Nashville district wants to move 5th students from middle to elementary school

The Nashville (Tenn.) district is considering a move of fifth-graders from middle schools to elementary schools.

The Nashville Tennessean reports that the recommendation stems from the district's plan for improving academics.

Across the state and the nation, it is most common for pre-K through fifth grades to be housed under the same roof

The plan calls for phasing in the change. Fifth-graders at a dozen elementary schools would remain at their school rather than transitioning to middle school.

Eventually, Director Adrienne Battle says, the district would like to make the change across all elementary schools.

"We have considered a phase-in across the district starting with these three clusters (because) it doesn’t require any capital improvement changes to make it happen next school year," Battle says. "The goal is over several years to phase fifth grade back to all our elementary schools."

District officials argue that academic data show that fifth-grade students who remain in the elementary setting outperform their peers in middle school settings. Many parents also have called for the change over the years.

The move also would increase capacity at some of the district's most underutilized schools.

The district's improvement initiative, ReimaginEd, was launched in 2019 with Battle's decision to close four low-performing, under-capacity schools – Buena Vista Elementary, Robert E. Lillard Elementary, Joelton Middle School and Cohn Learning Center.