journey community schools memphis

• EAST ACADEMY

Enroll Today for the 2024-2025 School year

Enroll Today for the 2024-2025 School year!

Welcome to East Academy! East Academy is a K-5 school located in the heart of the East Memphis community.   Now Enrolling 6th Grade!

East academy is a title i school., grades: k-5, 6870 winchester road, memphis, tn 38115 united states, contact info, phone: 901-567-7086.

African-American

Multiracial

• Meet Our Team

Audrey Johnson

Terrence Brownlee

Assistant Principal

Keosha Glasco

Development Coach of Instruction

Principal’s Message

Dear East Academy Cougar Family, 

As the principal of East Academy, I would like to welcome you all back to the 2023-24 school year.  We are excited to have our scholars back in your school building and their energy filling our halls with enthusiasm.   It is our mission to help every child feel welcomed and connected to our Cougar family.  Additionally, we strive to have each scholar meet their academic goals and increase their capacity by the end of the school year.  At East, we have great teachers who spend hours planning and creating classroom activities to engage our students in learning.  Our teachers utilize research-based best practices and analyze academic data to determine current skill levels and to set goals for growth and improvement.   

Please make sure that you sign-up for ParentSquare so that you can be abreast of all our events and activities that we will engage in this school year.   

It is truly my honor to serve as your school principal this year and be a part of this great community of parents, teachers, and students.  We strive this year to continue our path of developing positive relationships and supporting your scholar’s academic and social growth.  Please feel free to reach out to me on ParentSquare or at [email protected] . 

Once again, welcome back!  Let’s make it another great year at Journey East Academy. 

Sincerely, 

Audrey Johnson 

• First Day: August 7, 2023 • Fall Break: October 9- 13, 2023 • Thanksgiving Break: November 20- 24, 2023 • Winter Break: December 21, 2023- January 3, 2024 • Spring Break: March 11-15, 2024 • Last Day: May 24, 2024

Key documents & links.

• TITLE IX POLICY
• Absence Excuse Guidelines
• Send absence notices to:  [email protected]
• 2023-2024 JCS Instructional Calendar 
• 2023- 2024 Student Family Handbook- English
• 2023- 2024 Student Family Handbook- Spanish
• Nutrislice Menus
• 23-24 EAST Title I Presentation
• Journey East Academy School Improvement Plan 23-24
• Journey East Academys Family Engagement Plan 23-24-24
• Journey East Academys Family Engagement Plan 23-24-24 Spanish
• Rights to Know
• Rights to Know Spanish
• Parent School Compact 23-24
• Parent School Compact 23-24 Spanish

Journey Community Schools 802 Rozelle St. Memphis, TN 38104 Phone#: (901) 646-6530, ext 75713 Email: [email protected]

© 2020 Journey Community Schools | All rights reserved. Designed by KQ Communications

• Mission & Vision
• Board of Directors
• COLEMAN SCHOOL
• ENROLLMENT INFORMATION
• JOIN OUR TEAM
• PROCUREMENT
• FAMILY RESOURCES

Journey Community Schools is the new name for the former Aspire Public Schools Memphis Charter system. It is one of the first charter organizations to operate schools in Tennessee after Governor Bill Haslam and the Legislature created the Achievement School District (ASD) in 2011.  

In addition to selecting schools of interest, Aspire was tasked with convincing community residents to accept inclusion into the intervention district.

Carter Malone Group connected Aspire’s team with key elected officials, community leaders, stakeholders and parents. Collateral material was provided for enrollment, billboard designs and public relations. We also created the school system’s local website and social media platforms.

In 2020, Aspire rebranded into a new charter organization – Journey Community Schools (JCS). The network includes Hanley Elementary School, Hanley Middle School, Coleman School and East Academy. CMG helped get the word out with that effort too.

From the Beginning

 CMG aided Aspire’s entry into the market by developing it’s websites, as well as designing social media graphics and other visuals. We also managed public relations, crisis communications, government relations and stakeholder engagement.

New Branding to Journey Community Schools

The CMG  team helped launch the rebranding from Aspire to Journey Community Schools. In addition to public and media relations, our team updated the organization’s marketing for spirit week and new enrollment.

