Tuition: $4,500

Enrollment: 265

Student/faculty ratio: 15:1

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

Our Lady of Sorrows School

3690 Thomas (38127) 358-7431

ourladyofsorrowschurch.org/school

Student body: co-ed

Grades: PreK3-8

Tuition: n/a

Enrollment: 117

Student/faculty ratio: 13:1

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

Resurrection School

5475 Newberry (38115) 546-9926

Grades: PreK3-1 (grade levels advancing to 8th)

Tuition: $0-$4,500 (based on family income/household size)

Enrollment: 125

St. Agnes Academy/St. Dominic School

4830 Walnut Grove (38117) 767-1356

saa-sds.org

Student body: St. Agnes: female; St. Dominic: male

Grades: PreK-12 (girls); PreK-8 (boys)

Tuition: $5,543-$10,490

Enrollment: 870 (girls and boys)

Student/faculty ratio: 10:1

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

St. Ann School

6529 Stage, Bartlett (38134) 386-3328

stannbartlett.org/school

Student body: co-ed

Grades: PreK-8

Tuition: $4,300-$5,000

Enrollment: 650

Student/faculty ratio: 16:1

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

St. Anne School

670 S. Highland (38111) 323-1344

stannehighland.net

Student body: co-ed

Grades: PreK-8

Tuition: $4,500-$4,700

Enrollment: 140

Student/faculty ratio: 12:1

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

St. Augustine School

1169 Kerr (38106) 942-8002

staugustinememphis.org/school

Student body: co-ed

Grades: PreK4-6

Tuition: $4,450 (based on family income/household size)

Enrollment: 150

Student/faculty ratio: 20:1

After-school care offered: yes

St. Benedict at Auburndale

8250 Varnavas (38016) 260-2840

sbaeagles.org

Student body: co-ed

Grades: 9-12

Tuition: $6,600-$7,400

Enrollment: 950

Student/faculty ratio: 14:1

After-school care offered: no

St. Francis of Assisi Elementary School

2100 N. Germantown Pkwy. (38016) 388-7321

sfawolves.org

Student body: co-ed

Grades: K4-8

Tuition: $5,440-$8,480

Enrollment: 927

Student/faculty ratio: 13:1

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

St. Joseph Elementary

3851 Neely (38109) 344-0021

cdom.org

Student body: co-ed

Grades: PreK3-6

Tuition: $4,325 (based on family income/household size)

Enrollment: 170

Student/faculty ratio: 8:1-22:1

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

St. John School

2718 Lamar (38114) 743-6700

cdom.org

Student body: co-ed

Grades: PreK-6 (grades levels advancing each year to sixth, 11-month school)

Tuition: $4,895 (based on family income/household size)

Enrollment: 200

Student/faculty ratio: 12:1

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

St. Louis School

5192 Shady Grove (38117) 682-9692

stlouismemphis.org

Student body: co-ed

Grades: K-8

Tuition: $4,125-$4,875

Enrollment: 505

Student/faculty ratio: 20:1

After-school care offered: yes

St. Michael School

3880 Forrest (38122) 323-2162

cdom.org

Student body: co-ed

Grades: PreK-8

Tuition: n/a

Enrollment: 198

Student/faculty ratio: 11:1

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

St. Patrick School

277 S. Fourth (38126) 521-3252

cdom.org

Student body: co-ed

Grades: PreK3-4

Tuition: $4,325-$4,600 (based on family income/household size)

Enrollment: 93

Student/faculty ratio: 10:1

Before- and after-school care offered: yes

St. Paul School

1425 E. Shelby Dr. (38116) 346-0862

cdom.org

Student body: co-ed

Grades: PreK-6

Tuition: $4,450

Enrollment: 289

Student/faculty ratio: 15:1

After-school care offered: yes

COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

Tuition levels and enrollment numbers are from 2007.

LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES

Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law

University of Memphis

3715 Central (38152) 678-2421

law.memphis.edu

The Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law began in 1962 as a college within Memphis State University. The law school began in response to widespread interest in developing a full-time legal education program to serve Memphis and the Mid-South. Since its inception, the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law has graduated over 4,500 students who have assumed positions of responsibility and prominence as lawyers, judges and public officials in all fifty states.

Enrollment: 460

Faculty: 23 full-time

Tuition: $10,116-$28,466

Housing: $7,509/year

Christian Brothers University

650 E. Parkway South (38104) 321-3000

cbu.edu

Christian Brothers University (1871) awarded the first college degree in Memphis in 1875. A private, co-ed Catholic university, CBU offers bachelor’s degrees in liberal arts, sciences, business, education and engineering. Master’s degrees are offered in business administration, engineering management, and education. The U.S. News and World Report ranks CBU among the top 25 Best Southern Universities and the Princeton Review lists CBU among the Best Southeastern Colleges and Universities.

