Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free daily newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.
After gaining approval last year to open two charter schools in Tennessee in 2024, the group associated with Michigan’s conservative Hillsdale College did not apply to open another one in 2025.
Nine applicants met the state’s Feb. 1 deadline to submit proposals to open a charter school for the 2025-26 school year.
Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools received six applications, the most of any district, while Memphis-Shelby County Schools received two, and Rutherford County Schools got one.
But for the first time in three years, Hillsdale-related American Classical Education was not among the applicants.
Dolores Gresham, a former state senator who chairs the group’s board, said Monday that American Classical is focused on opening its first two schools in Madison and Rutherford counties. Both were approved last year in contentious votes.
The pause slows the once-aggressive growth plan of American Classical, which last year identified five growing suburban communities as a potential home to one of its schools. The network is seeking to change the face of Tennessee’s 100-plus charter school sector by introducing a different kind of teaching model and targeting different student demographics.