Welcome to Journey Community Schools. We are excited that you are considering being a part of our team as we aim toward Paving Pathways to Success. Our Mission is to engage families and community partners in our scholars' learning journey; cultivate a safe, positive and joyous learning environment; and empower teachers and leaders with support to deliver an inclusive, innovative and rigorous education. As a potential team member, you would be a part of carrying out our vision to develop a community of lifelong learners who excel in all areas of life. Journey is a Tennessee non-profit corporation that serves as a Charter Management Organization through our Support Office and two Memphis Area schools - Coleman School and East Academy that serve K-8 scholars. Our original parent organization, Aspire Public Schools was founded in 1998 and is based in California. The Tennessee Region of Aspire was formed in 2013. In June 2019, the Tennessee Region established its own local organization that soon became Journey Community Schools, Inc on January 23, 2020. For more information about Journey Community Schools, follow us on Facebook.

Valid teacher licensure

CORE Benefits – Paid by Journey 100% - EAP – Employee Assistance program - Core benefit paid by Journey 100% - Basic Life and AD&D – Core benefit paid by Journey 100% - Long-Term Disability - Core benefit paid by Journey 100% - Short-Term Disability - Core benefit paid by Journey 100% OPTIONAL Benefits – Paid by Employee or may be shared between Employee and Journey - Medical - Health Savings Account = If the HDHP health plan is elected - Dental - Vision - Voluntary Life and AD&D - Critical Illness - Hospital Confinement - Accident - Voluntary Short-Term Disability - FSA Health Care - FSA Dependent Care - Transit - Parking

Kindergarten-8th

• Memphis Metro Area

Aspire leader Nickalous Manning asked the group of students and community leaders, “Are you ready to find out who we are?" He will remain in leadership as the charter network transitions. (Caroline Bauman)

With state approval, Journey Community Schools takes charge of students as Aspire leaves Memphis

At an event that felt like a school pride rally, Aspire Public Schools announced Friday that the state department of education approved turning over its four schools to a new Memphis charter operator.

Journey Community Schools will take charge of educating all 1,600 Aspire students by July 1. Aspire is a California-based charter network.

The event included a DJ, student cheerleaders, and a dance party. The crowd of students and community leaders responded to school Superintendent Nickalous Manning by cheering and waving pom-poms when he asked them: “Are you ready to find out who we are? We are Journey Community Schools!”

This means the four schools will stay open under the new charter operator, wrapping up a year-long journey for Aspire. The state said it approved Aspire’s transition proposal after an extensive application and interview process that focused on the network’s financial and academic plans for its Memphis schools.

Students and teachers will see little change over the next few months. Journey is retaining Manning — a Memphis native — as its leader. And all 18 Memphis-based staff now working for  Aspire will join the new organization, according to a transition application obtained through a public information request from Chalkbeat.

But Manning said a new local board of directors has been named, there will be new measures of student success, and the network will be branded differently. His team met with teachers, parents, and students several times over the last year to get their input.

“What we consistently heard was that there is more than just being about college,” Manning said. “We want it to be more than that – there are multiple pathways to success.”

Genessia Boyd, a parent of four Aspire Memphis students, got to weigh in on the change in vision and called the new focus a welcome development.

The move means walking away from Aspire’s tagline , “College for Certain” and adding opportunities for students to think about vocational and technical opportunities in addition to a traditional college track. Nationally, other charter schools have pulled back on college-centric messaging. Texas-based KIPP leaders discussed last summer how the charter network, one of the largest in the country, is easing back on its college focus.

Journey hopes to gain more local support as a Memphis-based operation. The newly created network also hopes parents will participate more often in board meetings, which was difficult for them to do when they were held in California.

Boyd said she was excited to have more input and that she’s enjoyed being involved in the transition process. She added that a local board might help get more parents involved, as well.

“A lot of parents from what I have heard are hesitant on reaching out to the school system,” she said, adding she hopes to start a parent-teacher organization for the charter network. “But I want them to know they don’t have to sit on the sidelines.”

