Antioch Middle School gets more space

Boys & Girls Club will use school's portables for after-school program By SUZANNE NORMAND BLACKWOOD • Staff Writer(Tennessean) • August 15, 2008 When school starts this year, Antioch Middle School will be about half the size it was last year in terms of students. The biggest change by far this year is "our enrollment, because they opened Thurgood Marshall," said Assistant Principal Cindy Tarkington. About half of Antioch Middle's students went to Thurgood Marshall Middle School, which recently opened. Antioch Middle also lost half of its faculty as a result. Because of the decreased enrollment, the school no longer has to use its portables. The Boys & Girls Club will use the portables for an after-school program. But although enrollment is significantly less than last year's 950, the number is quickly rising, Tarkington said. At the end of the school year, enrollment was projected at 450. Now, it is up to 550, she said. The fluctuation has school officials on their toes about hiring decisions. And speaking of hiring decisions, other changes this year include Tarkington, who was promoted from a teaching position to assistant principal. Assistant Principal Bill Allen went to J.F. Kennedy Middle School, and assistant principal Wiley Shepherd was promoted to highly qualified coordinator, a position in the central office. The school's other assistant principal position was eliminated because of the decreased enrollment. The school also has a new Spanish teacher and a new fifth-grade teacher. The school will be adding a second fifth-grade teacher, but that position has not yet been filled. Lakeview students will open savings accounts Lakeview Elementary School will be starting a program this year that teaches students how to save money by opening savings accounts. "We will be working with U.S. Community Credit Union to start a Dollar Dog Kids Club," said new principal Robin Shumate. Also, said Shumate, "We are going to start some after-school clubs — a math club and a reading club and either a science or social studies club." "We'll have tutoring also," she said, and the school will now offer ELL classes.