Enrollment: 1,700

Faculty: 110 full-time; 64 part-time

Tuition: $20,840/year

Housing: $990-$2,950/semester

LeMoyne-Owen College

807 Walker (38126) 435-1000

loc.edu

LeMoyne-Owen (1862) is one of the nation’s oldest historically black institutions. A private, co-ed college, LeMoyne-Owen offers four-year degrees in 21 academic disciplines.

Enrollment: 720

Faculty: 71 (full- and part-time)

Tuition: $10,318/year

Housing: $2,434/year

Memphis College of Art

Overton Park, 1930 Poplar (38104) 272-5100

mca.edu

Memphis College of Art (1936) is dedicated to excellence in art and design education. Degree programs include a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Master of Fine Arts, Master of Art in Teaching, and Master of Art in Art Education.

Enrollment: 300

Faculty: 45

Tuition: $20,660/year

Housing: 108 dorm rooms available, $3,600-5,500/year

Northwest Community College
DeSoto Center

5197 E. W. Ross Parkway, Southaven, MS (38671) (662) 562-3222

northwestms.edu

Northwest Mississippi Community College serves students at four locations: the main campus in Senatobia, DeSoto Center in Southaven and Olive Branch, and Lafayette-Yalobusha Technical Center at Oxford. The college offers courses for academic transfer to four-year colleges and universities and more than 40 career-technical programs designed to put the student into the workforce upon graduation. Northwest awards an Associate of Arts degree, Associate of Applied Science degree, and a career certificate.

Enrollment: 6,691

Faculty: 370 (full- and part-time)

Tuition: $850/full-time, in-state; $1,850/full-time,
semester/out-of-state

Housing: $425-725

Rhodes College

2000 N. Parkway (38112) 843-3000

rhodes.edu

Rhodes College (1848) has earned a national reputation as one of the country’s top liberal arts colleges. Long associated with the Presbyterian Church, the 100-acre campus built in the Gothic tradition is located in Midtown. Rhodes offers 23 departmental majors as well as 14 majors and minors in the interdisciplinary program. The college grants a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, and a Master of Science in Accounting. Rhodes also offers multiple study abroad opportunities.

Enrollment: 1,700

Faculty: 175 (full- and part-time)

Tuition: $30,342/year

Housing, room and board: $7,468

Southwest Tennessee Community College

737 Union / 5983 Macon Cove (38104) 333-5000

southwest.tn.edu

Southwest includes two main campuses and numerous centers throughout the Mid-South. Southwest offers 39 programs for career studies and transfer degrees, 37 two-year associate of applied science (A.A.S.) degrees, and more than 40 areas of interest in traditional university transfer programs. Southwest also offers one-year Academic Certificate and Technical Certificate Programs in 28 areas.

Enrollment: 11,452

Faculty: 658 full-time; 442 adjunct

Tuition: $128/credit hour

Housing: n/a

Union University—Germantown

2745 Hacks Cross (38138) 759-0029

uu.edu/gtown

Union University’s Germantown campus is a satellite of the main campus in Jackson, TN. The facility opened in 1997 as a campus designed to meet the needs of adult students in the Memphis area. Now providing both graduate and undergraduate programs, Union—Germantown offers bachelor’s degrees in nursing and organizational leadership; master’s degrees in education, nursing, business administration, and Christian studies; and a doctorate of education.

Enrollment: 831

Faculty: 36

Tuition: $245-$400 per credit hour

Housing: n/a

University of Memphis

Central Avenue (38152) 678-2000

memphis.edu

The U of M (1912) offers 15 bachelor degrees in more than 50 majors and 70 concentrations, master degrees in 46 fields, and doctorates in 21 fields. The graduate school also offers an education specialist degree and law degree (J.D.).

Enrollment: 20,562

Faculty: 916 full-time; 467 part-time (excluding student assistants)

Tuition: (in-state/out-of-state tuition): $5,256/$15,772 (undergraduate); $6,378/$16,844 (graduate)

Housing: dormitories from $1,290-$1,540/semester; apartments/townhouses from $2,445-$2,520

Additional locations

The University of Memphis — Carrier Center

500 Winchester, Collierville (38017) 678-5515

extended.memphis.edu

Enrollment: 1,350

Faculty: varies according to classes offered

Tuition: $234 per credit hour

MEDICINE

Baptist College of Health Science

1003 Monroe (38104) 575-BCHS

bchs.edu

Baptist College of Health Sciences is a specialized private, degree-granting undergraduate college offering general studies and professional education courses. Bachelor degrees are offered in nursing, respiratory care, diagnostic medical sonography, nuclear medicine technology, medical radiography, radiation therapy and health care management. Baptist College offers completion programs for RN to BSN and respiratory care along with weekend and evening programs.

