'The beauty in Antioch': Young Nashville teacher returns to roots to launch high school
Miguel Reyna often did homework on the 90-minute city bus ride he took each way from Antioch to KIPP Nashville Collegiate High School in East Nashville. He dreamed of one day teaching math in his own neighborhood.
That became a reality in early August as he started his first year teaching — and as a founding member of the new KIPP Antioch Global High School. Thankfully, the commute is much shorter for Reyna these days as he drives in from the Glencliff neighborhood.
The school has a temporary home in a renovated department store that was once part of a now-defunct mall off Bell Road. Most recently known as Global Mall, the space is being revitalized into a hub for business, community and a permanent home for the school.
"I was here when it was Hickory Hollow Mall," Reyna said. "Me and my brothers would run down the spiral staircase that's there."
The new job and new school mark a full circle moment for him, Reyna said. He's even working alongside his former English teacher, Marc Gauthier, who is now the principal for the new school.
Reyna said he's happy to see new life breathed into his beloved childhood neighborhood. He hopes the new school, which rounds out K-12 options in the KIPP network in Antioch, gives kids the same opportunities and inspiration he found as a student.
"I just love seeing how it's growing, how people are seeing the beauty in Antioch and how much culture we have here and how much we have to offer," Reyna said. "It's really unique."
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Many nations, many flags
The first thing you see when walking into the school is a hallway full of flags from different nations, representing the multicultural student body of the new school.
Southeast Nashville is home to one of the most diverse populations in the city. There are nearly 25,000 foreign-born residents in Antioch alone, according to a recent American Community Study estimate. Gauthier said he's excited that the school can join existing hubs around it, including the Southeast campus for Nashville State Community College, a library and a community center.
"This is a really special place," Gauthier said. "It's the crossroads of Antioch."
A few days before school started, Reyna strolled past the colorful display of flags to ready his classroom. He was busy hanging up blue poster board on the back wall to map out key math concepts. Gauthier lent him a hand as they shared about their history.
"I remember Marc having a dry sense of humor," Reyna said with a smile. "That's my sense of humor, and so I feel like that's why I really liked his teaching personality."
Gauthier remembers Reyna's kindness and dedicated work ethic, noting he had a 95% turn-in rate for homework. Reyna excelled at KIPP, earning the Dave Goldberg Scholarship that helped him attend Vanderbilt University. He graduated in 2022 and went on to pursue a master's degree.
Inspired by the model at the KIPP high school where he first started as a sophomore, Reyna and other students rallied to build one in Antioch. Metro Nashville Public Schools denied its application, but the public charter school won state approval in 2020. The local district now oversees five KIPP schools in Nashville, while the state oversees an additional five including the Global High School.
As soon as he heard about the opportunity to launch KIPP Global High School, Reyna immediately applied. He was the first teacher hired there.
Both Reyna and Gauthier were eager to welcome their incoming class and to encourage them to engage the community around them. On Aug. 8, around 125 ninth-graders filled the halls for the first day of school. A new freshman class will be added as the founding students advance each year.
"It's kind of surreal," Reyna said ahead of the first day. "I was literally these students eight years ago."
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville teacher returns to roots to start KIPP Antioch Global High
