TDOE Awards Over $2 million to High-Quality School Options for Facility Improvements

NASHVILLE—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. 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,” 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.