School Board Considers Five Proposals to Expand Facilities

The Clarksville-Montgomery County School Board reviewed five proposals to partially address an ever-growing student population during its Nov. 5 Study Session.

Chief Operations Officer Jim Sumrell presented the Board members with a report on the school system’s current state of building capacity and recommendations for them to consider during their voting session on Nov. 12.

School Board Recognized by State Organization

The Clarksville-Montgomery County School Board was recognized by the Tennessee School Boards Association as a “Board of Distinction,” one of 32 in the state.

To qualify as a Board of Distinction, a school board must meet specified requirements in four key areas: planning, policy, promotion and board development. The Board was recognized at the TSBA Fall District meeting in Springfield last week.

Administrative Announcements

Please note: This article was originally posted during a previous school year. Information and/or dates from past events may be not be relevant for the current school year. Brandy N. Walker has been selected as the new assistant principal at Northwest High School. She previously has served Northwest High as student support coordinator; testing and Advanced Placement coordinator; assistant athletic director; and, Associated Student Government sponsor. She earned her M.A. in educational leadership from Austin Peay State University, where she also earned a B.S. in English. She has eight years of educational experience and has completed the CMCSS Leadership Series, as well as the Aspiring Administrators Academy and the Advanced Leadership Academy. Lisa Dominiak has been selected as assistant principal at Oakland Elementary School. She has been a classroom teacher for six years and an academic coach for two years at Minglewood and Norman Smith Elementary Schools. She also has experience as a reading interventionist for four years, and most recently has served as a kindergarten multi-classroom leader at Norman Smith Elementary School. She earned her master’s degree in Administration and Supervision from Austin Peay State University, and a B.S. in elementary education at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Brandi B. Blackley has been selected as the new High School Curriculum Director for the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System. She currently serves as an assistant principal at Northwest High School and is the administrator of the Heath Science Academy. Blackley has previous administrative experience at Covington High School and Brighton Middle School, as well as in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. She has a strong background in curriculum and learning standards leadership, as well as in leading professional development. She also has taught middle and high school English. She holds a master’s degree in educational leadership from Trevecca Nazarene University, […]

CMCSS Continues Forward Momentum with State Data Release

(Aug. 15, 2019) The Tennessee Department of Education released the state’s report card data for Tennessee school districts today. As the state works to transition through the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requirements, TNReady legislations, standards and proficiency shifts, CMCSS continues to experience forward momentum in meeting the vision that all students graduate college and career ready.

CMCSS continues to outperform the state across multiple measures, experience a graduation rate above the state and national levels, and is home to multiple reward schools.

“From this partial data release the State is providing, we can cull some information and trends. We will have to wait on the full release of data to form a complete picture of the School System’s performance,” said Director of Schools Millard House.

Military College Opportunities Meeting Set for Students, Parents

An information briefing has been scheduled for students interested in going to college; interested in an Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corp scholarship; and/or for those students interested in attending a prestigious military college. Please plan to attend either Aug. 19 or Aug. 20 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the CMCSS Central Services South location on 1312 Highway 48/13. The meeting will be held in Hickory Room A Conference Room. Parents are encouraged to attend.

Free and Reduced Meal Applications

Free/Reduced Meal Applications must be submitted each school year. Beginning July 24, 2019, if you feel that your child(ren) may be eligible for free or reduced meal benefits, you may create an account and apply for meal benefits at www.schoolcafe.com.

Nelson Selected to Fill District 3 School Board Seat

Please note: This article was originally posted during a previous school year. Information and/or dates from past events may be not be relevant for the current school year. A 20-year U.S. Army veteran with seven years working elite Special Operations and counter-terrorism missions has been selected to fill the unexpired term of the District 3 Clarksville-Montgomery County School Board seat. Herbert A. Nelson, Jr. will be sworn in to the office on July 1 and will serve until the next County General Election in August 2020. He retired from the Army with honorable service as an intelligence analyst. He spoke to the School Board Tuesday night, after which the Board voted to accept him as the replacement for Danny Kittrell, who relocated to South Carolina. “I have lived in Clarksville over 20 years and understand the tremendous challenges that the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System faces in making it a top-notched system and ensuring that all students receive a quality education,” Nelson noted. “I have witnessed the changes that have been made and would like to be a part of the system’s continued success.” Nelson earned an M.B.A. from Lipscomb University with a human resources concentration. He holds a B.A. in business administration from the University of Maryland, and a B.A. in liberal arts from Excelsior University in Albany, New York. His education background also includes certification from the Joint Military College. Nelson currently is an electronic security specialist for the Tennessee Department of Corrections.

