Tennessee’s education commissioner visits Madison County school

MADISON COUNTY, Tenn. — Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn visited a Madison County elementary school Thursday morning.

This is the first time the commissioner visited a school in Madison County.

“I think what you see is a number of staff, the team working incredibly hard to make sure every single child has access to a high equality education. Strong focus on academics, but also student support to make sure students feel welcomed and engaged,” Schwinn said.

Schwinn visited four different classrooms at Denmark Elementary School, each a different grade, and she says she was extremely impressed by what she saw.

“That’s a sign for me. When students are engaging with one another and pushing each other, you know you’ve built a culture of success and achievement within your school,” Schwinn said.

She gives credit to the superintendent, principals and instructional staff for the progress being made in this district.

“When you see people moving along and doing what it takes to make it feel as normal as possible, it’s not easy,” Schwinn said. “And what we saw today was not easy to do, and I have so much respect for the work that goes into it.”

Looking forward after one of the most challenging years, Schwinn says Tennessee education will be focused not only on recovery, but acceleration.

“Districts like these are showing you can still focus and drive towards literacy and reading. Every child needs to be reading on grade level by third grade. This district is doing that work. You will see a focus there, you will see a strong focus on high school innovation and mental health, and then certainly a focus on our educators making sure that we keep our great teachers and bring more into the profession,” Schwinn said.

She says they will continue to visit schools and make decisions to help students as they move along their education.