Charter Operator Wants Eight Nashville Schools Under ASD

A charter-school operator based in California is scouting potential sites to open its first facility in Nashville next year. Rocketship Education got permission for the expansion not from Metro, but from a special state-run district aiming to turn around Tennessee’s lowest performing schools.

The state’s Achievement School District already oversees a middle school in Nashville, turning it over one grade per year to a charter. Rocketship might not follow that model, says its future principal, Nashville native Adam Nadeau.

“The notion of only having one grade where we only serve one child from a family, or we only serve kindergarteners or first graders and only focus on that, I could see that as actually being limiting.”

Rocketship wants to open an elementary of around 500 students next fall, making it one of Tennessee’s larger charters.

Nadeau says they haven’t nailed down a location yet, and he didn’t rule out taking charge of a failing school all at once. The alternative would be to reopen a building that’s been shuttered – an option officials say they’re exploring. If the first school proves successful, Rocketship has the state’s permission to add seven more over the next few years.