Three Rossview High students make perfect ACT scores

Please note: This article was originally posted during a previous school year. Information and/or dates from past events may be not be relevant for the current school year. Only one-tenth of one percent of the 2.1 million test takers achieve a perfect score on the American College Testing, better known as the ACT. Clarksville-Montgomery County School System rising seniors Emily Mayes and Charlotte Lange and newly graduated Joseph Bierman are among that miniscule number earning a 36 when they took the test this school year. ACT officials say the test, which more than 1.9 million students took last year, hasn’t changed in any meaningful way since 1989, the Cincinnati “Enquirer” recently reported. In taking a comprehensive look at ACT scores, the “Enquirer” noted that students armed with No. 2 pencils still get three anxious hours to answer multiple choice questions about math, English, science and reading that could help determine whether they get into their college of choice. The average test scores haven’t changed much, either. Those have hovered around 21 for at least the past five years. ACT has seen a slight rise in those scoring a 36 in recent years. They are attributing the increase to better test preparation. In Tennessee, curriculum standards now are better aligned to what is tested on the ACT. All CMCSS high schools offer an ACT test preparation course before eleventh graders take the exam. The Tennessee Legislature requires all high school juniors take the test, regardless of the students’ plans to attend college. CMCSS sees about one student every few years scoring a 36 Composite (36 on all sections). On average, five to 10 CMCSS students achieve a 35 composite each year. On individual content subjects, CMCSS students have seen scores of 36. For example in 2017-18, CMCSS showed the following data: In […]

Early Learning Teacher Residency Signing Day

Please note: This article was originally posted during a previous school year. Information and/or dates from past events may be not be relevant for the current school year. On Friday, May 24, CMCSS and APSU hosted a signing day event for the first cohort of the Early Learning Teacher Residency, an innovative three-year residency and degree program developed in partnership between APSU and CMCSS. In 1975, 22 percent of all college students dreamed of becoming teachers. Forty-four years later, that number has plummeted to about 4 percent, prompting the CBS Evening News to recently label the national teacher shortage “an education crisis.” Officials with the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System and the Austin Peay State University Eriksson College of Education have kept a close eye on the growing crisis, and the two organizations recently formed an innovative partnership to train and keep teachers in this community. “We have been looking at different teacher pipelines to get teachers in the school system, and growing our own was a natural place to go,” Millard House II, CMCSS Director of Schools, said. Earlier this spring, the school system and APSU launched the Early Learning Teacher Residence program, which will provide 20 recent high school graduates and 20 CMCSS teacher’s aides with an accelerated, free path to become full-time school system teachers in just three years. The program specifically targets minority and first-generation college students, increasing diversity both within the school system and at Austin Peay. “The idea is to put them into five of our lower socioeconomic elementary schools, in a lower grade, where they will be mentored by some of the most exemplary teachers we have,” Dr. Sean Impeartrice, CMCSS chief academic officer, said. “The whole idea of the residency is not providing them one year of student teaching but three years of […]

Administrative Appointments Announced for CMCSS

Please note: This article was originally posted during a previous school year. Information and/or dates from past events may be not be relevant for the current school year. Multiple administrative appointments have been announced for the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System. Melissa Izatt has been selected to serve as the Director of Educator Quality. Izatt will lead the district’s efforts in attracting and retaining the highest quality teacher candidates. She is a Clarksville native, product of CMCSS schools, and has been employed with the district since 2001. Over the past 18 years with the district, Izatt has served as a classroom teacher, after-school program director, assistant principal, Substitute Program Manager, and most recently as a Human Resources Coordinator. In 2009, she earned the Distinguished Classroom Teacher and Teacher of the Year honors as an educator at Northeast Elementary School. Izatt received both her B.S. in Elementary Education and M.A.Ed. in Educational Leadership from Austin Peay State University. In 2008, she was named Graduate Student of the Year at APSU. Dr. Phyllis Casebolt, who has served as Director of Educator Quality for nearly seven years and is a 30-years plus CMCSS veteran, will take on the mantle of leading the system’s federal programs. In her new role, Dr. Casebolt will provide leadership for the facilitation and coordination of programs associated with the Every Student Succeeds Act. She earned her doctorate of leadership and professional practice from Trevecca Nazarene University, her M.A. in education from Austin Peay State University where she also completed undergraduate work. She received her B.S. from Minot State University in North Dakota. Other experience within CMCSS was as principal at both Clarksville High and West Creek Middle schools. She was an assistant principal at Rossview High; and, has teaching experience at Ringgold Elementary, Richview Middle and Moore Elementary. She […]