Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville, Tennessee

Since the appointment of the current director of schools (superintendent), the district is committing to several initiatives: a reform initiative (MNPS Achieves) that targets transformation in ten areas, each addressed by a Transformational Leadership Group (TLG); Tennessee’s Race to the Top initiative (called First to the Top in Tennessee); a new teacher evaluation system; and implementation of changes aligned with Tennessee’s goals in the areas of teachers and leaders, Common Core State Standards, data utilization for improving practice, science/technology/engineering/mathematics (STEM), Project-Based Learning (PBL), and school turnaround.

District leaders provide professional development that “must be sustained, clear and consistently focused on quality instruction.” In doing so, the district has demonstrated a commitment to teacher quality by employing 300 full-time instructional coaches to support approximately 5,000 classroom teachers. Further, district officials understand that instructional coaches must deepen their own expertise in the Common Core Standards, PBL pedagogy and SEL to best serve the teachers they support. In demonstrating their commitment to SEL implementation, the board of education recently authorized the adoption of Responsive Classroom, a CASEL SELect program, for elementary and selected middle schools, along with a plan to prepare coaches and principals to support teachers in its adoption.

Director of Schools: Jesse Register, EdD, has led the MNSD since 2009. Prior to his arrival in Nashville, Dr. Register was a senior advisor for district leadership for the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University. His career highlights include overseeing the successful merger of Hamilton County Schools and Chattanooga City Schools, consulting on urban education reform, working as a visiting associate professor for urban education at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, serving on the national support team that developed the Superintendent’s Leadership Academy for the State of Arkansas, and serving as senior advisor for district leadership for the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University.

Learn more about the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools at http://www.mnps.org/site234.aspx.

District Stats

Joined Collaborating Districts Initiative: 2012

Total Student Enrollment: 79,117

  • Largest Racial/Ethnic Student Groups: Black (46 percent) and White (32.5 percent)
  • Economically Disadvantaged Students: 71.4 percent
  • Students with Limited English Proficiency: 12.7 percent
  • Students with Disabilities (Individualized Education Programs): 10.1 percent

​Total Number of Schools: 158

  • Elementary Schools: 77
  • Middle Schools: 47
  • High Schools: 23
  • Specialty Schools: 11

SEL District Leads: Linda DePriest, Executive Director for Instructional Support and Kyla Krengel, Director of Social and Emotional Learning

CASEL Team: Pamela Randall and Eric Schaps