More than 45,000 Hamilton County students will return to the classroom this week, and district officials say students and families can expect to see the school system double down on what it knows works.
Hamilton County Schools will maintain the focus on academic press and personalization that it’s had for the past three years.
“We know that those things work — when we put rigorous content and worthwhile tasks in front of kids, when we have high expectations for every kid,” Superintendent Justin Robertson said in an interview. “We’re not making these big sweeping changes, and that’s an intentional decision. … We’re seeing progress. Oftentimes, I think people want to know what the next shiny thing is and what we’re saying is we have a solid foundation, a solid plan, and we need to get better at executing that plan, so that’s what we’re doubling down on.”
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PERSONALIZATION
Standing in front of more than 5,000 staff members at the district’s professional learning conference Friday, Robertson told teachers to spend more time building relationships with students during the first few days of school than on academics.
The school system wants to create an environment in schools and classrooms where every student has an adult that knows their name and story. If it does that, he said, the other things will fall in place.
“I wanted them to hear directly from me that there’s a lot of pressure on us to perform academically,” Robertson said. “I feel that too, and I know that they feel it. I wanted to be very intentional about telling them, more importantly, get to know your kids. Build relationships with your kids. Have some fun with your kids in the first few days of school, and that will actually pay off down the road in terms of saving instructional time and getting more out of the academic piece.”
ACADEMICS
As the district talks about academics this year, it will focus on the idea of “tier one first.” The school system wants to close achievement gaps, Deputy Superintendent Sonia Stewart said, and the initiative aims to ensure every student gets what they need by starting with the highest expectations and grade-level material.
Under Tennessee’s three-tiered framework for teaching and learning, tier one represents the core, grade-level instruction provided to all students. Students who need more support receive interventions through tier two or three instruction in addition to their core learning, according to the state Department of Education.
It’s not a big change, Robertson told staff Friday, but it is a shift in mentality.
What to know as Hamilton County students return to school
“There are times where we pigeonhole kids,” he said. “Kids that we don’t think can do tier one, we pull them out. Kids that we think are already past tier one, we push them to the side. We want to make sure every day that our kids have access to on grade-level curriculum, on grade-level instruction, that the tasks that we’re putting in front of them are worthwhile, that the texts are appropriate, and again, this is how we push everyone forward.”
Stewart said the district realized it hadn’t done as much training with its general education teachers around teaching students with increased needs as it had with its specialists, such as exceptional education and English as a new language teachers.
“We want to be better about that,” she said in an interview. “We take responsibility for the fact that we’ve done a lot but there’s more to do, and tier one first is pointing us in the right direction.”
STAFFING
The district is over 99% staffed for certified, school-based positions, Director of Communications Adison Lambert said.
Over a dozen Hamilton County schools will welcome a new principal this year. At the district level, the Harrison Bay and North River learning communities have new community superintendents.
NEW LAWS
Tennessee lawmakers passed a variety of laws that will affect K-12 public schools this year. They include:
Cell phones — Bans the use of personal devices, including cell phones, tablets and laptops, during instructional time unless given teacher permission, during an emergency or to manage a student’s health. Hamilton County Schools’ policy, which board members have discussed changing several times over the past few months, allows students to store their phones in backpacks, lockers and some other locations during the school day, and each high school can choose whether to allow students to use phones in designated areas during lunch.
Gun safety — Requires school districts to provide students with age- and grade-appropriate instruction on firearm safety annually.
More recess — Schools must provide elementary students with 40 minutes of physical activity each day, an increase from the previously required 130 minutes per week. The legislation also prohibits withholding physical activity as a form of punishment.
Religious material — Prohibits school boards from removing an item from the library solely because it is religious.
School threats — Requires school districts that report threats of violence or significantly disruptive behavior to law enforcement to also notify parents of students enrolled at that school within 48 hours. School boards must report the total number of reported incidents at each quarterly meeting.
Contact education reporter Shannon Coan at scoan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6396.