Journey Community Schools will take over Aspire East Academy, Aspire Coleman Middle School, Aspire Hanley Elementary School, and Aspire Hanley Middle School. The schools will lose the name “Aspire” next year. East Academy is the only Aspire school under Shelby County Schools jurisdiction, the other three are under the state-run Achievement School District.

The Aspire network was one of the first outside charter groups recruited to join the state-run district, launched in 2012 to vault Tennessee’s lowest-performing schools academically to top performers by giving control of the schools to charter organizations. But the district has faced lagging academic growth and high leader turnover.

This transition announcement comes at a time when the state is proposing that all 30 schools within the Achievement Schools District transition to either local control or a new state charter commission. This means Journey’s three achievement district schools will eventually have to apply for new charters to continue.

Related: All 30 schools in Tennessee’s turnaround district would exit by 2022 in a massive restructuring proposal

“This is not a surprise,” Manning said of the state’s plan, adding that it doesn’t change Journey’s vision of running the schools. He added that he expects Journey to continue operating the schools after 2022, the state’s proposed deadline of moving schools out of the achievement district.

Aspire’s national board voted unanimously last January to pull out of its Memphis schools, following a meeting where board members highlighted a $2 million operating deficit and slow academic growth as reasons for the change.

Shelby County Schools board member Joyce Dorse-Coleman – who doesn’t represent Aspire’s Orange Mound schools but does represent the neighborhood – said she hopes the new vision translates into higher academic growth.

“I’m a supporter of any ways to increase a child’s academic learning, and I came to offer my support today,” Dorse-Coleman added.

None of Aspire’s three achievement schools had more than 15% of its students on grade level in the last round of state test scores. Aspire East Academy High School, under Shelby County Schools, had 22.9% of students on grade level in math and 11.4% in English.

Aspire will continue to work with Journey into the start of the school year, according to the application, and could even delay separation if the new entity isn’t yet financially sustainable.

The Journey network has secured $3 million from an anonymous donor to support the transition over the next three years, according to the application, adding that the new organization plans to decrease its annual funding deficit by $2.4 million over the next two years.

“These cost savings are largely due to the elimination of national office fees, resulting in more funding remaining in the Memphis region to support students, families and the community,” according to the documents.

Here are the board members overseeing the new charter organization, which includes a current Aspire national board member:

• Karen Hartridge, assistant U.S. attorney;
• Beth Hunkapiller, current chair of the national Aspire board and an educator;
• Kevin Leslie, director of grants & operations at the City Fund & Public School Allies;
• Amanda Montgomery, instructional coach at Memphis Teacher Residency and former Aspire teacher;
• Cyrus Purnell, financial planner at Financial Finesse;
• Zakiya Woods, staff pediatrician at Christ Community Health Services.

Aspire isn’t the first national charter organization to spin off its turnaround Memphis schools. Memphis Scholars, which runs three schools in the state district, previously was part of national charter network Scholar Academies. Project GRAD USA pulled out of Tennessee’s turnaround district and closed its school .

Nationally, Aspire will continue to oversee 36 schools in California.

You can read the group’s transition plan to become Journey Community Schools in full below:

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Journey Hanley Middle

Public charter.

• Grades Served: 6 – 8
• Operated By: Journey Community Schools
• Many opportunities for students to work on exactly what they need to grow academically
• Will have grades PreK through 7th in 2015-2016, with 8th grade coming in 2016-2017
• Scholars who qualify for Extended Learning Program (After School Program) will participate free of charge
• Many classrooms have two teachers due to partnerships with teacher residency programs in Memphis
• Includes community in numerous activities throughout the year and has monthly advisory school council meetings to increase community involvement in the success of our school

Do you have new information on this school? Let us know !

680 Hanley St, Memphis, TN 38114

• South Memphis Neighborhood
• This school provides transportation
• Bus transportation provided for zoned students living outside the 1.5-mile Parental Responsibility Zone.

• Why Compass
• Board Members

Compass Life

• Binghampton
• Hickory Hill
• Orange Mound
• Learning Resources
• Family Resources
• Enroll Now!

