Ezell-Harding Christian School has announced a $4 million campus makeover and a recommitment to Antioch. The area has missed out on some of the economic boom in other parts of Davidson County. It’s also gone through a dramatic demographic shift since the school opened in 1973.
Parents who spearheaded this building campaign say they talked about whether Ezell-Harding should relocate.
“A lot of people left Antioch. And honestly, it was brought up,” says Vonda McGill, who chairs the “Eagle Rising” initiative to beautify the campus.
A decision was made to invest in the existing facilities, which are surrounded by neighborhoods that have transitioned from a mostly-white suburb to a multi-cultural melting pot. McGill says the school’s student body now reflects that.
“When you really think about it, Antioch is who we are,” she says. “We’re here. We’re so proud of our diverse student body. And it’s been a growth from where we came from.”
Ezell-Harding was
one of at least eight private Christian schools that opened around the 1971 court-ordered desegregation in Nashville. And most of the families who enrolled in these schools were white, though Ezell-Harding’s newspaper ad from the time
did say all races were welcome.
At an announcement for the new Ezell-Harding renovation on Thursday, one speaker said he was glad to see so much diversity in the crowd, which was fairly evenly split between white and black families, like Marci Jordan’s.
She and her daughter sat near the front row. Her son spoke on behalf of the student body.
“I can’t really speak to the history before our family was a part of the school,” she says. “But for us, it has been a non-issue.”
Nashville Mayor Megan Barry also marked the occasion with a brief speech.
“I love that this school has embraced the community where it is,” she said afterward. “Their population looks like the community, and that’s always exciting.”
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM