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Napier is located in the Cameron-Trimble Neighborhood that was developed in the 1800’s and remains one of the oldest surviving African-American neighborhoods in the Nashville area. The original building for Napier School opened in 1898 and was named after Alonzo Napier, the brother of J.C. Napier, a banker and one of the registrars of the United States Treasury. The neighborhood is bounded roughly by 4th Avenue South, Lafayette Street, the railroad tracks near Browns Creek and Hermitage Avenue.
During the 1993-94 school year, the Metropolitan Public School Board of Education commissioned a school and community committee titled “Equity and Excellence.” That committee agreed upon beliefs that would lead to student equity and excellence in the school district in the event that court ordered busing was eliminated. One of the concepts was to establish Enhanced Option Schools to provide a neighborhood school option for parents of inner-city children. The committee’s goal was to create an educational program that would maximize success for high-risk elementary students. The school year would be extended 20 days for students and class size reduced to a 1:15 ratio.
The program design for Napier Enhanced Option has six components with parents as equal partners. They include Early Childhood, High Quality Education for All, Student Wrap-Around Services, Safety Nets for Students, Measurable Outcomes, and Staff Development. Early Childhood focuses on the development needs of students. High Quality Education for All provides high levels of learning for students. Wrap-around Services are provided by a wide variety of community partners, both governmental and private. Services include: Mentors and Tutors, Early Assessment of Student and Family Needs, Families and Children Emerging Successfully, Social Services, Health Services, Psychological Services, Trauma Debriefing, Grief Support, Alive Hospice, Recreational Services, Family Literacy, Club Music City Miracle (MCM), Family and Children Services, Metro Health Department School Nurse, Family Resource Center, Service Learning/Student Leadership Initiative, and Safety and security Programs.
A. Facilities
In August 2000, Napier School moved into a new facility which also houses Napier Family Resource Center. At that time, Napier’s school zone and grade configuration was changed from a Pre-K through 2nd grade English Language Learners (ELL) Center to a Pre-K through 4th grade community based school. The facility was established as a walk-in school for students within the J. C. Napier and Tony Sudekum Housing communities. The school building was connected with the Napier Community Center allowing students to use the gym and the pool for physical education classes.
Napier school has 32 regular classrooms and no portables. The school also houses the following: cafeteria/auditorium, clinic, guidance office, computer lab, media center, reading specialist office and bookroom, home/school coordinator office, speech/language, social worker and school psychologist offices, a parent education room, 3 resource/special education classes, 2 teacher lounges/workrooms, office complex, art rooms, music rooms, and a kitchen food preparation area with two self serve lines. The playground was renovated in 2007 to include additional equipment and space. The playground has an area that is designated for Pre-K students and an area that is established for children in kindergarten through fourth grade.
The building is open extended hours to provide tutoring and enrichment activities for students with critical academic needs. The tutoring component is provide through MCM (Music City Miracle), a grant funded resource provided through the YMCA. |
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