Tennessee
In Tennessee, the Microschooling Movement Shows No Signs of Slowing Down
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I recently heard someone dismiss microschools as insignificant in the education space due to their size. It’s true that microschools are intentionally small, typically below 100 students, but they are steadily growing nationwide. Small things sometimes make the biggest impact. For example, the 33 million small businesses in the U.S. form the backbone of the economy, comprising 99.9 percent of all companies and employing more than 61 million people.
Small is scalable.
In addition to their small size, microschools are also usually low-cost, highly personalized learning programs, often with a creative curriculum and supple scheduling. They were gaining momentum pre-pandemic and took off following COVID school closures and prolonged remote learning. As someone who has been following alternative education trends for years, I suspected microschooling — and its cousin, homeschooling — would remain above pre-pandemic levels even after schools returned to normal. But I have been pleasantly surprised to see a continued acceleration of these programs in many areas of the country.
Tennessee is a case in point. I recently visited five microschools and related learning models around Nashville and Chattanooga. All of them have launched in the past four years and most opened within the past two years. Their enrollment is quickly rising, and some have already hit capacity with long waitlists. Demand for these start-up schools shows no signs of slowing.
The oldest of the programs I visited opened in August 2020. Located on an organic farm in Smyrna, Tennessee, about 20 miles outside of Nashville, Bloomsbury Farm School began with one teacher and five homeschooled children, including farmer Lauren Palmer’s own five-year-old. By January 2021, the program had 30 children and two teachers. Today, it is a Reggio Emilia-inspired K-5 farm school, with additional parent-child programming for littler ones, that serves 86 children.
Blending core academics and interest-driven learning, along with abundant outside time and opportunities to help with farm duties, the farm school is currently at maximum enrollment, with dozens of children on a waitlist. All of the children are recognized homeschoolers, with most attending two to three days a week. The full-time, five-day option costs $900/month. “For the majority of our families, COVID was the catalyst to them beginning their homeschooling journey,” said Kaiti Dewhirst, Bloomsbury Farm’s Director of Education. She says now these families don’t want their children in a conventional classroom. “They see the farm school as an opportunity to preserve childhood wonder.” Dewhirst and her team are in the planning stages of determining how to extend their program to middle school and beyond, as well as serve more families on the waitlist.
In Franklin, another Nashville suburb, Harpeth Montessori opened its doors as a recognized private school in fall 2021 with over 40 learners, including toddlers to fifth graders. Today, it has nearly 100 students and 16 staff members. Founders Greg and Jennifer Biorkman never expected to own a school. Both have backgrounds in business and sales and were working full-time jobs when COVID hit and disrupted the education of their two young boys. They decided to create their ideal learning environment with trained Montessori teachers and a focus on child-centered learning.
“We truly could not find a school we wanted to send our children to,” said Jennifer. “It was simple supply and demand.” Last year, Greg left his corporate job to oversee Harpeth Montessori full time, and is planning to expand the program to middle schoolers in the fall while managing a growing waitlist.
“This community is very open to alternatives to conventional education but there are not a lot of options,” he said, acknowledging that there is a lot of opportunity for other entrepreneurial parents and teachers to launch small schools.
Further south, the Chattanooga area has some of the newest microschools and related learning models in the state. In fall 2022, Rebecca Ellis opened Canyon Creek Christian Academy in Chattanooga with 32 K-6 students. A Charlotte Mason-inspired hybrid homeschool program, Canyon Creek learners attend full-time classes three days a week focused on core academics and deep nature study, while working through curriculum at home on the remaining two days. Today, Canyon Creek Christian Academy has more than 50 learners with five full-time teachers and additional part-time instructors.
The Academy recently leased additional church space next door to continue to accommodate its growing enrollment. “We are getting more kids trying to pull out of the public school system,” said Ellis, who says her program’s low-stress, child-focused environment is appealing to parents — especially those whose children are growing anxious in test-heavy conventional schools. Canyon Creek’s low annual tuition, currently set at $3,750, is also attractive, costing significantly less than other local private schools.
Just a few miles down the road in Chattanooga, Discovery Learners’ Academy also opened in fall 2022. Founded by Rachel Good, who worked as a public school teacher in Washington and Tennessee for over eight years, Discovery Learners’ Academy, is a state-recognized private school with a personalized educational approach that opened with 21 learners and today has 50 — about 15 of whom attend part-time as homeschoolers. Half of all the school’s students are neurodiverse, a population that Good caters to as a former special education teacher. Indeed, her inability to fully serve special needs students in the conventional school system was one of the reasons she left the public schools. “I was always trying to advocate for these kids and was always hitting a brick wall,” said Good.