Enrollment: 834

Faculty: 63 full-time, 30 part-time

Tuition: $245/semester hour

Housing: $750/semester/double occupancy,
$1,600/single occupancy

Methodist Healthcare Education Program

Methodist University Schools of Radiological
and Imaging Sciences

1211 Union (38104) 516-8099

methodisthealth.org

Methodist University Schools of Radiological and Imaging Sciences offers three programs: a 15-month Nuclear Medicine Technology program (for RTs only); a 15-month Diagnostic Medical Sonography (2-year Allied Health graduate or BS required); and an 18-month General Diagnostic Medical Sonography program for ultrasound.

Nuclear Medicine Technology School

Tuition: $5,000 plus books

General Diagnostic Medical Sonography Program

Tuition: $5,000 plus books

Southern College of Optometry

1245 Madison (38104) 722-3200

sco.edu

Founded in Memphis in 1932, this college is one of only 17 optometry colleges in the nation. It is the largest in the South and includes the Eye Center, a clinical facility that opened in 2002. Students pursue a four-year, post-baccalaureate program leading to a Doctor of Optometry degree.

Enrollment: 474

Faculty: 54

Tuition: $15,448/year for regional students; $20,448 per year for non-regional students

Housing: n/a

University of Tennessee
Health Science Center

920 Madison (38163) 448-5500

utmem.edu

The UT Health Science Center (UTHSC), founded in 1911, is Tennessee’s flagship statewide academic health system and one of the largest academic health science centers in the United States. The Memphis campus includes the Colleges of Allied Health Sciences, Dentistry, Graduate Health Sciences, Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy. Additional College of Medicine campus locations are in Knoxville and Chattanooga. UTHSC offers four undergraduate and 20 graduate or professional degrees. Graduate medical education programs, family medicine centers, and continuing education programs are offered statewide.

Enrollment: 2,327

Faculty: 1,110 paid; 1,931 volunteer

Tuition: $4,582-$18,256, in-state; $11,172-$38,130/year, out-of-state

Housing: $360/month, meals excluded

Related Stories…

The Magic 2008-Ball

Calendar 2008

Arts Listings

Entertainment Listings

Government Listings

Health Listings

Media Listings

Recreation Listings

Shopping Listings

Categories
News

National Family Literacy Day at Civil Rights Museum Sunday

The Memphis Literacy Council, along with Mid South Reads, and Shelby County’s “Books from Birth”program is presenting a National Family Literacy Day celebration, Sunday, November 4th from 2 -4 p.m., at the National Civil Rights Museum. The event is a city-wide initiative to promote literacy activities in the family.

Participating organizations include Memphis City Schools, Shelby County Schools, Memphis Public Library, Big Brothers & Big Sisters of Greater Memphis, Bridges, The Urban Child Institute, and Seedco. These organizations, along with First Book Mid South, Children’s Museum of Memphis, The Memphis Grizzlies, and the United Way’s “Success by 6” program have joined the national family literacy movement in encouraging parents to read with their children from the earliest ages.

The event draws together Memphis and Shelby County’s leading literacy organizations and agencies in a collaborative to highlight the need for lifelong learning.

“National Family Literacy Day brings us all together, around the issue of parents’ and care-givers’ fundamental role in their children’s success”, according to Wilson McCloy of the Memphis Literacy Council.

The celebration will feature live music, appearances by Mayor A.C. Wharton, Mr. Chuck, and a variety of children’s book characters. Free books will be provided by Davis-Kidd Booksellers, along with prizes from the Memphis Area Teacher’s Credit Union and the Memphis Grizzlies.

For additional information, contact the Memphis Literacy Council at (901) 327-6000, Mid South Reads at (901) 678-2001, or Shelby County Books from Birth at (901) 820-4501.

Categories
News News Feature

Pay For Grades

It was like old times, in more ways than one, at an assembly at East High School this week. On stage, U.S. senator Lamar Alexander sat next to former Grahamwood Elementary School principal Margaret Taylor, who sat next to Mayor Willie Herenton.

Alexander gave a heartfelt speech about his long friendships with West Tennesseans Herenton, Taylor, and the late Alex Haley, author of Roots, which became a television epic before today’s students were born. Taylor unabashedly hugged Herenton, whose support for optional schools and Grahamwood in particular was vital when he was superintendent 25 years ago. And Herenton, who was greeted with a standing ovation, talked inspiringly about the importance of education to the 900-plus students in the audience.

The man of the hour, however, was another Memphian who’s been around a while — businessman Charles McVean, a 1961 East High graduate and benefactor of the Greater East High Foundation to the tune of approximately $2 million. A few years ago, McVean had an epiphany: He could give $1 million to his college alma mater, Vanderbilt University, which has an endowment worth over $1 billion. Or he could give it to East to pay for extra support teachers, facility improvements, and direct payments to students who make good grades and tutor other students.

