On January 23rd, Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) will open the School Options Application period for the 2023 – 2024 school year. The open period will be extended until February 10th. Students, and their families, can choose to pursue enrollment in a district school outside their zoned school, a charter school, or in one of the district’s magnet and art school options.
Through this application process, MNPS provides families with an opportunity to find a school that might better suit their needs as compared to their zoned option. Not all district schools are considered eligible for outside-zone enrollment, due to capacity issues. All MNPS students have a guaranteed pathway to their zoned school.
To apply to an Optional School, families and students must meet the following criteria:
- Parent/Guardian must be a Davidson County resident at the time of application.
- An MNPS-issued student identification (ID) number is required and can be obtained through an Enrollment Center.
- Visit www.mnps.org/school-options to access the application. Paper applications must be mailed, or hand delivered to the MNPS Office of School Options; 2601 Bransford Ave; Nashville, TN 37204.
- Apply no later than the application deadline to be part of the random selection process.
- Applications received after the application deadline will be placed on applicable waitlists.
Entry to a school is determined through a lottery process. Families who wish to apply to one of the MNPS academic magnet schools – Meigs Middle, MLK, or Hume-Fogg HS – must meet the following requirements in order to be eligible for the lottery:
- 80 GPA or higher (Q3, Q4, and Q1)
- No missing or failing grades
- Met or Exceeded Expectations on TCAP (previously labeled On Track or Mastered)
- State or national stanine of 14Â or higher
Meeting the academic criteria does not guarantee a student an enrollment slot. All students must go through the lottery process unless they are currently enrolled at either John Early Middle School or Meigs Middle and wishes to attend Hume-Fogg. Those students must still meet the academic requirements.
The Grade Point Average (GPA) required has been lowered this year from an 85 to an 80 to reflect recent statewide changes to the grading scale. Previously, an 85 would have been considered a “B,” now an 80 is considered as such.
Hume-Fogg was recently recognized by Niche as being the top public high school in Tennessee. MLK, which serves students in grades 7-12, and Meigs Middle are regularly in the top 10.
Students who wish to enroll in Early College High School must meet the following criteria:
- For Early College High School, the minimum score for incoming 9th and 10th-grade students is a sum of 10 national stanine and/or Met Expectations or Exceeded Expectations in TCAP ELA and Math combined.
- Incoming 11th-grade applicants to Early College High School must have:
– a minimum score of 21 on the ACT or
– a minimum score of the below on the SAT
› 490 in English
› 500 in math
› 500 in critical reading
Students who are artistically inclined may choose to apply to the Nashville School of the Arts (NSA). As part of the entrance requirement, an audition is required. Once an application has been submitted, a representative from NSA will contact students to schedule an audition. Criteria for the auditions can be found on the school’s web page and by clicking on the desired conservatory.
District-approved charter schools provide another option for families. Not all of Nashville’s charter schools participate in the district school options process, choosing instead to run independent application processes instead. It is recommended that parents of prospective students check first with individual schools for enrollment guidance.
In the past, MNPS has run a school choice festival that featured all school options, including charter schools. This year, they changed strategies and instead held a Celebration of Schools Festival that excluded charter schools.
In an effort to fill the void left by this change, and to get parents as much information as possible, the non-profit organization Parents Requiring Our Public Education system to Lead (PROPEL) is staging independent school choice fairs. The first was held on January 14th.
The next is scheduled for:
February 4, 2023
12:00 – 2:00 pm
The Salvation Army – Magness Potter Community Center
611 Stockell Street
Nashville, TN 37207
Students who participate in the school choice process will be notified of the results the first week in March. At that time they will have the option to either except the seat or explore other options.
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TC Weber is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. He also writes the blog Dad Gone Wild. Follow TC on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected]. He’s the proud parent of two public school children and the spouse of a public school teacher.