At $7,000 a year, Discovery Learners’ Academy is about half the cost of most traditional private schools in the area, and less than the $10,850 a year that the local Hamilton County public schools spend per student. Even so, tuition is still financially out-of-reach for many families, and the school currently doesn’t qualify for the state’s small education choice program. “It’s so heartbreaking when a parent asks if they can use their voucher here and I have to say no,” said Good, who is supportive of current efforts by Tennessee lawmakers to expand school choice policies.
The newest microschool I visited in the Volunteer State opened in August in Cleveland, just outside of Chattanooga. Triumph Acton Academy is a home-based learning pod for homeschoolers that is part of the fast-growing Acton Academy network that includes more than 300 independently-operated, learner-driven microschools, serving thousands of students.
In spring 2023, Alexis and JT Rubatsky listened to a podcast with Acton Academy co-founder, Jeff Sandefer, explaining the philosophy of learner-driven education where young people are empowered to pursue their passions while mastering core curriculum content. They were hooked, and knew immediately that it was the type of education they wanted for their two boys, ages six and 11. “Our kids weren’t thriving in school, and as a teacher, I saw that there was so much focus on the tests, on shoving information down their throats,” said Alexis, who quit her job teaching high school biology in the local public schools to open Triumph. The year started with five learners, including the Rubatskys’ two boys. Half-way through their first year, enrollment has more than doubled to 11 learners and the founders know it won’t be long before they outgrow their home-based classroom for a larger space.
“I would love for there to be lots of options,” said Alexis, who is encouraged by the growth of microschools and related models in Tennessee and across the U.S. She is already connecting with local founders like Rachel Good, who is working to build community among the entrepreneurial parents and teachers who are creating these new options. Working collaboratively, these small schools can have an even greater impact.
“I want to support these innovative educators,” said Good. “We need to have that variety of options.”
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Tennessee launched the country’s first-ever public database tracking and listing convicted domestic abusers as part of a ratified law honoring a sheriff’s deputy who was murdered by her abusive ex-boyfriend.
The database, which officially launched on Jan. 1, includes offenders’ names, photos and dates of birth and is part of Savanna’s Law. The bill was signed into law by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee in May 2025 and required the state to establish the registry in Savanna Puckett’s name.
Puckett, a 22-year-old Robertson County Sheriff’s deputy, was tragically killed by her ex-boyfriend, James Conn, at her home on Jan. 23, 2022. Conn had a lengthy history of domestic assault arrests that Puckett had no knowledge of before they began dating.
Conn shot Puckett in the torso and head before he set her home on fire. He pleaded guilty to her murder in August 2023 and was sentenced to life in prison.
Puckett’s distraught mother, Kim Dodson, was determined to save other domestic abuse victims from her daughter’s fate and began pushing state lawmakers for change.
She was a staunch advocate for the bill’s passage and said that if the registry had existed sooner, her daughter might still be alive.
“I was just horrified when I finally saw all those records because I know Savanna well enough that she would have never dated him. I honestly, honestly, honestly feel that if she had known that she could still be here,” Dodson told WSMV.
The domestic abuser registry is run through the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and lists anyone in the state who has been convicted of at least two domestic violence-related charges, according to the website.
However, the offender’s registration is dependent on the accusing victim. If the victim doesn’t consent to their abuser’s name being included, then the offender can bypass the registry.
The database doesn’t include info on offenders convicted before the new year, so the current list is limited. But it was made in the mirror image of the state’s sex offender registry, which is more fleshed out with decades-worth of listings.
The sex offender registry includes a rolling queue of “wanted violators” and a “map of offenders.”
Tennessee has previously ranked among the top 10 states with the most domestic violence homicides. In 2019, it tied for fifth with South Carolina in a separate list detailing the states with the highest femicide rates, WTVF reported.
Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Tennessee Titans pre-game analysis, prediction
Florida Times-Union Jacksonville Jaguars beat reporter Demetrius Harvey breaks down what the team needs to do to beat the Tennessee Titans in Week 18.
Tennessee Titans quarterback and former Miami star Cam Ward exited the Week 18 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars with a shoulder injury, sustained during a first-quarter touchdown run at EverBank Stadium on Jan. 4.
The Titans initially listed Ward as questionable to return, before declaring him out late in the first quarter. Up until the injury, the rookie quarterback had appeared in every offensive snap during the regular season for last-place Tennessee.
While rounding right end and diving for the end zone, Ward absorbed a hard hit from Jaguars linebacker Foye Oluokun as he also struck the ground just inside the end zone pylon. The rush gave the Titans a short-lived 7-0 lead.
