Accelerating TN 2021 Tour
Last summer, the Tennessee Department of Education launched the Accelerating TN 2021 Tour, a statewide tour spanning 50 school districts over the course of three weeks to highlight summer learning opportunities.
Tennessee has led the nation in supporting students throughout the pandemic, prioritizing education policy and programs to ensure our children are set up for success.
During the Tennessee General Assembly's extraordinary legislative session in January, legislators passed the Tennessee Learning Loss Remediation and Student Acceleration Act which set forward a path for all districts’ current and future summer programming opportunities to benefit students. In addition, this summer, districts and schools are in the process of planning how to spend their portions of historic federal COVID-19 relief and recovery funding flowing-- about $4.2 million for K-12 education in Tennessee-- to accelerate student achievement.
Throughout the tour, Former Commissioner of Education Penny Schwinn, department staff, state and local elected officials, and community partners connected directly with students, educators, and stakeholders to learn more about how schools are accelerating student achievement.
Some planned highlights of the Accelerating TN 2021 bus tour included visits to the Summer Learning Camps and After-School STREAM Mini-Camps, as well as the Reading 360 Early Reading Training. Additionally, on numerous visits, the Commissioner and guests participated in district leadership roundtables discussing federal stimulus investments as well as events highlighting state, regional or district work.
The schedule for the Accelerating TN 2021 Tour was:
- June 14-17: East Tennessee
- June 14: Johnson County Schools, Bristol City Schools, Sullivan County Schools, Kingsport City Schools, Washington County Schools
- June 15: Jefferson County Schools, Grainger County Schools, Claiborne County Schools, Scott County Schools, Oneida Special School District
- June 16: Tennessee School for the Deaf, Knox County Schools, Sevier County Schools, Blount County Schools, Maryville City Schools, Alcoa City Schools, Clinton City Schools
- June 17: Etowah City Schools, Polk County Schools, Bradley County Schools, Cleveland City Schools, Hamilton County Schools
- June 21-22: West Tennessee
- June 21: Benton County Schools, Hollow Rock-Bruceton Special School District, Trenton Special School District, Bradford Special School District, Milan Special School District
- June 22: Tipton County Schools, Lauderdale County Schools, Haywood County Schools
- June 28- July 1: Middle Tennessee
- June 28: Trousdale County Schools, Jackson County Schools, Overton County Schools, Pickett County Schools, White County Schools, Warren County Schools
- June 29: Decatur County Schools, Perry County Schools, Maury County Schools, Williamson County Schools, Franklin Special School District, Metro Nashville Public Schools, Tennessee School for the Blind
- June 30: Cheatham County Schools, Dickson County Schools, Sumner County Schools, Wilson County Schools
- July 1: Murfreesboro City Schools, Rutherford County Schools, Clarksville Montgomery County Schools