Memphis, Tenn. - Memphis City Schools (MCS) will host its High School Redesign Celebration and Symposium on Saturday, October 17, 2009 from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Teaching and Learning Academy, located at 2485 Union Avenue. The High School Redesign Celebration and Symposium is being held as a result of 14 MCS high schools ($500,000 each) being awarded a $7 million Title I School Improvement Grant from the Tennessee Department of Education. The grant may be renewed annually for up to two years, and if approved could increase the grant total to $21 million.

"This is the Year of the High School and we are excited to receive these unprecedented funds totaling $7 million dollars with the possibility of renewal for the next two years. If we show improvement with fidelity of implementation, the district will have an opportunity to receive a total of $21 million dollars to dramatically restructure and improve our high schools for the 21st century," said Superintendent Cash.
The celebration will last from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., and will feature Superintendent Kriner Cash, MCS Board Commissioner Freda Williams, and presentations from each school. The symposium will immediately follow the celebration, which will include specific information about each schools' redesign and provide students, parents, and teacher training sessions around the school's new design platform.

The following high schools are recipients of the grant:
Booker T. Washington, Carver, Craigmont, Fairley, Frayser, Hamilton, Kingsbury, Kirby, Manassas, Northside, Oakhaven, Sheffield, Trezevant, and Wooddale.

Earlier this year, MCS participated in the Department of Education's kick-off initiative for transforming high schools in Nashville with other school districts from around the state. For two days, the MCS team which included representatives from the Board of Commissioners, Office of Federal Programs and Grants, Research, Assessment, and Evaluation, Exceptional Children, the Mayor's Office, of Careers and Technology, High School Initiatives, School Operations, and high school principals learned about basic practices in redesigning struggling high schools.

After participating in the state's kick-off initiative and study tours across the country to assess and monitor high school redesign best practices, MCS representatives began to craft their individual high school reform plan. After seven months of conducting research of students, parents, and teachers, and community stakeholders, and revising and improving their designs, the school teams submitted their competitive application to the State Department of Education for approval.

On August 12, 2009, MCS was informed that the 14 high schools that applied were awarded the High School Redesign Grants.
Beginning in the 2010 school year, 14 High School Redesign schools will implement their redesign plans, which will substantially help to meet new state standards and prepare students for the next level of learning; by improving student proficiency and increasing the number of schools meeting Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) benchmarks; to use data to inform decisions; and to create a system of continuous feedback and improvement.

Some of the redesign models will include :

Smaller learning communities
Early colleges
Career themed academies
Gender-specific learning academies

"We have strategically designed these 14 career themed academies to be aligned with emerging local, regional, and international industries," said Cash.

Specific learning communities and themed academies are as follows: