Sumner County Schools

Mayor Anthony Holt announced that he is lifting the mask mandate in Sumner County effective Friday, April 9 at midnight.

This means that students and staff in our schools may still wear a face covering if they choose, but they will no longer be required to wear a face covering. Our district reentry plan encourages but does not require students and staff to wear face coverings unless mandated by state or local officials.

Per our district re-entry plan, masks will still be required for all students and staff on buses.

Gallatin High School Students Zoom with Country Music Stars

As part of their United States Government and Civics class requirement, students in Mr. Brian Hoover's class at Gallatin High School worked on a Project Based Learning Civics Assessment.

The project, titled "Country Sunshine", researched information on the processes needed by the various levels of government to get a person memorialized or honored with a building name, sign, or road marker.

The focus of the project was Country Music Legend Dottie West. West was an award-winning performer and Country Music Hall of Fame Member that tragically lost her life due to a car accident thirty years ago.

The project directed students to email, interview or poll local politicians, stakeholders, and state level politicians in an attempt to get support for a memorial or honor in Dottie's name.

As part of the project’s effort to reach out to stakeholders, the class did a Zoom session with Country Music Stars Jeannie Seely and Lulu Roman.

Seely told stories of West to the class and when asked about what Dottie would think of the progress women have made in country music, she told the class that Dottie would have been proud of how "strong and independent the women of country music are today.” Seely was instrumental in the nomination and induction of West into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008. A cross serves as temporary marker in the location of the accident, and Seely told the class that she placed that marker there with hopes that someday a more permanent marker would be established.

"Dottie was a rebel," Roman told the class. Making a reference to how Dottie would fight for what she believed in and how she was a pioneer and served as a role model for women in the industry.

"Our hopes are high," said Gallatin High School Teacher, Brian Hoover. "We have reached out to State officials in both the State Senate and House and are hopeful our efforts get noted."

The class has been in contact with the Tennessee Department of Tourism and Tennessee Music Pathways. The Tennessee Music Pathways is a website dedicated to making connections of the hundreds of locations that influenced music of all kinds across the state.

Sumner County Dominates Quiz Bowl

Sumner County High School Academic Teams hosted a virtual Quiz Bowl. Approximately, two dozen teams across the state participated in the tournament that also included teams from Gallatin High, Portland High and Merrol Hyde Magnet.

The overall tournament was won by Merrol Hyde Magnet and Gallatin High finished 4th overall.

The top individual scorer for the day was Opal Flanagan from Merrol Hyde Magnet School. Flannagan bested 87 total individuals to earn the top honors. Flanagan was followed closely in scoring by Gallatin's Chris Wright with a 2nd place individual finish.

Other Sumner County top 10 individuals recognized for their efforts were Andy Wattanaskolpant from Merrol Hyde Magnet School with a 6th place finish and Avery Cranford from Portland High School in 10th place. Congratulations!

TDOE Announces 48 Districts Selected for Pre-K–12 Literacy Implementation Networks
Implementation Networks to Support High-Quality Literacy Instruction

Nashville, TN—Today, the Tennessee Department of Education announced the 48 districts selected to participate in the optional, Pre-K–12 Literacy Implementation Networks, part of the state’s Reading 360 initiative to help boost strong reading skills amongst Tennessee students.

As part of Reading 360, eight regional implementation networks will consist of 48 districts with the overarching goal of supporting the implementation of high-quality English Language Arts (ELA) instructional materials for Pre-K–12 students through competitive grants over the next five years.

“Over the next five years, the regional Pre-K–12 Literacy Implementation Networks will foster opportunity for districts to learn from each other and to form unique partnerships to support high-quality literacy instruction to build strong readers, which ultimately promotes success for our students and our state,” said Commissioner Penny Schwinn.

Each regional implementation network will consist of one mentor district, 4-6 participating districts, and a regionally selected vendor partner, with the option of selecting an elementary, middle or high school focus. The districts selected to make up the eight regional Pre- K–12 implementation networks are:

Mentor districts have multiple years of high-quality instructional materials implementation experience and will help build capacity of participant districts who have adopted and purchased new ELA materials in the past year. Additionally, mentor districts will support participant districts’ system-level implementation strategy.

“Lenoir City Schools is thrilled to be able to join the PK–12 Literacy Implementation networks to collaborate around the important work of supporting high quality literacy instruction,” said Millicent Smith, Supervisor of Instructional Services, Lenoir City Schools. “We are excited to share lessons we have learned and look forward with anticipation to additional training and learning to support our continuous improvement!”

The district partnerships will help ensure teachers have the resources and support necessary to offer high-quality learning experiences for all children. Additionally, the networks will provide free coaching support for the training and use of Tennessee Instructional Practice Guides.

This competitive grant opportunity was open to all Tennessee districts to apply. The selected mentor and participating districts will agree to the grant requirements, which includes data sharing and a five-year commitment per the $20 million federal Comprehensive State Literacy Development (CSLD) grant awarded to the department to support the launch of the regional implementation networks.

“Ensuring every child is reading on grade-level or better is the most important job of our public schools,” said Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland. “I am delighted Sumner County Schools will help provide a successful framework for literacy that will benefit many other students on their educational journey.”

“I’m very proud Sumner County Schools has been recognized for the excellent work they are doing to give students a strong foundation in literacy. I congratulate our teachers and students for their combined efforts and achievements,” State Rep. Johnny Garrett, R-Goodlettsville.

“Readers are leaders and leaders are readers,” State Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver, R-Lancaster, said. “I commend our district for their outstanding literacy instruction in our community. I am confident Trousdale County Schools will do their part to help improve student literacy across the state.”

Reading 360 is a comprehensive statewide literacy initiative to provide optional grants and resources to help more Tennessee students develop strong phonics-based reading skills by supporting districts, teachers, and families.

To launch Reading 360 and invest in optional reading resources and supports at no cost to the state or districts, the state is leveraging approximately $60 million of one-time federal COVID-19 relief funding and $40 million in federal grant funding.

To access additional resources on Reading 360, click here.

For additional information on the department’s COVID-19 and school reopening related resources, please visit Reopening Guidance.

For additional information, For Tennessee Department of Education media inquiries, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.