Pay-for-performance was the most interesting new wrinkle. The idea was to pay students up to $10 an hour for tutoring and as much money as they could make working at McDonald’s for working harder on their homework instead.

On a modest scale, it appears to be working. A total of 110 students are involved as either tutors or “scholars” who make a commitment to good grades and good behavior in exchange for some of McVean’s cash. A similar program, with a different benefactor, Dr. Jerre Freeman, is being implemented at Whitehaven High School. And on Monday The New York Times reported that 25 public high schools in New York City are paying up to $1,000 to students who do well on Advanced Placement exams. Philanthropists are funding the program.

Alexander, a Vanderbilt graduate who was governor of Tennessee and U.S. Secretary of Education before winning a Senate seat in 2002, likes McVean’s merit program and doesn’t mind seeing his gifts staying in Memphis instead of going to Vandy.

“Charles can see every day real results from the way he spends his money,” said Alexander, a proponent of merit pay increases for teachers when he was governor. “Our biggest challenge in American education is kindergarten through 12th grade.”

Cash-for-performance, so long as it isn’t paid for by government, is “a terrific idea,” said Alexander. “I’m for what works.”

Alexander met Taylor during his first term as governor. He wanted to visit a Memphis public school, and Grahamwood was so popular at the time that parents, most of them white, camped out at the Board of Education offices to get spots in the optional program. Taylor said Herenton suggested Grahamwood even though “it was controversial” because every other school coveted such attention. Taylor, who is in her 80s, works as a tutor and support teacher in algebra classes at East five days a week.

In the movies, there would be hundreds of East students and tutors earning college scholarships each year, but reality is not like that. East is as racially segregated as it was 40 years ago, but now there are almost no white students. There are actually slightly fewer tutors this year than last year due to graduation losses and the commitment that is required. “It takes a while to train them,” said Bill Sehnert, a McVean hire who works full-time at East. And tutors are now starting to work on ACT preparation and in classes besides algebra, in effect plugging one leak only to find another one somewhere else.

“It doesn’t do any good to pass algebra and flunk English,” Sehnert said.

McVean, a commodities trader who has seen his personal fortunes rise and fall many times, is undeterred. The Greater East High Foundation got off to a rough start when it came out of the gate a few years ago and basically had to start all over. A less determined person might seize upon the program’s partial successes, claim a victory, accept some applause, and bow out. Instead, McVean wants to focus attention on the large number of less-motivated students who aren’t buying into the program and being served.

“The secret to success in any business,” he said, “is to find a good idea and leverage it.”

Categories
News The Fly-By

The City Schools’ Surplus Adds Up

About 115 Memphis City Schools teachers are being temporarily laid off until they can be reassigned to new schools as the system adjusts for overcrowded and underutilized facilities and an overall decline of nearly 3,000 students since last year.

Teachers call it “being surplused.” MCS officials call it “staff readjustment.” Either way, it adds uncertainty to what has already been a confusing and, in some cases, chaotic year.

Renee Malone, spokeswoman for MCS, said the surplus of teachers is mainly at middle and high schools but could not identify specific schools. The surplus teachers include both first-year teachers who were the most recent hires and veteran teachers who volunteered to take new assignments.

The teachers will continue to be paid until new positions are found for them. Depending on their certification, surplus teachers can be assigned to elementary or secondary schools in their subject area. Malone said the school system typically hires about 70 new teachers each year between September and December because of vacancies that occur for various reasons.

“Even though a teacher may not be needed at one school, they may be needed at another one,” she said.

With the first six-weeks grading period coming to an end this week, MCS enrollment is 117,283 — a decline of 2,864 or 2.3 percent from the enrollment of 120,147 at the end of last school year. Student enrollment is the primary driver of state funding under the Basic Education Program. The complicated formula has 45 components, and local districts supplement their basic allocation differently. Katharine Mosher, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Education, said funding is determined by the previous year’s enrollment. When there is a decline, funds are stabilized for one year and lowered if the enrollment decline continues for a second year.

There is obviously an incentive for school districts to report the highest accurate count in order to maximize funding. Counting students in a large urban system is complicated and inexact. There are nine reporting periods, some of which are weighted more heavily than others, to come up with what is commonly called “the enrollment.”

“Keep in mind that enrollment typically increases as the school year goes on,” Malone said.

The most recent enrollment reports for individual schools show wide variations at the secondary level. The largest high schools are Cordova (2,350 students), White Station (2,330), Whitehaven (1,847), and Wooddale (1,666). The smallest are Manassas (391), Westside (491), Westwood (504), and Southside (554). Efforts to close schools meet with powerful community and political opposition, and school board members have given in to it in some notable cases. Manassas, for example, is getting a new high school next year, and Douglass High School, closed in 1981, is being reopened in a new building at the old location.

