Location identified for 1st American Classical Academy charter school in La Vergne

American Classical Academy Rutherford public charter school will open this August in La Vergne despite previous opposition, organizers confirmed Monday.

The school will start as a K-5 campus before phasing in as a K-12 and be open to all Rutherford students in the former Ingram Entertainment building in Rutherford County at 2 Ingram Blvd. off Interstate 24.

The building is officially under contract and is being purchased by American Classical Education Foundation from David B. Ingram.

The charter school, which can operate with tax dollars independent of the elected Rutherford County Board of Education and staff, is using private funds to buy the building from Ingram Content Group.

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The charter school location awaits approval from the La Vergne Planning Commission and the city's Board of Zoning Appeals, Mayor Jason Cole said.

The school will need to present a traffic study and a full plan for a building in an industrial area that includes significant truck traffic, especially from Amazon with two nearby operations, Cole said.

Many of students in La Vergne are attending overcrowded schools, so the charter school may offer some relief.

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School plans to serve up to 690 K-12 students

American Classical Academy (ACA) officials expect to start with K-5 grades for 340 students at the Ingram building before adding a grade each year until reaching 690 K-12 students, Head of School Phillip Schwenk confirmed recently with The Daily News Journal.

"It's the best facility we looked at throughout the search," said Schwenk, who expects renovations to be completed before the school year at the campus that includes parking, greenspace, safe access, wiring, a gym space, and a kitchen and cafeteria area. "You can actually do school in it right of way. It’s just a very good building to start a school in."

Schwenk added that the location offers the safest and highest quality environment for students andis most convenient for families.

“The building is in great shape and will be ready with very few renovations to serve students this fall. It has ample green space and easy parking,” Schwenk said in a press release Monday. “It is big enough to accommodate our growth into a full-fledged K-12 school. It will be our home for a long time.”

ACA has the backing of Gov. Bill Lee. The charter school plans to use free curriculum and training offered by the conservative, Christian Hillsdale (Michigan) College, in La Vergne as well as at a Jackson charter school expected to open by 2025.

Hillsdale President Larry Arnn caused controversy over the charter school plans in 2022 when a publicly shared video of him and the governor at a private event in Williamson County showed the college president saying teachers were trained "in the dumbest parts of the dumbest colleges in the country."

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ACA will be one of 3 charter schools to open in Rutherford

The campus in Rutherford County will be one of three public charter schools expected to open by August.

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The other two charter schools in Rutherford County have plans to serve K-8 grades:

• Rutherford Collegiate Prep, which will start with grades K-6 on Manson Pike on the westside of Murfreesboro;

• and Springs Empower Academy that uses a Montessori-aligned approach that stresses hands-on individualized learning; Springs Empower Academy will start with grades K-5 at the Smyrna Boys and Girls Club before opening a building by August 2026 on Enon Springs Road West near Rocky Fork schools in Smyrna.

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School board accepts revised plan for ACA

The Rutherford County Board of Education has reviewed two plans by American Classical Academy. The board voted 6-1 against the initial application July 2022 before approving a revised plan in a 5-2 vote April 2023.

Board member Katie Darby of La Vergne supports American Classical Academy.

"We are a very diverse county," Darby said. "We need options that will appeal to all parents. It’s another way to add more seats for our students. I’m excited that they found a property in La Vergne. It is one of our most rapidly growing and overly populated areas."

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ACA 'recognizes the whole child'

Schwenk touts the classical education curriculum offered by Hillsdale College because the approach "recognizes the whole child" and goes beyond being intellectually sound.

American Classical Education wants children to read well, think well and think free well, Schwenk said.

The charter school in grades K-2 will stress phonics to help children learn language by saying words, hearing words, reading words and writing words, Schwenk said.

Children also will learn the Greek, Latin and German roots of the English language and diagram sentences.

The school also will stress students to learn to logic, reasoning, math, science, and moral and political philosophy.

Students, for example, will consider "what does it mean to seek a happy life," Schwenk said.

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Students will read and study the U.S. Constitution and the Federalist Papers starting in fourth grade and continue this in seventh, eighth and high school grades, he said.

The goal is for students to read well, do math well, reason well and be good citizens.

Students also will learn about the ancient Greeks, Romans and Judeo-Christian influences on the United States of America, Schwenk said. Students, for example, will read the translated writings of Ancient Greek philosophers, such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.

"We rely on primary sources," Schwenk said. "You still study the rest of the world."

Students by 12th grade will write a senior thesis based on what they've learned from the school and all of what've they've read, and present this project to a panel of teachers and peers, Schwenk said.

Those interested in enrolling their children at American Classical Academy Rutherford should visit our website to fill out an enrollment application. Any questions about enrollment may be submitted through our contact form.

For more information, visit the school's Facebook page.

Reach reporter Scott Broden with news tips or questions by emailing him at sbroden@dnj.com. To support his work with The Daily News Journal, sign up for a digital subscription.

This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: Location identified for first ACA charter school in La Vergne