NASHVILLE, Tenn.- The first days of school are all about establishing
expectations. At Nashville Prep Charter School, no detail is too small.
"I would probably describe what we do here again as a 100% no excuses
type of environment," teacher Anthony Fowler explained.
Even in fifth and sixth grade, graduating from college isn't just a goal,
it's an expectation.
"The classes are great and the teachers are very funny," sixth
grader Leland Kelley said. "And they help us a lot. And we get a lot of
homework."
Last year, the inaugural class of fifth graders arrived, on average, at a
third grade level in all subjects.
"When we started the year we said our scholars would exceed the results
of Williamson County in two years in all subjects," Founder Ravi Gupta
said. "And when we had that goal, when we set that goal a lot of people
laughed us out of rooms."
According to the 2012 TCAP exams 79% of the 5th graders were proficient or
advanced in math,
97.5% in Social Studies, 63.75% in English and Language Arts and 78.75% in
Science. The results far exceed Metro School's fifth grade averages and in math
are outpacing Williamson County.
Gupta and his staff are employing practices from the best schools across the
country and creating some of their own.
"We like to say at Nashville Prep we take the joy and creativity of
Pixar and combine it with the discipline of the U.S. Marines," he said.
The school has a lot to prove, not to naysayers but its students who are
referred to as scholars.
"Demographics don't determine destiny," Gupta said about what the
results should demonstrate to others.
Gupta and his staff are not reveling in the results, instead they stress
more work needs to be done. This year Nashville Prep serves fifth and six
graders with hopes of eventually expanding to high school.