Categories
Cover Feature News

Board Games

Ask almost anyone about Shelby County’s two school systems and they’ll tell you the same thing: The Shelby County Schools (SCS) are growing at an unbridled pace and desperately need new schools. The city schools, on the other hand, are losing students and closing facilities.

But neither of these assessments is completely true.

According to figures from the Tennessee Department of Education, SCS’ population remained fairly stable for the past decade while the population of Memphis City Schools (MCS) grew by roughly 10,000 students.

In 1995, the county schools served 43,800 students. Despite that figure spiking to almost 49,000 in 1999, it was down to 45,000 in 2005. Over those 10 years, MCS’ population went from 108,000 students to 118,000.

“We have some years where we’ll have 3,000 students annexed by the city and we’ll still have growth of new students at our other schools,” explains Maura Black Sullivan, assistant superintendent of planning and student services at SCS. “City school enrollment has been declining slightly each year, and then they’ll have growth with the annexations.”

But the bottom line is: The overall net growth for both school systems was about 11,000 students during the past decade.

During that same time period, MCS built 22 schools and SCS built 15 new schools. (The two systems also jointly built Cordova High School.) Based on allowable students-per-classroom size, the city’s new schools could serve 20,000 students. In the county, those 15 schools could serve almost 16,000 students.

And if those numbers aren’t interesting enough, try these: American Way Middle cost $24 million to build. Craigmont Middle cost $25 million. Germanshire Elementary cost $14 million. Hickory Ridge Elementary cost $15 million. Lakeland Elementary cost $8 million. Bailey Station Elementary cost $12 million. And Mitchell High cost about $14 million. That’s seven randomly selected, newly built schools and over $100 million in construction costs.

In the multimillion-dollar game of school-construction funding, the issue of annexation complicates the issue. But the core question is clear: If only 11,000 students were added to Memphis and Shelby County schools in the past 10 years, why did the two school systems combine to build 38 new schools capable of housing 36,000 new students at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars?

The Exchange

Each annexation is different. And, until recently, the school systems were rarely consulted when the city of Memphis decided to annex an area.

“At times, we annexed a population but not the facilities designed to accommodate that population,” says city councilman Tom Marshall, who also serves as a consultant for the city school system. “When that happens, we have lessened the overcrowding burden of SCS but greatly increased the burden that MCS must endure.”

In other situations, annexed areas may remain in litigation for years, such as the case of Hickory Hill, but then suddenly be decided in court. The main problem, however, may lie within the changing system populations and school construction.

“It’s really hard for each school system to propose construction projects in areas of flux because they require large public-capital dollars that we’re asking to expend speculatively,” says Sullivan. “You don’t know how many kids are going to be in each system and who’s going to need what when.” Maps courtesy of the Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning and Development

Each gray dot represents an actual student.

City school board member Deni Hirsh originally ran for office to represent the people living on the edge of the city. “Most of the community … doesn’t know that the boundaries are hither and thither. It’s crazy, and it creates major confusion and conflict between the two systems.”

Cordova High was built in 1997 under an agreement that the school would serve students from county and city schools for 12 years. The county operated the facility for the first seven years before transferring authority to the city in 2004. Cordova High becomes solely an MCS facility after 12 years.

“It would have been fiscally irresponsible to build two high schools at the same time,” says Hirsh. “It’s not a perfect solution, but it was the best solution available.” But because the population in the area continues to grow, Hirsh thinks the students who live there are in danger of not being served.

In an interesting arrangement, Chimneyrock is currently run by SCS, while Cordova High is operated by MCS.

“The county school system doesn’t want to build in those areas because they know we’re going to take them over,” she says. “The county schools don’t want to build there and we can’t build there yet.”

David Pickler is the county school board chairman. He says the county system does put resources into the Memphis annexation reserve area — citing the new roof the district is putting on Chimneyrock Elementary — but that if annexation wasn’t part of the equation, the district would do things differently.

“If we could coordinate where schools need to be constructed, based on population trends, based on developments that have been approved,” he says, “I think it would allow for a far more efficient situation.”

Generally, the two districts have been willing to work together — sharing the cost for schools such as Cordova High or agreeing to continue serving students for a set period after an annexation — but that doesn’t mean they always will. And in a game where the stakes are high — and the dollars even higher — students are the unwilling pawns.

The Gambit

Last May, just as students were looking forward to summer vacation, the parents of 155 SCS students got a shock: The city of Memphis decided to annex commercial property in the Southwind area. Two apartment buildings were in the annexed property. SCS told the families living there that, effective in August, their children would be going to Memphis City Schools.

“We just thought it was amazing,” says parent Rod Merriweather, himself a product of MCS. “It wasn’t the annexation itself. It was that particular portion — that anyone who lived in those apartments was annexed immediately and wouldn’t be able to attend Germantown (SCS) schools anymore.”

