Maynard Elementary Becomes Demonstration Site 

Maynard Elementary School has been chosen to become a national demonstration site for the Project GRAD (Graduation Really Achieves Dreams) program.

Jim Ketelson, the founder of Project GRAD and other officials from Project GRAD were on hand in Knoxville today to help Knox County School System Superintendent Dr. Charles Lindsey announce the designation of Maynard Elementary School as a national demonstration site for the highly successful Project GRAD Program. As a demonstration site, Maynard will receive rapid implementation of the Project GRAD program and will become the first of 14 schools in the county to complete implementation of the program.
“This is an exceptional opportunity for the children at Maynard Elementary School, the Knox County School System and the citizens of Knox County,” said Lindsey.

“We welcome the opportunity to work in Knoxville at Maynard Elementary School,” said Ketelsen, the Houston based founder of Project GRAD. “Based on our experience in a number of cities, we are confident Project GRAD can make a significant difference. We know there are no silver bullets in education, and results require time, strong support and implementation by teachers and administration, but we firmly believe every child can learn,” he said.

“Maynard will be raised to a level where it will receive national attention, and the full commitment of Project GRAD and the citizens of Knox County,” Lindsey said. “It will have a hand picked staff that is fully trained in the project GRAD program and committed to the success of children. But it is also not expected to cost the school system much more than it would have had Project GRAD’s normal five-year timeline been used,” he continued.

Project GRAD is a program that began in Houston in 1988 and has expanded to ten sites across the nation (Atlanta, Cincinnati, Columbus, Houston, Knoxville, Laredo, Los Angeles, Nashville, Newark, and the State of Ohio). The program focuses is on sustainable, systemic change for inner-city public education through a feeder pattern approach. Late last year, the Knox County School Board approved implementing the program in 14 Knox County Schools. Project GRAD is being funded and implemented in Knox County as a public/private partnership.

“Maynard Elementary is the lowest performing school in the Knox County system,” said Lindsey. “Extraordinary action must be taken over the next three years to get the school off the state’s list of schools on notice for possible takeover, and I think this action will meet that nee,” he said.

“While the school system has three schools on the state’s low performing list, Maynard is the only school not already demonstrating a trend of improvement that would cause it to be removed from the list in less than three years,” Lindsey continued. “We realized last fall of that immediate action needed to be taken to help Maynard, and discussions were initiated with Project GRAD representatives to determine if Maynard might be a candidate for rapid implementation of the Project GRAD Program.”

Project GRAD has had exceptional results with low performing schools, and the immediate implementation of the program at Maynard is expected to significantly improve performance and avoid a possible state takeover.

The Project GRAD program normally requires 5 years to implement, but it will be implemented at Maynard in a little more than one year.

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