Ward entered the medical tent after the injury, and Tennessee medical staff subsequently escorted him to the locker room.
The rookie from Miami had completed 24 of 38 passes for 141 yards when the Titans played Jacksonville on Nov. 30, a 25-3 Jaguars win. At Miami, Ward was a finalist for the 2024 Heisman Trophy, which ultimately went to Colorado receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter, now with the Jaguars but also out due to injury.
Former Jaguars quarterback Brandon Allen entered the game in Ward’s place on the next series. The Jags drafted Allen in the sixth round (No. 201) in 2016, although he never appeared in a regular-season game for Jacksonville.
With a victory, the Jaguars would clinch the AFC South and a first-round home assignment for the playoffs. The Titans were eliminated from postseason contention weeks ago.
(This story has been updated to add new information.)
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Conference play has a way of revealing what teams really are, and Arkansas fans it’s a positive omen for the rest of the season.
Behind a career-high 29 points from freshman guard Darius Acuff Jr., the Razorbacks opened league play Saturday with an 86-75 victory over Tennessee at Bud Walton Arena.
After starting 0-5 last season, but having to battle their way to a Sweet 16 spot, they showed it’s not the end of the world. Now everybody will see what happens when they start strong.
Arkansas improved to 11-3 overall and 1-0 in the SEC, snapping a short run of slow conference starts while giving the home crowd a reason to settle in for winter.
The Volunteers arrived with a reputation for toughness and efficiency, and they lived up to that billing early, trading baskets and refusing to let the Hogs separate.
Tennessee shot well most of the afternoon and stayed within reach even when Arkansas briefly surged in the first half.
The difference was not dominance but steadiness, especially when the game tightened late.
Arkansas leaned on balance, patience, and the calm of a freshman who played like he had been here before.
Acuff shot 9 of 16 from the field and knocked down the biggest shot of the day, a three-pointer with 2:09 left that pushed the Razorbacks’ lead to 79-68.
The basket came just as Tennessee threatened to turn a close game into a coin flip.
“I was just trying to make the right play,” Acuff said. “Coach tells us to be confident and take our shots with conviction.”
Arkansas finds rhythm late
That confidence spread.
Meleek Thomas added 18 points, Malique Ewin finished with 12, and Karter Knox chipped in 11 as Arkansas placed four players in double figures.
No single run blew the game open, but one stretch midway through the second half tilted the floor.
Arkansas used an 18-5 run over 6 minutes and 37 seconds to flip a five-point deficit into an eight-point lead.
During that stretch, Tennessee missed eight straight shots and managed only two field goals on its next ten attempts.
The Razorbacks did not rush offense or chase highlights.
They waited for good looks, attacked the rim, and trusted the whistle.
Arkansas shot 29 of 33 from the free-throw line, quietly building a cushion that Tennessee never fully erased.
The Volunteers made life difficult with efficient shooting, finishing at 49 percent from the floor.
Amari Evans led Tennessee with 17 points and did not miss a shot, going 7 for 7.
But free throws told a different story. Tennessee went 12 of 23 at the line, leaving points behind that mattered when possessions shrank.
“We stuck to the process,” Arkansas’ coach said. “We just kept competing and playing our game.”
Useful start to conference play
This was not a loud win, but it was a useful one. Arkansas didn’t overwhelm Tennessee with pace or pressure.
Instead, the Hogs won with composure, spacing, and an understanding of when to slow the game down.
That matters in a league where possessions tighten and whistles get louder in February.
The Razorbacks finished at 42 percent shooting overall, with Acuff the only Arkansas player above 50 percent from the floor.
They didn’tneed perfection. They needed reliability and got it.
The crowd of more than 19,000 saw a team comfortable being uncomfortable, a team that didn’t panic when Tennessee crept close.
That calm showed most clearly in Acuff, whose late three settled both the scoreboard and the building.
Arkansas has reached the Sweet 16 in four of the past five seasons, and this game looked like one that fits that blueprint:
- Balanced scoring.
- Free throws made.
- Mistakes absorbed without unraveling.
- The SEC does not reward flash in January.
- It rewards teams that handle moments.
- The Razorbacks handled this one.
Arkansas will travel to Ole Miss next, carrying a conference win that counts the same as any other but feels heavier because of how it was earned.
Tennessee returns home to face Texas, searching for answers that were more subtle than glaring.
Key takeaways
- Darius Acuff Jr.’s career-high 29 points included the decisive three late.
- Four Razorbacks scored in double figures, easing pressure throughout the game.
- Arkansas’ edge at the line separated two evenly matched teams.
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