Findings show Nashvillians united around education priorities
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Nashville Public Education Foundation’s (NPEF’s) RESET Road Show, an interactive traveling display for Nashvillians to provide input and share ideas, has seen great response from the city so far.
In addition to RESET Saturday, the traveling station has made stops at Casa Azafrán, the Main Library downtown, the Madison Branch Library and Looby Branch Library.
Although some neighborhood- or school-specific ideas have arisen, Nashvillians are consistently highlighting the following top three citywide priorities:
- Addressing early childhood challenges (i.e., pre-K, early literacy, etc.)
- Need for great teachers (i.e., recruiting, retaining and growing highly effective teachers and making sure every school and classroom has them)
- Importance of addressing low-performing schools (i.e., ensuring all of Nashville’s students receive the education they deserve regardless of ZIP code)
“While there is often a perception that there is considerable disagreement in Nashville about how to best strengthen and improve our schools, we’re actually seeing great unanimity around the top priorities the city should tackle,” said NPEF President and CEO Shannon Hunt. “In event after event, survey after survey, Nashvillians are consistently agreeing on the drivers of improvement. In particular, there is an increased sense of urgency around efforts to boost early learning, the need for great teachers and the importance of addressing low-performing schools.”
In addition to weighing in on citywide priorities, some other key road show highlights include:
- Across all parts of the city, there is interest in more afterschool programs, smaller classroom settings and better teacher training.
- At Casa Azafrán, a consistent issue raised was the desire for better school facilities.
- At the Madison branch, a prevalent issue was the need for stronger teacher training for how best to work with special-needs students.
- At the Main Library downtown, school dress code was a common concern.
At the Looby branch, student discipline was a popular subject of input. Feedback gathered throughout Project RESET will be shared communitywide, as well as with the new mayor and director of schools. This effort comes with the continuation of NPEF’s Project RESET work to bring Nashvillians together behind a cradle-to-career effort to support and improve our public schools. Given the unprecedented turnout for RESET Saturday on May 30, the Foundation decided to take that day’s events “on the road” to individual neighborhoods and communities working in partnership with the Nashville Public Library and other community partners.
“The Nashville Public Library is proud to be a partner in Project RESET. The RESET Road Show is extending the opportunity for people from every corner of the city to give input and join the public education dialogue, something the public library is passionate about,” said Kent Oliver, director of the Nashville Public Library. An initial schedule of five stops was announced last month; but given the interest in the traveling exhibit, several additional stops have been scheduled. Upcoming opportunities to weigh in include:
- July 27-Aug. 2: Bellevue Branch Library, 720 Baugh Road, Nashville, TN 37221
- Aug 3-9: Southeast Branch Library, 5260 Hickory Hollow Parkway, Suite 201, Antioch, TN 37013
- Aug 15: Parent University 2015, Trevecca Nazarene University, 333 Murfreesboro Pike, Nashville, TN 37210
- Aug 17-23: Green Hills Branch Library, 3701 Benham Avenue, Nashville, TN 37215
- Aug 24-30: Inglewood Branch Library, 4312 Gallatin Pike, Nashville, TN 37216
- Aug 31-Sept. 8: Hermitage Branch Library, 3700 James Kay Lane, Hermitage, TN 37076
To learn more about Project RESET, visit resetnashville.org
