Dr. Gregory Hutchings, principal at West End IB World School, is leaving Nashville and headed home. The popular leader has accepted a position as Director of Middle Schools with Alexandria City Public Schools in Alexandria, Virgina. Assistant Principal Jeff Keith will serve as Interim Principal for the remainder of the year.

Nashville School of the Arts has been granted charter membership in the National Forensic League (NFL). Charter membership is the highest level of membership in the NFL and is only granted when a school shows a sustained commitment to speech and debate education. The NSA Forensics Team, led by drama teacher John Newsom, won first place in the 2009-2010 Metro Forensics League Tournament. The team has also competed in regional tournaments such as the Smoky Mountain Invitational Forensics Tournament in Gatlinburg, Tenn. The National Forensic League is a non-profit honorary society whose mission is to promote high school and middle school speech and debate activities. As members, NSA students are now eligible to compete in speech and debate tournaments on the national level

The nationally-renowned Annenberg Institute for School Reform (AISR) has signed on as a partner with Metro Nashville Public Schools to study the district’s system-wide reform effort known as MNPS Achieves. “Annenberg is a leader in school reform,” said Director of Schools Dr. Jesse Register. “This partnership will give us a strong, external look at the work we are doing. It will help us enhance our strengths and identify areas of weakness. It will help us continue and advance our efforts to make Metro Schools among the best in the nation.” The Annenberg Institute has recruited a renowned National Advisory Panel to aid in evaluation conceptualization, provide feedback on MNPS Achieves, and suggest improvements to the reform model’s design and implementation. The Panel consists of five distinguished leaders in the world of public education reform, including. Norm Fruchter, Andy Hargreaves, Carrie Leana, Joseph Johnson, and Thomas Payzant. “This is a rare opportunity to study a comprehensive approach to system-wide reform, and one that is evolving in a dynamic city and in the midst of state-wide education reform,” said Warren Simmons, Executive Director of Annenberg Institute for School Reform.This panel is supported by Race to the Top funding.To read the full release, click here.

A Nashville Encore student, Keshandria, is big winner this holiday season; she's going on a 60-second shopping spree courtesy of Dollar General! The shopping spree comes months after Keshandria's mom entered an essay for a contest from Dollar General. The topic of her essay was her daughter's plan to collect supplies for homeless people. Out of more than 3,000 entries, the mother-daughter duo were selcted to the Top 25. After a week of public voting, Keshandria and her mother won! Their shopping spree is set for Wednesday, Dec. 15, at 11 am, at the Dollar General in Inglewood.

The United Nations of Antioch High School recently participated in a service project at the Second Harvest Food Bank. The group put on a wonderful, crowd-pleasing show and lent their hands to help Second Harvest! The list of students who participated is below. UN Members Madonna Botros, representing EgyptJasmine Metri, EgyptIris Gomez, MexicoAndrea Gomez, MexicoAmanuel Afework, Ethiopia/GermanyAnd Faduma Gelle, representing Somalia UN associate teachersLauren ArmstrongStephanie Ridley

This Holiday Season, the Pennington PTO is sponsoring the “Pennington Panthers Giving Tree Project”. Between Monday, Nov. 29 and Friday, Dec. 10, Pennington students are asked to bring in gift donations for children in our community. These gifts will be administered and distributed to families in need. Gifts the school will be collecting include educational toys (Leap Frog toys, Magna-doodles, puzzles, flash cards, etc.), board games (all kinds), building toys (such as Legos, Lincoln Logs, etc.), as well as books (easy readers, books on tape, etc.). After all items are collected, the PTO will take the gifts and a roll of wrapping paper to the families. And in true "Giving Tree" spirit, the students who donate are having a special commemorative picture made with the stump of a 50-year-old tree that was recently cut down in front of the school.

Students at the International Newcomer's Academy may not share the same nationality or language, but today they all shared a smile. Students of all ages warmed hearts and spread some holiday cheer with a very special holiday concert.

Leaders in nine communities across the U.S. have signed on to a District-Charter Collaboration Compact, an initiative to highlight new ways that public charter schools and traditional public schools are working to provide high quality education for all students. Cities committed to the Compact include Baltimore, Md., Denver, Colo., Hartford, Conn., Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Minn., Nashville, Tenn., New Orleans, La., New York City and Rochester, N.Y. In response to requests by school districts and charter school leaders for such a collaboration, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has supported the development of public agreements in cities where the traditional district schools and public charter schools are eager to work together to share best practices and provide all children in their communities with a public school education that prepares them with the skills and knowledge to succeed in college and the workforce.The full release is below.

Over the Thanksgiving Holiday, Overton High School's multi-award winning marching band made its third appearance in Waikiki's Holiday Parade. The parade serves as a fundraiser for the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial on the island. Students also toured Pearl-Harbor, the island of Oahu and Dole's Pineapple Plantation. Overton

Wednesday, Dec. 8, from 8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., students at The Academy located at Hickory Hollow will participate in a Career Fair. At the fair, students will be exposed to a variety of careers, interact with professionals, learn resume-writing tips, hear guest speakers, learn how to dress for success, and practice interviewing and presenting. The Academy is a high school that targets at-risk students. It offers a more flexible schedule for students. This is The Academy's second year in operation. During the 2009-10 school year, while housed at Opry Mills, The Academy graduated 113 students and helped students recover more than 700 course credits! Since August 2010, the school has already helped more than 20 students complete high school requirements.

The MNPS Career Exploration Fair, held in early November, keeps on giving. Not only did nearly 4,000 freshman have access to local business men and women, post-secondary opportunities, and educational opportunities, several are now also on the receiving end of special gifts donated by some of the events' partners. The winners are: Angela C., a student at Hunters Lane, won an iPod courtesy of Shoney's. Korteisha N. of Hunters Lane, Jennifer L. of Overton, Perrishea J. of McGavock, and Adam B. of Hillwoood received 30 Shoney's gift cards. Cornerstone Financial provided a four-pack of movie tickets to Austin B. of Glencliff, Daisy D. of Hillwood, Kamran B. of Overton, and Jackson M. of McGavock. Damir B. of Overton received an iPad courtesy of Building Trades. Veronica M., a freshman at Antioch High School, was the winner of a new laptop, courtesy of Bridgetsone!

The Whites Creek Cluster families are invited to celebrate at Whites Creek Winterfest, Monday, Dec. 6. From 5:45 - 7:30 p.m., families will have an opportunity to meet with teachers, support staff and other families in the cluster. Open publication - Free publishing - More mnps

Friday, Dec. 3, hundreds of MNPS middle and high school students will take part in the 58th Annual Piedmont Natural Gas Christmas Parade. Marching bands, JROTC units, cheerleaders and dance teams will help spread some holiday cheer. And our very own Hillsboro High School Marching Band will help lead in good ole Saint Nick. The parade starts at 7 p.m. The official start will be at the Public Square.