February Update from Great Schools Partnership

Great Schools Partnership

February 2011 Update

The mission of the Great Schools Partnership is to serve as a catalyst, think tank,

incubator and start-up funder for making Knox County Schools globally competitive.

If you are receiving this update, you are a member of the Great Schools Partnership and its efforts to take the Knox County School System from good to great! Help us by forwarding this email to your friends and colleagues and ask them to also join our organization. At the bottom of this email, there is the ability to forward this update -- we hope you will do so!

Educational Issues Debated This Spring

2011 will be a critical year for education at both the state and local level. At the state level, we will be trying to implement the ambitious reform agenda set by SCORE (State Collaborative on Reforming Education) and our Race to the Top grant. Elected Superintendents, tenure reform and collective bargaining by teachers will all be on the statewide agenda.

At the local level things will be even more critical. The Knox County school budget has been cut by more than $30 million over the last two years and additional cuts are being considered. Because of your commitment to having great schools, you will want to have a voice in this conversation about our county's future. The Great Schools Partnership is prohibited by its bylaws from lobbying, however the Knox County PTA and Knoxville Chamber of Commerce are able to lobby on these issues. Accordingly, you may hear from either or both of these organizations as they enlist your support on behalf of our schools.

Dr. Jim McIntyre Committed to Knox County Schools

Governor Bill Haslam took office in January of this year and has filled many of the state's key leadership positions. However, the Tennessee Education Commissioner has yet to be named. With the strong credentials of Knox County School Superintendent Dr. Jim McIntyre, many saw Dr. McIntyre as a likely candidate for this important state office.

On February 13, Dr. McIntyre announced that he is committed to staying in his current position as Knox County School's Superintendent. As the two-time winner of the state's Superintendent of the Year honor, the Great Schools Partnership looks forward to working with Dr. Jim McIntyre on the many initiatives in the Knox County School System's strategic plan which we believe will help our schools become globally competitive.

STEM Academy Scheduled to Open in Fall 2011

Knox County Schools plan to open the county's first STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) magnet high school in the historic L&N Station. Two regional STEM hubs are part of an initiative identified in the state's Race for the Top proposal. The East Tennessee hub will receive significant startup funding from the State of Tennessee, but will be a Knox County high school. A STEM Academy in Knox County is also part of the Knox County School's 5-year strategic plan.

Informational meetings for prospective students have been held this winter to explain the new school and how the selection process works. In the Fall of 2011, the school will enroll 100 freshmen and 100 sophomores with plans to add a grade level each of the following 2 years. The STEM Academy's principal is Becky Ashe, a 22 year veteran educator with 14 years classroom experience and 8 years as a system administrator. Ms. Ashe's science background (she is currently president of the Tennessee Science Teachers Association) will be an asset in developing the curriculum of the new school.

Students at the new school will experience much of the same curriculum offered throughout Knox County High Schools, but with an emphasis on technology

Site for the new STEM Academy

and lab-based instruction. The campus will offer wi-fi capabilities, offer classes that are as paperless as possible, and incorporate electronic textbooks when possible. In the 11th and 12th grade, students will be offered higher level interdisciplinary core subjects, but will also have the opportunity to select a STEM major that will determine coursework and off-site learning, enroll for credit at the University of Tennessee and Pellissippi Community College, and take advantage of internships and apprenticeships with local labs and other STEM oriented businesses.

The new Academy will also serve as a professional development hub for teachers across the district. New distance learning equipment will enable the Academy to broadcast some of its courses to students at other high school campuses.

For more information on STEM . . . Read More.

Vanderbilt Study Validates State-Funded Pre-K Classes

Vanderbilt University released a study last week that showed significant results for children enrolled in Tennessee's state funded pre-kindergarten classes. There were 303 children from across the state (including Knox County) that were involved in the study. The study compared children in the program with their peers who weren't admitted to the program. It showed that children in the pre-kindergarten program did twice as well as their peers in literacy and vocabulary and about 33% higher in math.

The Great Schools Partnership has been a contributing funder of the pre-kindergarten in the Knox County area. With current state budget restraints, the results of this study are important in showing how vital a funded pre-kindergarten program is to ensuring that children are prepared for kindergarten.

Great Schools Partnership

912 S. Gay Street, L210

Knoxville, TN 37902

(865) 215-4501

www.GreatSchoolsPartnership.com

Virginia Babb

VP of Membership Development

vbabb@greatschoolspartnership.com

Click HERE to join the Great Schools Partnership