But, by annexing commercial property, the city was trying to leave residential areas — and students — in the county.

“We didn’t have a school down there,” says Michael Goar, MCS chief operations officer. “We’d have to bus those kids, so we asked SCS to let the kids in 10th and 11th grade graduate [from Germantown High].”

The county school board wasn’t interested. A few weeks before, MCS officials had backed out of an agreement between the school districts, deciding not to support legislation allowing the creation of special school districts.

“That spirit of cooperation suffered a serious blow after they said they would not support us,” says Pickler. “To come back two weeks later and say, ‘Oh, by the way, we want you to help us out.’ I’m sure you can imagine our board was reluctant, at best, to extend an olive branch after they had bitten our hand.”

Pickler says they possibly would have reconsidered, but instead of forcing the stalemate, city government decided to postpone the annexation.

“The school board essentially abandoned those students,” says Merriweather. “They’re always talking about ‘we’re here for the students; there’s no hidden agenda; our first priority is the students.’ Well, that changed really quickly.”

The Deflection

“I’ve had people say to me that 10 years ago your enrollment was 47,000 and today it’s 47,000, so you don’t have any growth,” says SCS’ Sullivan. “Sure, but I lost about 12,000 kids and I gained them right back. If that’s not growth, I don’t know what is.”

Sullivan explains that the district is so spread out that while there may be room for students at an elementary school in the northwest area of the county, bussing them from the crowded southeast area would take 45 minutes. She says she also tries to keep neighborhoods together and children who went to the same elementary and middle schools.

“You can do a little bit here and there, but you can’t just go down the middle of a street and say, ‘Sorry, but you kids go here and you kids go there,” she says. “I don’t think that’s good for the community.”

The same goes for available spaces in the city system. “We have a large concentration of inner-city schools with available desks,” says Marshall. “Unfortunately, the school-aged population is more concentrated in the eastern portion of the city. If we think it’s acceptable policy to bus them into town, we have the room for them. Between the cost of transportation and the condition of those [inner-city] facilities, we think it’s best in the long run to build new schools in those neighborhoods.”

But there is also the question of the larger community. The state-mandated average daily attendance (ADA) funding formula — an equation that means $3 to MCS for every $1 to SCS and vice versa — has often been cited as the main driver of county-government debt. If SCS wants to build a $20 million school, the county must allocate $60 million to the city schools, bringing the total cost up to $80 million.

Two years ago, during one of the many skirmishes on re-working the funding formula, county mayor A C Wharton began the Needs Assessment Committee (NAC). The committee’s job was to make sure the school systems weren’t over-paying for new construction or capital improvements and that what they were building were actually needs instead of wants.

“All we’re trying to do is ask the tough questions and help them and everybody in this community deliver the best product we can,” says committee head Scott Fleming, an architect.

And though the all-volunteer NAC is strictly an advisory body, it is perhaps the only tool the county has to assess school construction.

“It’s a very complex issue. There are so many needs out there,” says Fleming. “The county’s needs are different from the city’s. They have so many portable classrooms out there. The city has portables, too, but … the city’s needs mainly deal with deferred maintenance.”

To add confusion to the issue, each district calculates its capacity differently. SCS uses an average of 15.625 children for every elementary school class, 18.519 for middle, and 20 for high school. In contrast, the city system uses slightly higher capacities: 20 students per class at the elementary level, 23 for middle, and 25 for high school.

“What does it mean that you’re over capacity?” says MCS’ Goar. “We use a higher factor: Is their overcrowded not as overcrowded as our overcrowded?”

Sullivan at the county schools says the numbers come out roughly the same. “We count every room in the building and then do a small number factoring on those rooms,” she says. “With the growth in our system, we sometimes have to tear down a science lab or a music or art room and turn it into a classroom. What we’re trying to do is — based on the number of classrooms in a building — how many kids can actually fit?”

When a school needs extra space, music rooms and the like will be converted to classrooms before the system adds portables. MCS, on the other hand, does not include specialized spaces in its capacity equation. While most people familiar with the situation say it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison, it’s unclear how close the numbers actually are. And the NAC’s Fleming says it’s not the committee’s job to interfere with what educators think is best.

“One thing we don’t have any input in — and don’t want to have any input in — is their educational program. It’s not up to us to say you need to provide this program or that program or you need to provide a class of no more than 20 students,” says Fleming. “As long as what they’re proposing is within acceptable norms, then it’s not up to us to judge if they’re putting too many or not enough children in a classroom.”

The NAC is in the process of hiring the DeJong company, an education consulting firm that has worked with school systems in Arkansas and Detroit, to do a more comprehensive survey of the needs of both systems.

