Academics

How is Creswell Different from a Traditional Middle School?

At Creswell, students may audition into two arts conservatories or classes.

Typically in middle school, students switch their related arts classes every quarter and barely scratch the surface of these arts areas, and this is great for many students. However, we provide the space for those students that already have a passion for a specific area of art, to really dive deep into the technical aspects of that art and develop their craft.

Creswell has earned the attention of the local community and was awarded grants from VH1 for a piano keyboard lab and from the Country Music Association (CMA) for both musical instruments and our theater sound system. We are also proud to have our school theater named in honor of Nashville’s former Mayor Bill Purcell for his contributions to education and Music City, USA.

What about Academics?

Don't worry, we haven't forgotten about academics. In fact, many of our outstanding fine arts students are also outstanding academic students. As science and research have shown, a strong arts education can significantly impact learning growth.

In addition to our arts-based curriculum, Creswell offers rigorous standards in academics to help our students thrive and be successful. Programs such as Encore and YSN that our district offers for advanced learners are offered here to give them an environment to thrive and grow academically while they also nourish their creative strengths. English learners also thrive at Creswell, where they are offered an environment in which they can gain proficiency in English. Finally, Creswell’s Exceptional Education teachers offer individualized instruction and assistance to students identified as having particular needs which cannot be met in a day-to-day academic setting. These needs may be academic, physical, social, and/or emotional.

Arts Integration

We believe incorporating our students' strengths and passions into their academics helps them retain and understand academic information better. We also believe that this makes learning more fun and enjoyable. Academic teachers at Creswell routinely integrate the arts into their curriculum in meaningful and authentic ways. On the flipside, our arts teachers also know how important it is to reinforce academic concepts in their classes as well. This not only strengthens students' understanding and comprehension, but helps them make new connections and further deepen their learning. Academic and Arts Conservatory teachers meet regularly to co-plan units, projects, and share the main concepts each will be teaching to look for places the curriculum naturally connects.

STEAM

Creswell is also part of MNPS STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) middle schools. At Creswell, students use STEAM as access points to the 4Cs: critical thinking, communication, creativity, and collaboration. This empowers our students to better understand how their skills fit into our complex world.

AVID

AVID

College and Career Ready

The goal of education in America must be for the purpose of teaching all of our students to the very highest levels—for lifting up all people." —Mary Catherine Swanson, AVID Founder

AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) is a national organization that strives to prepare students for college and careers. MNPS has a district-wide initiative to implement AVID in our schools. At Creswell, we are implementing AVID through schoolwide use of binders, Focused Note-taking, WICOR(writing, inquiry, collaboration, organization, reading), socratic seminars, philosophical chairs, AVID elective course and exposure to college and career experiences specifically through our AVID Speaker Series.

At Creswell, Tier 1 students, who don't qualify for intervention are enrolled in the AVID Elective course. This allows students to dive deeper into all aspects of AVID and introduces them to the Tutorial Process. Through the tutorial process, students learn to work collaboratively to solve problems while developing public speaking, listening, and thinking skills.

The AVID Speaker Series provides students with the opportunity to engage in monthly community speaker presentations, to expose students to a wide variety of career and college experiences. Our community outreach director, Dr. Llewellyn Peter strives to schedule speakers from a wide variety of occupations, backgrounds, and organizations.

Grade by Grade

Sixth Grade

To Be a Kid or Not a Kid....That is the Question.

Sixth grade is a time when students are caught between adolescence and hanging on to pieces of childhood. Our instruction is centered around this dynamic time. At Creswell, our focus is on the culture of the students while making social connections to the curriculum.

We have a good time! We've worked hard to create a whimsical world where our students want to come every day; fun and interesting student-centered discussions, dance breaks, games, high expectations. These are daily reminders of the standard of excellence.

We've gotten to know our students and their families and created unique opportunities for them to get to know us. We are pushing our students to tap into their intrinsic motivation, to show up despite the circumstance, and they are rising to the challenge with us

Seventh Grade

A Look at 7th Grade

The seventh grade curriculum here at Isaiah T. Creswell follows the standards set by the State of Tennessee as other middle schools. What sets our 7th grade apart is that we integrate cross curricula studies that bridge the performing arts with the academic curriculum. With this, we also take pride in incorporating positive supports practices not only into our three levels of PLT (Personal Learning Time) but throughout the learning day.

Eighth Grade

A Look at 8th Grade

The eighth grade curriculum at Isaiah T. Creswell follows the standards set by the State of Tennessee as other middle schools. What sets our 8th grade apart is that we integrate cross curricula studies that bridge the performing arts with the academic curriculum. With this, we also take pride in incorporating SEL practices not only into our three levels of PLT (Personal Learning Time) but throughout the learning