History

The partnership between the Public Education Foundation and local public schools began twenty years ago. PEF was formed in 1988 to provide support for public schools in Chattanooga and Hamilton County. At that time, the schools were separately managed by city and county governments. The superintendents of the two systems invited the community to establish a group that would help them to “create outstanding schools by applying resources to bold ideas.”

For the next six years, PEF focused on professional development as a means to school improvement. Generous mini-grants gave educators opportunities to enrich their teaching skills. Principals formed a network to support one another and discuss successful strategies. PEF helped improve the libraries of 28 elementary and middle schools.

In 1994 Chattanooga city voters voted to turn responsibility for education over to the county, requiring the two systems to merge. At the request of the Hamilton County School Board, PEF surveyed 3,300 area residents and convened 135 community members – educators, civic and government leaders, residents, parents and students – to help shape the vision for the new school system. When the newly consolidated system emerged in 1997, the partnership with PEF continued.

In 1998 the Superintendent asked PEF to develop a program to help train school leaders. PEF’s Leadership Initiative has grown to include an intensive, year-long Leadership Fellows program that trains future leaders; learning and literacy institutes for principals and other school leaders; and grants to form school-based book clubs focused on leadership.

In 2001 PEF began two major school reform initiatives, both of which have been highly successful. In partnership with HCDE and the Benwood Foundation, $7.5 million was invested to create changes that have revitalized the county’s lowest-performing elementary schools through the Benwood Initiative; as part of the Carnegie Corporation’s Schools for a New Society initiative, $14 million was invested to reform each one of the county’s high schools.

In 2006 the county’s middle schools were included in these reform efforts, with a $2.5 million contribution from the NEA Foundation and $6 million from the Lyndhurst Foundation to support Middle Schools for a New Society.

In 2007, the Benwood initiative expanded to include seven new schools. Middle and high schools are working to move students to advanced levels, and have broadened their focus to include math as well as literacy. Efforts will continue to prepare students for higher education and increase the number of graduates who enroll – and succeed – in college.

In the summer of 2009, PEF merged with the College Access Center. The two organizations have been working so closely together over the last few years that a merger just made good sense. PEF is working to make sure that every student in the county has an opportunity to go to college.  Among the college access and success initiatives: Part-time college advisors in every school in Hamilton County; peer mentoring programs that assign college students to help high school students overcome barriers to college enrollment; Passport Scholars, a program that provides low income girls the opportunity to experience outstanding summer programs, form relationships with dedicated mentors and receive professional college counseling; and Camp College, an annual 3-day event held at the University of the South to provide intensive college advising to 60 rising Hamilton County high school seniors who would be the first in their families to attend college.

In 2009-10, PEF hosted a series of Principal Leadership Workshops for elementary and secondary assistant principals. A principal is like the CEO of a good-sized company, responsible for the productivity of dozens of teachers and hundreds of students.  Supported by PEF, the Chamber of Commerce, UTC, Joe Davenport, Unum, and an anonymous funder, the Principal Leadership Academy began in summer 2010 to provide more intensive training, mentoring and support over the course of one year to assistant principals interested in moving into a principal's role.

Although planned over several years, in 2010 PEF launched TEACH/Here, an innovative initiative to recruit promising new teachers from nontraditional backgrounds.  TEACH/Here recruits recent college graduates who majored in math- or science-related fields or mid-career professionals who have become interested in teaching.  Similar to a medical residency program that provides “on-the-job training” for doctors, residents will be placed in a mentoring relationship with a master teacher for one year, where they will work side by side with the master teacher in the classroom for four days per week. On the fifth day, they will take classes from UTK to earn both a masters degree and a teaching certificate by the end of their training period.  Residents will then be offered positions in either Hamilton or Knox County schools.

In 2011, Hamilton County was one of only three districts in the state to receive funding as part of the Tennessee Department of Education's Teacher and Principal Residency Competitive Grant Program. Part of the First to the Top initiative, these funds will be used by HCDE in partnership with the Public Education Foundation and Tennessee Technological University to expand the TEACH/Here program to include fourth through eighth grade urban math classrooms throughout the district.

PEF’s endeavors are made possible through the hard work of dedicated professionals and the generosity of people who share our vision. We partner with Hamilton County Schools to challenge, support and improve Hamilton County public schools so that all students succeed in learning and in life.

Milestones