This Knox County high school keeps winning accolades. What is its secret to success?

L&N STEM Academy's list of accolades is long ‒ and growing.

The specialized high school in the heart of downtown Knoxville has been named among the 10 best high schools in Tennessee. It was ranked No. 670 nationally by U.S. News & World Report.

It is a three-time winner of the Apple Distinguished Schools award for those that are "centers of leadership and educational excellence," and the school is a three-time Tennessee Reward School designation winner.

This is to name just a few honors. The secret recipe to the school's growing success? Freedom.

School leaders say they give educators space to design curriculum creatively. The school also has unique partnerships with industry leaders in science, technology and math-related fields, and with the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, which administrators call an extension of the school's campus.

Students' experience is very college-like. They start later and have an alternating block schedule with the same classes on alternate days.

Ingrid Pariseau, the school's math department chair, created a course that teaches math modelling to help students learn how to use data to make policy decisions. It teaches kids to apply their skills, Pariseau said. The students looked at trends in homelessness and housing to derive solutions.

Her colleague Bryan Schultz, who teaches environmental science, created a new course about Earth and space.

Administrators let teachers "take chances," Schultz said.

"If something fails or doesn't go as planned, we learn something from it," he said.

That freedom stems from the desire to prepare students for life beyond the classroom, Principal James Allen said.

Why is L&N STEM Academy different?

A lot of the teachers at the school come from careers in STEM fields, Schultz said. The industry insiders can make connections outside the school, he added.

"They didn't necessarily go to college to be teachers," he said. "It gives us the chance to have added focus."

Allen said it helps in more ways than one.

"When you hire people who are experts in their fields, you get out of their way and let them do their job," he said. "You don't micromanage what they do."

The school has a practice of having as few meetings as possible and makes sure teachers are given as few responsibilities outside of the classroom as possible.

"Our job administratively is to find whatever barriers are to keeping them (teachers) from being able to do their job and get rid of it," Allen said.

Anything that can be communicated through an email is done that way. Planning periods are kept free, and Schultz said he often spends his time keeping up with scientific journals and the latest in his research.

The school's culture is modeled on Stanford University's Design Thinking Process. It teaches empathy as a first step, Schultz said.

"It's not just something we teach the students," he said.

Another thing that helps the school is its small size, Pariseau said. The school has about 570 students, according to the latest available data from the Tennessee Department of Education. The class sizes for both Pariseau and Schultz vary from 15 to about 25.

What kind of student would thrive at the STEM-focused school?

There's a place for everyone at the school.

"We have some of the best artists, musicians and writers here," Pariseau said. "It's not so much they have to be STEM-minded." Each student owns their individual skills.

For middle-schoolers on the fence, Pariseau argues science education will always be helpful.

"Whether it's writing, you're problem-solving, if you're doing art, if you're doing music, there is a place for science thinking," she said.

One of the school's goals is to teach students how to problem-solve, Allen said.

"We would be the first to tell you that everything you learn in AP Calculus is not relevant to everything you're going to do in your life ... but the problem solving and logic skills you learn in these courses will be," he said.

The school offers some sports options, including club sports for golf, rowing, swimming and Frisbee.

"We weren't created to be everybody's everything," he said. "We exist to create the greatest thinkers and problem solvers through a STEM lens."

What happens after graduation?

Students from the school's class of 2024 are headed to the Ivy League at Brown University and other high-ranking schools such as Georgia Institute of Technology and Vanderbilt University. Students in recent years have gone on to Harvard, Princeton, Columbia and Stanford universities, Allen told Knox News.

How to get admission to L&N

The school enrolls students not just from Knox County, but also from outside the district. This year, 41 students were from other counties.

All Knox County School high school students and out-of-district students are eligible to apply for a transfer to the school. The academy only accepts transfers from grade nine to 11.

Each class year has about 150 students enrolled and if the number of rising ninth and 10th graders who apply for a transfer exceeds that, they go through a lottery process. Rising 11th graders who wish to transfer to the school must go through an interview with the school principal.

Each high school in the county is allocated a set number of seats in the rising ninth grade class based on the number of students the main school enrolls as a percentage of all ninth graders.

For instance, if a school enrolls 10% of all rising ninth graders in the district, its students make up 10% of the total seats at L&N Stem Academy. If a particular zoned school does not fill its seat allotment, the extra seats are placed into a second lottery round for those who did not get through in the first round.

Areena Arora, data and investigative reporter for Knox News, can be reached by email at areena.arora@knoxnews.com. Follow her on X @AreenaArora.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: L&N STEM Academy, a Knox County high school, has a secret to success