Education leader Reynolds tours Christenberry with a focus on learning
In honor of Tennessee literacy month, state Department of Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds on March 28 visited Christenberry Elementary School where students showed off their finest reading skills.
Her first stop on the visit was an English language learners class where students were engaged in a story about a goat and a wolf. The teacher, Anna Schnuck, mixed in some Spanish phrases and drew out the characters on a digital board to make learning more fun. District administrators told Reynolds about the ELL program’s expansion in the last year.
She was then escorted to first- and fourth-grade classrooms where students were engaged in reading and comprehension lessons. With the upcoming state exams and recent changes in third grade retention laws, there is an increased emphasis statewide on early literacy skills.
Christenberry Principal Tonya Cash showed off the school’s advances in literacy and reading using a data-driven approach that’s personalized for each
Students work with their partners in Anna Schnuck’s classroom at Christenberry Elementary.
student’s unique needs.
Reynolds and administrators including Superintendent Jon Rysewyk and Region 5 Director Dexter Murphy joined her on the tour. Christenberry Elementary was recently named a reward school, meaning it was among the state’s top achievers. It’s especially significant because it’s a Region 5 school, which is a cluster of schools in downtown and adjacent communities to the immediate east, north and northwest
Knox County Schools Superintendent Jon Rysewyk speaks to Lizzette Reynolds during a visit to Christenberry Elementary on March 28.
that administrators say are in need of improvement.
The school was chosen for the visit because it’s “very representative” of the district’s student body, Rysewyk said. Its student population is 29% Black and 29% Hispanic.
Areena Arora, data and investigative reporter for Knox News, can be reached by email at areena.arora@knoxnews.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @AreenaArora.