Metro Nashville Public Schools leaders presented the Academies of Nashville strategic plan and a Hillsborough cluster showcase during a board meeting, laying out five broad goals to guide the district's academy model through 2030 and detailing how the Hillsborough cluster will deliver an International Baccalaureate (IB) continuum from elementary through high school.

The plan centers on ensuring equitable access to high-quality pathways, embedding advanced academics across pathways, strengthening advising and transitions, supporting educators, and sustaining nationwide branding for the model. Sarah Chan, the district's chief of strategy, told the board: "The mission of the Academies of Nashville is to help our students build ownership and agency over their school experience and provide them with support to overcome obstacles while supporting them to strive for excellence."

The strategic plan frames the academies not as an add-on program but as the delivery mechanism for what the district wants every high school to be. Chan said the district expects each zone high school to offer at least one advanced diploma option by 2030'examples named in the presentation included early college, an IB diploma or Cambridge'and announced a new, districtwide schedule for ACT preparation: an "MNPS takes the ACT" day beginning Oct. 21, with fall practice and scheduled retakes to align junior-year testing in the spring.

Why it matters: the district tied the academies work to Tennessee's paths for becoming a Ready Graduate, which include ACT performance and completion of early postsecondary opportunities (EPSOs). Chan said the strategic plan aims to make EPSOs and ACT readiness accessible in every pathway so students can meet Tennessee requirements regardless of the academy they choose.

At length, the board heard a cluster-focused presentation from Hillsborough leaders. Danielle Holdren, executive principal at Hillsborough High School, summarized the cluster's K'12 IB model: "All students in the Hillsborough cluster experience the IB primary years program at the elementary level, then the middle years program at the middle school tier, and finally, the high school level, they can choose between 2 tracks, the diploma program and the career program." The Hillsborough presentation walked the board through a hypothetical student''"Billy Burrow"'to show PYP projects, the MYP culminating project and the personal project and capstones that characterize the diploma (DP) and career-related (CP) options at the high school level.

Board members and student representatives asked questions about student workload and burnout, transferability of college credit, and how district leaders choose which pathways to offer at which schools. A junior student board member asked whether early and sustained rigor could lead to burnout; presenters replied that the district emphasizes inquiry-based learning and student supports and highlighted Theory of Knowledge and student portfolio work as engagement tools. Holdren said the district has begun embedding advanced-placement coursework in ninth and 10th grade and that counseling and teacher recommendations are part of a strategy to expand access.

District staff also described their research and planning processes: Chan said the strategic plan was built with external partners (ERS and Vanderbilt) and student-led participatory research in three pilot high schools to ground decisions in both qualitative and quantitative data. She described a steering committee and promised regular milestones and periodic updates to the board as the plan moves toward implementation.

The board did not take a formal vote on the strategic plan at the meeting; staff said they will return with further milestones and implementation details.

An ending note: district leaders said the academies plan will be iterative and that families should expect continued outreach, practice ACT dates, and school-level information as pathway maps and scheduling support are implemented for the coming school year.