Education Commissioner Candice McQueen has announced the 40 public schools selected to receive a total of nearly $2.3 million in the second award cycle as part of the state’s Charter School Facilities Program. Chattanooga Charter School of Excellence Middle School was one of the schools among the recipients. This funding will support high-quality charter schools with a track record of success to improve or develop school facilities where public school students in Tennessee are served.
"It is important that all of our students are served in schools where they are able to thrive and grow, including our high-quality, public charter schools,” Ms. McQueen said. “Through the Charter School Facilities Program, we have been able to provide more Tennessee students the supportive learning environment that every student deserves."
Grant recipients were selected through a rigorous and competitive application process where they were evaluated on their ability to demonstrate both evidence of strong student academic results and that funding would help increase the number of available high-quality student seats, address unmet student needs, and support innovation in school design.
The funds will be reimbursement-based and may be used for property purchases, general improvements to existing and available buildings, any costs associated with the purchase or lease of underutilized or vacant property, and the repayment of debt incurred for existing capital outlay projects. To ensure quality and accountability, awardees will be monitored throughout the grant award and reimbursement period. In this round of the program, schools were awarded up to $60,000 of funding.
The 40 grant recipient schools are:
Cornerstone Prep Denver Campus– Achievement School District
Cornerstone Prep Lester Campus – Achievement School District
Fairley High School – Achievement School District
Hillcrest High School – Achievement School District
Humes Preparatory Academy – Achievement School District
Kirby Middle School – Achievement School District
Libertas School of Memphis – Achievement School District
Martin Luther King, Jr. College Preparatory High School – Achievement School District
Memphis Scholars Caldwell-Guthrie Elementary School – Achievement School District
Memphis Scholars Florida-Kansas Elementary School – Achievement School District
Wooddale Middle School – Achievement School District
Chattanooga Charter School of Excellence Middle School – Hamilton County Department of Education
Emerald Academy – Knox County Schools
KIPP Kirkpatrick Elementary School – Metro Nashville Public Schools
KIPP Nashville College Prep Elementary – Metro Nashville Public Schools
LEAD Academy High - Metro Nashville Public Schools
LEAD Southeast - Metro Nashville Public Schools
Nashville Classical Charter School - Metro Nashville Public Schools
Nashville Prep - Metro Nashville Public Schools
Purpose Preparatory Academy - Metro Nashville Public Schools
RePublic High School - Metro Nashville Public Schools
STRIVE Collegiate Academy - Metro Nashville Public Schools
Arrow Academy of Excellence – Shelby County Schools
City University School Boys Preparatory – Shelby County Schools
City University School Girls Preparatory – Shelby County Schools
City University School of Independence – Shelby County Schools
City University School of Liberal Arts – Shelby County Schools
Leadership Preparatory Charter School – Shelby County Schools
Memphis Business Academy Elementary School – Shelby County Schools
Memphis Business Academy High School – Shelby County Schools
Memphis School of Excellence Elementary School – Shelby County Schools
Memphis STEM Academy – Shelby County Schools
Nexus STEM Academy Middle School – Shelby County Schools
Power Center Academy High School – Shelby County Schools
Power Center Academy Middle – Shelby County Schools
Southern Avenue Charter School Of Academic Excellence and Creative Arts – Shelby County Schools
Southwest Early College High School – Shelby County Schools
The Excel Center – Shelby County Schools
Veritas College Preparatory Charter School – Shelby County Schools
Bluff City High School – Tennessee State Board of Education
Governor Bill Haslam proposed funding for the program through the “Tennessee High-Quality Charter Schools Act” which was approved by the General Assembly during the 2017 legislative session. In total, the department has provided $5.6 million to 67 schools for the Charter School Facilities Program.
In the first round of funding, the department awarded more than $3.3 million through a competitive application process in November 2017. This coming fall, the department will begin a new round of competitive grant funding in the next phase of the Charter School Facilities Program.
For more information on the Charter School Facilities Program, contact Marcy Tidwell, director of school choice, at Marcy.Tidwell@tn.gov. For media inquiries, contact Sara Gast, director of communications, at (615) 532-6260 or Sara.Gast@tn.gov.