“We design schools, but these issues are so much more complex than designing a school,” says Fleming. “We need somebody like DeJong that has this level of expertise to help us weed through it and figure out what is the best thing for the city and the county collectively.

“This will allow us to do our job better … and tell us, ‘Hey, this system is saying this, and we think you might reconsider this.'”

Endgame

But as it stands, each school district has a large amount of freedom.

Last spring, the school districts broke ground on a $49 million joint high school, Southwind High. But about six months before that, the city/county office of planning and development (OPD) released a draft study of the school plan. The study, requested by county government and MCS, looked at enrollment figures of nearby high schools: MCS’ Kirby was 153 students under capacity; SCS’ Germantown was 85 under; SCS’ Houston was 165 under; and Collierville was 352 over.

Which meant that, using the net capacity of both systems, the overall area was only 79 students over capacity.

“They were about 80 students over, which is basically at capacity,” says Louise Mercuro, deputy division director of the Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning and Development at the time and now the director of capital planning for MCS. “In our minds, they could have redistricted and that would have helped.”

Instead the systems decided to build a 2,000-student high school together as part of a larger funding agreement wherein they would bypass ADA.

“There was also a question if the system needed a school with a capacity of 2,000 students,” says Mercuro. “That area will be annexed very quickly.”

While the county regularly builds 2,000-student high schools, the city’s are often much smaller. And because the school is within the Memphis annexation area, it will eventually become a city school. But that’s not the only reason OPD was skeptical of the size.

The report concludes that the Collierville and Houston zones outside the annexation reserve area will experience steady growth, but growth in the portion of Houston’s zone that is part of the reserve area will level off once the area is annexed. Growth in the Kirby zone is also expected to be flat.

“The result of this analysis is that the recommended size of the new high school should probably be somewhat less than 2,000 students,” reads the report. “A smaller school could be accommodated on 30 acres or less. … A 2,000-student facility could be accommodated on 50 acres of land.”

The study was never finalized and never presented to the County Commission. SCS’ Pickler says he saw it, but that it didn’t give him pause because OPD’s study may have had a political agenda.

“Our numbers are not written with any political bias and the numbers simply demonstrate that it needed to be built,” he says of the school.

But there are perhaps other reasons why the school was built.

During discussions over zoning shifts for other schools in the area, parents have questioned whether race is a motivating factor for the changes. Students from Highland Oaks Elementary, which was almost 90 percent African American, were recently moved to a former Schnucks store facility.

For the 2004-2005 school year, Germantown High was almost 55 percent black, 40 percent white, and 5 percent other. Houston High was 74 percent white, 18 percent black, and 8 percent other.

The demographics of Southwind High cannot be determined yet, because the attendance zones have not been drawn. However, SCS’ Sullivan says that the demographics will probably be similar to those of Highland Oaks Elementary or Southwind Middle, which was 9 percent white and 87 percent black.

Another question is the site of the school, a 62-acre parcel at the corner of E. Shelby Drive and Hacks Cross, 12 more acres than OPD thought was needed for a 2,000-student facility.

In OPD’s study of the school, it addressed all three possible sites and noted that site 1 — the site eventually chosen — did not have sewer facilities, meaning additional construction dollars. The study also observed that 10 acres included in the acquisition had been sold in 2004 for $21,500 an acre. When the school systems bought the land, it cost them an average of $84,000 an acre for 62 acres.

A majority of the land was bought from a group that includes Charles Askew. The smaller chunk — about 12 acres — was bought from a group that includes developers Terry & Terry, which is now working on a subdivision on the land just west of the school.

“For 20 years, every decision they’ve made has been based on developers and spurring on development,” says Tom Jones, former public-affairs director and senior adviser to then-county mayor Jim Rout and now a consultant for Smart City Consulting. “There are school sites chosen over the years that were just put out in the middle of a field.”

For many years, local developer Jackie Welch seemed to have almost a monopoly on the county schools, often selling the district property for a school and then developing homes around it.

So while development drives school construction, school construction drives development. MCS’ Hirsh says she sees signs for neighborhoods boasting great county schools and no city taxes. “The fact that the community allows developers to advertise that way adds to the perception that living inside the city is a bad thing,” she says.

And sometimes, with annexations right around the corner, residents may not know the whole story.

“Developers find they can sell a home when they say you’re going to Shelby County Schools and you’re going to pay Shelby County taxes,” says Pickler, “irrespective of the fact that one day it’s going to be a city school. … It’s kind of a bait-and-switch type situation.”

But home-buyers are not the only ones caught in the trap.

“The county mayors have all said the same things: One, these sites aren’t being made in the wisest way. Second, a lot of influences over decisions made we don’t understand. We’re the government supporting the county schools and yet a lot of decisions are made contrary to our best interest,” says Jones.

