MNPS, Nashville State announce partnership in hopes of improving outcomes for the city's students

Nashville schools and the city's community college will join together in a new effort with the hopes they can better prepare the city's students for their future. 

The partnership announced on Thursday will link Metro Nashville Public Schools and Nashville State Community College together under a formal agreement that will allow the two to share student information and resources.

The goal of the agreement, called "Better Together," is to improve college success and prepare students for Nashville's workforce needs. The agreement also bridges a key gap in how the district hands off its graduates to a college where about a quarter attend.

"We are trying to get a longer runway for students to get the skills and services to be more successful," said Shanna Jackson, Nashville State Community College president, in an interview Wednesday ahead of the announcement. "We are committed to this area and region to be a solution.

"For me, it is very much a critical part of Nashville to be 'it city' to grow our own."

The agreement allows for the sharing of student data, new partnerships at every high school, collaboration among teachers and Nashville state faculty, unlimited dual enrollment opportunities and expanded early college experiences.

For example, the agreement will sustain Pearl-Cohn High School's new joint Surgical Tech program, according to a news release on the agreement. And it will expand on Nashville's Early College program located on the Nashville State campus.

It also will create a summer program to better prepare students for college. And it will also compliment Nashville GRAD, which provides financial assistance for full-time students pursuing higher education at Nashville State and the city's technical college.

Nashville schools interim Superintendent Adrienne Battle said research has proven students that are exposed to college-level experiences and work are more likely to be successful after they graduate.

Battle said the partnership will provide those experiences.

"This will create more access and more opportunity in preparing students for their future and beyond," Battle said.

The effort was applauded by Mayor John Cooper, who said Nashville "works best when we work together."

"Getting our kids into career training or college is important but it’s only the first step," he said. "Today, we are taking an important next step: making sure that once they get to college, they succeed.”

The collaboration comes after a 2018 report by the Nashville Public Education Foundation that the majority of Nashville students that attended Nashville State Community College didn't graduate.

The report attributed the low graduation numbers to significant barriers, including finances and transportation.

The majority of Nashville schools students are low-income, and when they arrive at college, they often don't have enough money for books, housing, food or other fees, the report highlighted. 

One of the suggestions of the report was a data-sharing compact that would help track college access and student success annually.

The challenges of low-income students are one that Nashville schools tackles on a daily basis.

Pearl Cohn Principal Miriam Harrington said numerous factors act as roadblocks to her students' success, but this partnership has the potential to show students they can overcome.

"When you're giving them access and opportunity ... they see it, they feel it, they understand it and it's more believable and attainable for them," Harrington said.

The agreement will allow the school system and college the ability to more effectively communicate about student needs, Battle said.

Battle said that includes how to ensure students are successful after they leave high school hallways.

"Historically, it has been a challenge that our district and others have been trying to figure out," she said

And Jackson said the campus will get more information on a student than just their ACT score and transcripts. 

"We can ask if there was something the student was going through in high school and ... understand the environment that has proven to be successful to get that student to graduation," Jackson said.

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Reach Jason Gonzales at jagonzales@tennessean.com and on Twitter @ByJasonGonzales.