| Nashville Schools have been around for a | | | | proficient in English is less than 3.2 years. |
| long, long time. The first of the public | | | | |
| Nashville Schools, the Hume School, was | | | | Nashville Schools District Director, Dr. |
| opened on February 26, 1855. A three-story | | | | Pedro E. Garcia, has led an in-depth |
| brick building, it housed 12 teachers and | | | | evaluation of what needs to be done to bring |
| served all grades. The building is still in | | | | the district to the next level of excellence. |
| use today, as the Hume-Fogg Magnet High, | | | | "Our mission to educate all children needs to |
| serving 874 students in grades 9-12. The | | | | go beyond the school and include parents and |
| oldest of the Nashville Schools presently in | | | | the entire community. [Nashville Schools] are |
| operation is the Robertson Academy. This | | | | a standards-based district. We will continue |
| school can trace its roots back to an act of | | | | to expect our teachers to teach the |
| the United States Congress approved on April | | | | standards." |
| 17, 1806. The act provided for an academy in | | | | |
| each of the state's (then) 27 counties. The | | | | Like the rest of the nation the Nashville |
| Nashville School has operated continuously | | | | Schools are looking for ways to meet |
| since that time, and today serves as the | | | | compliance with the No Child Left Behind |
| center for the Nashville Schools' gifted and | | | | (NCLB) act. Districts with large groups of |
| talented program. | | | | foreign speaking students, like the Nashville |
| | | | Schools, are especially challenged because |
| Today, the Nashville Schools comprise the | | | | all tests are administered in English. The |
| 49th largest urban school district in the | | | | means that an ELL third grade student who is |
| United States. The district covers Davidson | | | | introduced to English for the first time is |
| County, an area of 525 square miles. The | | | | expected to take and pass the same test as |
| system consists of 74 elementary schools, 35 | | | | her native English speaking peers. And |
| middle schools, 15 high schools, 4 | | | | despite the claim that the teachers of |
| alternative and non-traditional learning | | | | Nashville Schools are able to bring students |
| centers, 3 special education schools, and 2 | | | | to English proficiency in just over 3 years, |
| charter schools. It serves approximately | | | | most language experts claim that true |
| 74,000 students, and employs around 5,700 | | | | acquisition of a second language takes 5-7 |
| teachers and 4,000 support staff. | | | | years. This has some of the educators in |
| | | | Nashville Schools scratching their heads and |
| Students enrolled in the Nashville Schools | | | | asking if NCLB should be altered to meet the |
| come from over 80 different countries, and | | | | realities of ELL and special needs students. |
| represent 27% of all English Language | | | | The national debate between setting immovable |
| Learners (ELL) in the state of Tennessee. Due | | | | standards and meeting the realities of |
| to the hard work of the teachers, the average | | | | student needs is echoed precisely in the |
| time it takes for a student to become | | | | halls of the Nashville Schools. |