“I think, by and large, the political leaders are sincere about education, but they have to make decisions in a political context where they get pressure from developers, from suburban voters, from taxpayers, and we end up having a political conversation,” he says. “It really needs to be elevated to a different level.”

In the meantime, SCS is in the process of finding another parcel of land in the Southwind area to build a K-8 school.

Checkmate

Because of annexations in 2002 and 2006, respectively, students in Countrywood and Berryhill are supposed to attend MCS at the beginning of the next school year.

“My first problem,” says MCS’ Goar, “is that we’re only getting Chimneyrock Elementary. It’s a K-4 school, and it already has 1,100 kids and 14 portables.”

Not only does MCS not have any other K-4 schools, it simply doesn’t have room for the 2,500 students it expects to gain next fall. While high school students will attend Cordova, there are no middle schools in either Countrywood or Berryhill.

“Where will they go?” asks Goar. “It doesn’t make any sense, and it doesn’t take the kids into account. … We are inheriting that problem, but we’re not inheriting the solution.”

With less than a year to figure it out, the NAC recently sent a letter to the City Council, asking them to move up the Bridgewater annexation to December 31, 2006. The Bridgewater area includes “the Dexters,” an elementary and a middle school that are crucial for serving students in the nearby area.

“MCS does not have the capacity to serve these children at the present time,” says Fleming. “Schools in this area of the city — particularly the elementary and middle schools — are all at or over capacity. Students would have to be served by either the addition of more portable classrooms or transporting them considerable distances from their homes.”

While adding the Dexters would help, the larger question of upcoming annexations looms. Many people interviewed suggested possible solutions to the larger problem of annexation and school construction, but most are a little controversial. A joint building authority could be created to build all the schools. Consolidation of either the governments or the school systems would eliminate future annexations.

Goar suggests giving the city schools jurisdiction over the Memphis annexation reserve areas now, meaning they would take the students, the schools, and the responsibility for building facilities in the areas that will be theirs one day anyway.

“We don’t control our destiny. Our job is somehow to make sure we meet students’ needs,” he says.

Pickler has a similar idea, saying that the boundaries of the two districts should be frozen into two special school districts. He doesn’t know where the boundaries between the two districts would be, but each would have taxing authority. Either way would alleviate the confusion over which district should be building a school in a certain area.

“If the two boards could come together for some sort of structure where we set the boundaries, that would allow both systems to coordinate and build schools where there truly is a need and not necessarily just because of where the boundaries are,” says Pickler. “If we had a situation whereby we were able to have a comprehensive plan for school infrastructure, I think the taxpayers could save literally hundreds of millions of dollars.”

Categories
News The Fly-By

Courting Scholarship Money

Prospective students eligible for the Distinguished African American, African-American Scholar, and African-American Enrichment scholarships at the University of Memphis may be out of luck next school year.

The scholarships, enacted as part of a settlement agreement dating back to the 1968 Rita Sanders Geier lawsuit, will cease to exist next fall.

Geier, then a professor at predominantly-black Tennessee State University, filed a claim in an attempt to end the effective segregation of Tennessee’s public colleges and universities. The state of Tennessee then established a series of programs, including several scholarships, designed for more effective long-term racial integration. The “other race” scholarships, for instance, would provide an incentive for minority students to voluntarily integrate schools without resorting to racial-quota legislation.

But more recently, two 2003 U.S. Supreme Court cases out of Michigan — Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger — held that “other race” scholarships such as the ones stipulated by Geier are illegal.

“Based on the legal precedents set by the Michigan cases, we would be under scrutiny if we continued to offer ‘other race’ scholarships,” says Michelle Banks, Equal Employment and Affirmative Action officer for the U of M.

Exactly what effect the cancellation of these scholarships will have, however, is unclear.

“There is one group of people telling us that we’re going to get the money, and there’s another group of people telling us that we’re not,” Banks says. “Before, the recipients of African-American scholarships received the funds from their scholarships, thereby not competing for university funds. But now, everyone will be competing for the same money.”

Other school administrators, however, say that the changes will have “little to no impact” on how they award scholarships.

Rhodes College political science professor Marcus Pohlmann says that simply rerouting the existing money into need-based aid could maintain the spirit of the Geier scholarships. “It still may serve many of the same students and just proxy for race as such moves have done elsewhere,” he explains.

Still, eliminating the scholarships will probably carry some consequences.

“This might deter some African-American students from coming,” says University of Memphis junior William Terrell, who cited his Distinguished African-American Scholarship as the main reason he attended the U of M.

Pohlmann agrees. “Will it cost the U of M some of its better black students who are better off and have choices of schools? It may.”

“But,” he adds, “other schools are going this same route. It’s not that unusual.”

All 193 students currently receiving funding from the scholarships, however, will continue to do so as long as they abide by the guidelines of their individual programs.