Normal Park Makes Straight-A’s! by CP “Straight A’s are definitely worth celebrating.”  Jill Levine, principal The Normal Park Museum Magnet School received a rare double honor on the Tennessee State Report Card.  Students, teachers, dignitaries and families celebrated with student-made signs, a marching band pep rally and a message to students that hard work does [...]

Working together in the PTA by Badiema Waldrep. Fall is in the air and the leaves are slowly turning from green to gold. Our children have been in school for more than two months now and we find our families busy with homework, scouts, sporting events, and PTA meetings. November is here, and it represents a [...]

“Our World Journey Begins on Main” by Patty Streip. Battle Banzai: Our World Journey Begins on Main is the third annual fall festival presented by Battle Academy. Battle is a public school located on the Southside of Chattanooga at the corner of Main and Market Streets. Now in its tenth year, Battle has a student [...]

Helping teachers hone skills By Frances Haman-Prewitt Photo courtesy PEF Foundation “Jennifer Whitlock is a part of a middle school reform effort working as an instructional coach with Ooltewah Middle School students.” Ooltewah Middle principal Brent Eller hopes that he always has Jennifer Whitlock – or someone like her – on his faculty. Whitlock is [...]

An Excellent Conference Room By Frances Haman-Prewitt It changes education from something that’s being done TO students to something that they seek for themselves.” An Excellent Conference Room Something big is happening at East Lake Academy.  And it has to do with EXPLORE. EXPLORE is an 8th grade exam created by ACT – the folks [...]

Teacher Spotlight by Frances Haman-Prewitt There are excellent teachers in every school in Hamilton County.  Even in struggling schools, we always find at least one – and usually several – outstanding teachers who are engaging, dynamic, and great at inspiring students to learn. This important revelation has become the basis of much of the Public [...]

School used to be reading, writing and arithmetic but today’s parents know that the world is different and the tools our children require for success are light years ahead of even one generation ago.  Local government, national government, advocacy organizations and educational research advances have taught parents how critical a good education is to our [...]

Signal Mountain’s SMX programs bridge the after-school gap Written by Maggie Behringer Photo credit:  Betsy Groves Every school day, most Hamilton County students walk out of the front doors at 2:15 p.m.   Whether they go home or wait for sports practices to start the reality is the same and a student’s day ends before their [...]

Managing Multiples Multiples in the Classroom Written by Betsy Bird In July 2010, a new law went into effect in the state of Tennessee relating to multiple birth children and their placement in school classrooms. Whether or not to separate multiples in the classroom has been a subject long debated by educators and parents. In [...]

Bright Futures:  College Advisors Make It Happen by Heather Hughes High energy and relaxation might not seem to go together, but Stacy Lightfoot brings both to the students and staff at Center for Creative Arts.  Lightfoot serves as college advisor at CCA – a position provided for every high school through a partnership between the [...]