Who We Are

We are a REVOLUTION-a force rising up against ordinary expectations and the status quo of public education in Memphis.

Official Nickname: The Soulsville Revolution
Official Mascot: The Tornadoes
Official Colors: Royal Purple and Silver

The Soulsville Charter School is one of three programs under the Soulsville Foundation. The other two are the Stax Museum of American Soul Music and the Stax Music Academy.

We unite students, their families, and our teachers to turn our community around and give children the opportunities they deserve. Please click the links to learn more about The Soulsville Charter School’s Commitment to Excellence Agreement.

Core Values of TSCS

The core values are the values that we want all students to embody as they seek success at The Soulsville Charter School.  We believe that these core values are the key ingredients for success in academics and in life.

Our core values are Community, Respect, Integrity, Scholarship, and Empathy.  We believe that, “As a Community, we RISE.” (Respect, Integrity, Scholarship, and Empathy).

The Soulsville Creed

The following is our Soulsville Creed. It is recited every morning to show our pride in our school.

As a Community, we RISE.

We are a COMMUNITY because we need each other.

We show RESPECT because we hold others in high regard.

We have INTEGRITY because it’s right.

We are SCHOLARS because our future depends on it.

We have EMPATHY because we care how others feel.

As a Community, we RISE.

Our Mascot: The Tornado

Tornadoes destroy everything in their path. We will positively destroy everything that stands in the way of our being successful in college in life by RISE-ing as a Community and overcoming adversity.

Since opening its doors in the summer of 2005, The Soulsville Charter School (TSCS) has sought to serve its students maximally by preparing them for college and life through an academically rigorous and musically rich culture. This culture consists of high expectations and prizes respect, integrity, scholarship, empathy, and community. This approach has proven to be successful in that each year through 2010, the school surpassed the expectations outlined by No Child Left Behind federal law, even when the Tennessee standards changed in 2009 for better alignment with college readiness. In addition, on average TSCS students have consistently outperformed their peers in other schools every year. This success has been accompanied by increasingly high retention rates of students and families. As a result, student and teacher recruitment efforts unfailingly result in a large surplus of applications every year.

     In 2009, TSCS underwent the process of applying for renewal of its charter and was honored with the unanimous approval of its application for renewal by the Memphis City Schools Board of Commissioners. In addition to being looked upon favorably by the local school district, TSCS has also secured partnerships and relationships with prominent community members to the benefit of both our students and the community, including Rhodes College, the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, the IRIS Orchestra, archer>malmo, International Paper and others.

THE SOULSVILLE STORY

Begun in 2005, The Soulsville Charter School (TSCS) is a tuition-free public charter school whose mission is to prepare students for success in college and life in an academically rigorous, music-rich environment. Located in the inner-city Memphis neighborhood of Soulsville, USA, TSCS is adjacent to the site of historic Stax Records, where the Stax Museum of American Soul Music now celebrates and preserves the Stax story.  TSCS began with sixty students in sixth grade in 2005 and has since grown to serve 480 students in grades six through twelve with over a third of the students living in the Soulsville community.

At the core of TSCS’s college preparatory curriculum is an emphasis on great teaching and learning as achieved through standards-based and data-driven instruction in core academic areas. The goal is to make sure that every component of every program pushes students toward college and varied life opportunities.  TSCS also prides itself on its dedicated parents who bring their children to the school year after year, its students who are achieving at levels many thought impossible, and its faculty and staff who believe in the school’s mission and work toward it relentlessly.

TSCS is also known for its unique approach to educating students as evidenced partially by the following:

• Extended School Year (beginning August-end June)

Students have the opportunity to spend more time on task.

• Extended School Day (7:45-4:30PM Monday-Thursday and 7:45-2:15PM Friday)

More time is spent on language arts and mathematics in middle school, and struggling students have time built into the day to receive needed extra help across all grade levels.

• Summer Term

This required three-week summer session has been primarily spent on the Rhodes College campus and gives our students early exposure to college.

• School-Wide Approach to Academics

TSCS’s curriculum is now rooted in the alignment of teaching and learning to the goal of college readiness. This approach impacts planning, teaching, and tracking of student performance, and with this clarity, teachers are able to creatively deliver (and facilitate the delivery) of the content in the way that reaches students best.

