As school year begins, new lives for buildings, new staffs for schools

Last year, the Shelby County school board approved the district’s plan to close ten school buildings—the largest single round of closings in the Memphis history. Now that the school year has begun, what is happening in each of those schools?

Charter schools and ASD schools

  • The building that formerly housed Lanier Middle School will become a new W.E.B. Dubois Consortium charter school.
  • The building that formerly housed Riverview Elementary will become Vision Prep Academy.
  • Shannon and Klondike Elementary Schools and Corry Middle School will all house schools run by the state-run Achievement School District.
  • The Cypress Middle School building will be home to a KIPP school.

District buildings and demolition

  • Gordon Elementary and Vance Middle School will host district programs and central office staff.
  • The Graves and Westhaven elementary school buildings are to be demolished.

Some schools that weren’t on the closings list have also undergone big changes. The following schools have new principals, staff, and, in some cases, programs, due to state and district-level interventions.

Achievement School District schools

  • Frayser High School, Westwood and Coleman Elementary Schools, and Fairley High School were all taken over by the ASD.

Innovation Zone

  • Grandview Heights Middle School, Hamilton High School, Melrose High School, Trezevant High School, Vance Middle School are now part of the district’s Innovation Zone, which means they have new principals and new staff.

Other

  • Northside High School, which had initially been on the list of schools to close, has a new principal and almost-entirely new staff.
  • The district replaced the former school at Fairview Middle School with a brand-new optional program, the Maxine Smith STEAM Academy.

Correction: Fairley High School, not Fairley Middle School, is now part of the Achievement School District. Corry is a middle, not an elementary school