Your Child’s PATH

To success begins here., begin your journey., the compass way, a new day in education..

At Compass Community Schools, our mission is to prepare students for college and lifelong success by developing the whole child through a focus on academic excellence, values-based character education, and service learning in the community. This past year Compass has reached many milestones. For the first time since we opened our doors in 2019, we see the effects of a full year of learning as evident through our TVAAS scores. According to the State of Tennessee, two Compass Schools scored a TVAAS of 4, and four Compass Schools scored a TVAAS of 5, which is the highest distinction based on TVAAS composite scores. Additionally, two Compass Community Schools also earned the esteemed designation of Reward schools by the State of Tennessee. Reward schools are schools that improve overall student academic achievement and growth for all student groups. The Reward designation is the highest honor schools can earn when evaluated via the state’s accountability model. This significant growth means our students are rebounding from the negative impacts of the pandemic, our teachers are effectively helping students to reach academic goals, and our curriculum plan is getting results.

Compass Pillars

Academic Excellence

We implement rigorous, standards-based curricula to achieve academic excellence and ensure that every student realizes his/her fullest academic potential. However, we realize that every learner is unique and will come to us with individual learning styles and diverse learning needs.

Character Development

We will embed four core values across every facet of our schools: respect, wisdom, courage, and servant leadership. However, it is not enough to simply talk about our values. That is why we implement a curriculum that explicitly teaches our core values and the social-emotional competencies needed to develop the skills and tools necessary to truly internalize and demonstrate them.

Service Learning

Service-learning projects will provide students with opportunities to apply newly learned knowledge and skills in real-world contexts, further cementing their understanding and giving their academic learning relevant purposes. Service learning serves as the intersection of our academic excellence and values-based character education pillars—bringing content, concepts, and skills gleaned from both to life through hands-on, tangible experiences.

Quick Facts

We are proud of our network’s immense successes! 

Graduation Rate

Reward Schools

TVAAS Level 5

About Compass

Let us guide your child's educational journey..

Let us guide your child’s educational journey. Compass Community Schools is a network of K-12 charter schools serving several communities in Memphis, including Binghampton, Frayser, Berclair, Hickory Hill, Midtown and Orange Mound. If you’re looking for a public school that offers small classrooms a small campus size, a safe learning environment and a superior educational experience, look no further.

Support Compass

As a charter school, each student is supported by state and federal funding. While this funding is significant, it does not cover the cost of educating a child or extras such as intervention, tutoring, or support personnel. Consider partnering with us to bring the dream of a “world-class” education to students in Memphis.

Recent Updates

Hispanic heritage month: compass community schools a model for ell success.

Angela Fox 2022-11-02T16:25:21-05:00 Nov, 2, 2022 | Categories: Education , Learning Resources , news and information |

The Catholic Diocese of Memphis support these schools, whose focus is educating children residing in the neighborhoods in which these schools are located. The [...]

Compass Community Schools is a model Tennessee should follow

Angela Fox 2022-11-02T16:24:25-05:00 Nov, 2, 2022 | Categories: Education , Family Resources , Learning Resources , news and information , Uncategorized |

This year’s Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) results were rightfully cheered for the gains Tennessee students made, but it’s important to keep in mind achievement gaps [...]

Compass Makes The Grades. The Numbers Don’t Lie.

Angela Fox 2022-11-02T09:45:35-05:00 Nov, 2, 2022 | Categories: Education , Family Resources , Uncategorized |

The scores are in, and we have something to celebrate! Find out how Compass measured up to competing Memphis schools. For the first time, [...]

Our Schools

Compass Community Schools is a group of six K – 12 tuition-free, public charter schools proudly serving the following Memphis communities. Click on any school in the list or on the map for more info.

Compass-Berclair

Kindergarten – 8th Grade

3880 Forest Avenue, 38122 Memphis, TN

901.323.2162

Compass-Binghampton

2540 Hale Road, 38112 Memphis, TN

901.866.9084

Compass-Frayser

3690 Thomas Street, 38127 Memphis, TN

901.358.7431

Compass-Hickory Hill

3572 Emerald Street, 38115 Memphis, TN

901.546.9926

Compass-Midtown

9th – 12th Grade

61 N McLean Boulevard, 38104 Memphis, TN

901.276.1221

Compass-Orange Mound

2718 Lamar Avenue, 38114 Memphis, TN

901.743.6700

Compass Community Schools is a group of K – 12 charter schools proudly serving the following Memphis communities. Tap on any school in the list or on the map for more info.