• School-Wide Approach to Culture

TSCS believes that consistently avoiding unproductive chaos in the learning environment produces an incubator for learning and productivity. We also believe that students need a high level of character to be successful at school and in life. Our culture is continually cultivated through our emphasis on consistency across staff members.

• Saturday School: At least four Saturday School sessions per school year (9:00-1:00PM)

Students receive mission-aligned and life-beneficial exposure and experiences that would be very difficult to acquire within the traditional boundaries of the classroom. Staff also meets to evaluate student progress.

• Soulsville Symphony Orchestra:  Almost all students participate in a string-and-rhythm orchestra whether they have musical experience or not. (Most do not.) The goal is for them to enhance their education, to learn to discipline of music, to learn what it means to be members of a team, and to enjoy doing it all! The Soulsville Symphony Orchestra has performed for musical luminaries Isaac Hayes, Stevie Wonder, Frankie Beverly, and John Legend, and Kirk Whalum.
• Community Partnerships: Students benefit greatly from TSCS’s partnerships with local institutions who have donated time, books, and resources over the years.

The following are highlights of some of the school’s successes since its inception:

• TSCS surpassed Adequate Yearly Progress benchmarks each year from 2006 to 2010, often far surpassing the benchmarks. The tables below show the required No Child Left Behind benchmarks for Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for the state of TN and how TSCS has performed for each year of middle school.

Percent Proficient/Advanced on Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) Test for Middle School

NCLB: No Child Left Behind

RLA: Reading/Language Arts

AMO: Annual Measureable Objective

TSCS: The Soulsville Charter School

Percent Proficient/Advanced on the TCAP Test for High School

*This is a 10^th grade test. We did not have this grade level in 2008-2009.

• Over the years, TSCS students have consistently outperformed students across the district on average in all core academic areas, particularly Reading and Math.
• TSCS has recruited a diverse faculty filled with the best and the brightest candidates from selected from among an abundance of applicants.
• TSCS is a part of a larger effort by the Soulsville Foundation to revitalize the community within which the school is located. South Memphis is being changed because TSCS exists. The evidence rests within the individual stories of the students we serve.

Administrative Staff

Academics

It all starts with an academic program that demands excellence. Our competent and committed faculty and staff motivates and prepares students to reach their full potential (college and life success) by planning and executing instruction well and by using student performance data to guide next moves. They raise the bar high and stick to a “no excuses” philosophy.

Scholarship- Our students know that they must be scholars because their future (college and life success) depends on it. Each week, they receive a report that updates their parents/guardians and them on their academic and behavioral status. The report must be signed by the parent and returned the next day. Scholars who do well are rewarded and pushed ahead. Scholars who need support are helped in many ways, including a mandatory Homework Club for anyone who has not returned the previous night’s homework.

An Emphasis on Structure – TSCS scholars are taught to value learning and that learning is more difficult without good character and good behavior. This is why scholars at TSCS adhere to our school’s Core Values, which are Community, Respect, Integrity, Scholarship, and Empathy. Scholars who reflect the Core Values are rewarded in various ways, and the “Grammy System” allows them to receive such rewards, including special privileges and opportunities.

Grammy System – Students all begin with a certain number of Grammys each day. These can be gained or taken away dependent on positive or negative behavior, respectively. Students with enough Grammys can trade them in for a variety of rewards. From snacks, supplies, games, and prizes from the Grammy store, to experiences ranging from going to a Grizzlies game to taking a ride in a jet plane, the Grammy system is an incentive program that allows students to be rewarded for doing well.

Athletics

News

Calendar

Contact

We know that The Soulsville Charter School is a unique place. We hope that we’ve piqued your interest and would be happy to offer assistance in any way that we can. We also ask you to consider assisting us as well as we prepare students for college and life success. Please feel free to contact us so that we may answer any further questions.

NeShante Brown

Executive Director

neshante.brown@thesoulsvillecharterschool.org
Phone: (901) 946-2535
Fax: (901) 261-6398

The Soulsville Charter School

1115 College Street
Memphis, TN 38106

Office: (901) 261-6366

Located behind the Stax Museum of American Soul Music