Cheatham County School Board members unanimously backed turning Pegram Elementary into a fine arts magnet school beginning in the 2019-2020 school year.
The endeavor will integrate arts — including music, art, drama and dance — into the school’s current academic standards, and officials hope it will also entice prospective students to enroll.
In September, 185 students were enrolled at the school which could hold more than 300 at full capacity, according to a previous story.
Related: Pegram could become fine arts magnet school. Here’s what that means
“We have wonderful neighborhoods and wonderful people that have been there for many, many years, and because of that, we don’t have a lot of (families with) children moving into the area,” Principal Detra Emery said at the board's Jan. 29 work session.
Since 2003, the school has received more than $55,000 in art grants and matching funds with the largest grant this year at $10,000, Emery said.
Arts integration has already been “an integral part of what we do,” Emery said, noting the walls lined in students' artwork and teachers with fine-arts backgrounds, including dance, acrobatics, singing, piano and other talents.
Director of Schools Cathy Beck explained in a previous school board work session that five “pillars” uphold magnet schools, which work “beautifully” with the district’s five-year plan:
“There’s a direct correlation between the arts and the academic achievement,” Beck said at that time, noting that evidence shows the fine arts help reduce the student dropout rate, raise attendance and enhance creativity.
“We also know that there is a direct link between the arts and subjects such as math, science and language,” she said.
Emery said a few of Pegram’s teachers have already attended a Tennessee Performing Arts Center training in the fall to learn how to integrate arts into curriculum. In summer, there will be a full-faculty training with TPAC, she said.
Next steps include creating a marketing plan, discussing the arts focus at a parent evening in the spring and opening an application process for out-of-zone students.
"The application process can’t take place until the School Board reviews the out-of-county tuition policy as it was tabled Monday night," Cheatham County School District Communications Director Tim Adkins said in an email. "As soon as this is approved, the district will announce the application process and procedures."
Possible tuition changes
Cheatham County School District officials also hope that the fine arts integration will appeal to families with children who are not already enrolled in the school system.
“I think this is a wonderful opportunity to grow the school,” Beck said at the Jan. 29 work session. “This is our best thinking on something that would be great for our district, be great for our community, and hopefully increase the population of students that would enroll…and increase our BEP (Basic Education Program) funding. It’s just a win-win.”
The school board tabled a policy change Monday that, if passed, aims to amend the tuition for out-of-county students so those families don’t pay a fee.
Beck explained in the Jan. 29 work session that for one child, the tuition costs about $1,850. Families with more than one child may not be able to afford tuition but would be interested in enrolling their children in Cheatham County Schools.
In lieu of the district receiving tuition for each out-of-county student, it would receive additional BEP funding. The district receives more than $7,000 in BEP funding per student, officials said at the work session.
“I think this could be a real boom for all of the south area,” Beck said of the idea to try doing away with out-of-county tuition in all schools in the 2019-2020 school year.
“We’re down across the district almost 150 students from last year… It would open up the opportunity for us to grow our population.”
The district would still consider candidates and would reserve the right to accept or reject an application based on criteria including transportation.
Annual report: Cheatham Schools' annual report highlights achievements by students, teachers and schools
Five-year plan: Cheatham County School District's five-year plan approved
Kelly Fisher can be reached at [email protected], 615-801-3866 or on Twitter at@KellyPFisher.
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