Start your journey with us today!

Interested in enrolling your child for the upcoming school year? This is your ticket to a world-class education.

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Copyright 2022. Compass Community Schools. All rights reserved.  Privacy Policy

61 N McLean, Memphis, TN 38104

901.618.7422

[email protected]

Tennessee has named its 2022-2023 top schools. Here's which Memphis ones made the cut.

In December, the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) assigned letter grades to the state’s public schools, using an A-F scale . Now, the agency has also released its annual school and district designations for the 2022-2023 academic year.

Districts could receive one of five designations: exemplary, advancing, satisfactory, marginal, or in need of improvement. “Exemplary” is the highest designation, while “in need of improvement” is the lowest and represents school systems that fall in the bottom five percent of all districts.

For specific schools this year, there was only one designation: the “reward” status, which was given to schools that demonstrated high levels of academic performance, academic improvement, or both.

Which Memphis-Shelby County schools earned reward status?

Memphis-Shelby County Schools received a “satisfactory” designation, a step down from the “advancing” designation it received in the 2021-2022 academic year . Still, it remains a better result than the district has received previously. In 2019, for example, it fell into the "in need of improvement" category. And in 2022-2023, 34 of the district’s schools – including charter schools – received “reward” status, representing about 8.5% of the 400 schools that received the honor.

The schools are:

• Arrow Academy of Excellence
• Balmoral/Ridgeway Elementary
• Campus School
• Circles Of Success Learning Academy
• Compass Community School, Hickory Hill Campus
• Freedom Prep Elementary - Millbranch
• Hawkins Mill Elementary
• Hollis F. Price Middle College
• J. P. Freeman Elementary/Middle
• Journey East Academy
• KIPP Memphis Academy Middle
• KIPP Memphis Collegiate Elementary
• KIPP Memphis Collegiate Middle
• Leadership Preparatory Charter School
• Medical District High School
• Memphis Business Academy Elementary School
• Memphis Business Academy Hickory Hill Middle School
• Memphis College Preparatory
• Memphis STEM Academy
• Middle College High
• Newberry Elementary
• Oak Forest Elementary
• Oakhaven High
• Oakshire Elementary
• Perea Elementary School
• Richland Elementary
• Southern Avenue Charter School of Academic Excellence Creative Arts
• University Middle
• Vision Preparatory Charter School
• White Station High
• Whitney Elementary
• William Herbert Brewster Elementary School
• Winridge Elementary

Where are the priority schools?

Typically, TDOE also provides a list of priority schools, which are consistently low-performing schools that score among the bottom 5% on the state's standardized tests or have low graduation rates. This year, however, the agency opted not to put the “priority” label on schools, citing stalls in federal accountability approvals and the letter grades.

A TDOE spokesperson provided the following statement:

“After delays in federal accountability approvals from the US Department of Education, and the first-ever implementation of the A-F school letter grade law this school year, the department has elected to not to update the state's priority school list and focus on supporting schools and districts in the implementation of policies and strategies designed to improve student outcomes.”

While the department didn’t release a list of priority schools, there were four MSCS charter schools that were on the priority list last year but received the Reward designation this year. They are Arrow Academy of Excellence, KIPP Memphis Collegiate Middle, KIPP Memphis Academy Middle, and Memphis Business Academy Hickory Hill Middle School.

No school districts in the Memphis area obtained the “exemplary” designation from TDOE. Arlington Community Schools, Bartlett City Schools, Collierville Schools, Germantown Municipal Schools, Lakeland Schools, and Millington Municipal Schools all received “advancing” status, the second highest designation.

- Rachel Wegner contributed to this reporting.

John Klyce covers education and children's issues for The Commercial Appeal. You can reach him at [email protected].