Tennessee Nature Academy approved for Antioch, Cane Ridge area

Anika Exum, Nashville Tennessean
·2 min read

The Tennessee Public Charter School Commission voted to approve Tennessee Nature Academy for operation in southeast Nashville Tuesday.

The charter school — now scheduled to open in August 2023 in the fast-growing Antioch and Cane Ridge areas of Nashville — will focus on student-led projects and spending time learning outdoors, and plans to serve students grades 5-12.

Stanley Phanthavong holds Cinnamon, a two-month-old goat, outside the Metro Nashville Public Schools administrative building ahead of a school board vote on proposed charter school Tennessee Nature Academy on Tuesday, July 12, 2022. The nature-based school would connect students to the outdoors, school officials said. Cinnamon was there to help rally support for the school.

The school faced two denials from Metro Nashville Public Schools and then decided to pursue an appeal with the state.

At Tuesday's meeting, the school also faced a recommendation of denial from the charter commission's executive director Tess Stovall due to questions concerning its finances.

"The sponsor’s plan does not include a realistic plan sufficient to support the opening of a new charter school," she wrote in her report.

In her report, Stovall wrote the school had a strong curriculum and clear community support. However, she had concerns regarding whether its small executive team could handle the financial responsibilities and whether current budgeting assumptions — including for salaries lower than those for the same positions at MNPS and for technology — were sound.

In defense of the school's financial viability, Nature Academy leaders, including board chair Roger Waynick, listed several organizations, like the Joe C. Davis Foundation and City Fund, that have promised funds to the school since it submitted its appeal application.

"We're ready to open and serve southeast Davidson County," he said.

Despite Stovall's recommendation, the commission voted 5-3 to approve the school.

Commissioners who voted for approval said the new information changed their opinions of the school's readiness.

"You have this great school in a part of the city that desperately need a great school," commissioner Wendy Tucker said. "Do we risk that this school never happens?"

Commission vice chair Chris Richards said that she believed in looking at the "overall tone of the approach" of the Nature Academy and that the school had worked to address any concerns.

"There's a lot of risk in this application, but it's the responsibility of this team if they are approved today to immediately address those areas of risk," she said.

Commissioner Eddie Smith was one of the three to vote for denial, along with commission chair Tom Griscom and Alan Levine. Smith advocated for the sponsor to do more work on the financial piece of the puzzle.

This stamp of approval marks three charter schools planned for opening in the Antioch area between now and 2025. The school announced on social media it would be opening applications for parents and educators in a matter of days.

Anika Exum is a reporter for the Tennessean covering youth & education. Reach her at 615-347-7313, aexum@tennessean.com or on Twitter @aniexum.

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Nature Academy charter school approved for Nashville