Rocketship Public Schools announced Tuesday that it’s only planning to appeal the denial of one of its two proposed new public charter schools.
School board members in Nashville and Rutherford County both voted down applications to expand the charter operator’s personalized learning model earlier this year. Rocketship Executive Director Eric Dailey tells the Tennessee Firefly that his organization is only planning to appeal the narrow 4-3 decision in Rutherford County to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission. Metro Nashville Public Schools Board of Education members denied Rocketship on a unanimous vote.
“Rocketship Tennessee remains committed to expanding access to high-quality public school options for families in both Davidson and Rutherford counties. After careful consideration, we chose to focus our immediate resources on appealing the Rutherford County denial, which we believe offers the greatest opportunity for impact at this time. We will continue to explore opportunities in Davidson County in the future, and our goal remains the same: to work alongside local communities and districts to help every child reach their full potential,” said Dailey.
Rocketship’s Personalized Model
Both proposed schools would have served roughly 600 students in kindergarten through fifth grade with a personalized learning model that aims to provide each child with exactly what they need for literacy and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) skill building. Unlike most elementary schools, Rocketship students additionally receive instruction from experts in humanities and STEM, instead of just one teacher…