MTSU, RCS agreement makes Campus School admissions policy more equitable

Located at 923 E. Lytle St. in Murfreesboro, Homer Pittard Campus School is a K-5 teaching laboratory school jointly operated by Middle Tennessee State University and Rutherford County Schools. It's celebrating its 90th anniversary in 2019. (Photo courtesy of Homer Pittard Campus School)

Middle Tennessee State University and Rutherford County Schools updated a 2006 agreement about the Homer Pittard Campus School that makes admission to the school more equitable — now based on applying during a uniform time window rather than on or after a child’s fourth birthday.

The Rutherford County School Board unanimously supported the update in June, and the policy will go into effect for the 2022-2023 school year.

The new application window allows for all families to apply for a child’s admission to Campus School through an online, rather than paper, application between Dec. 1 to Jan. 31 each year.

In addition, admission will be selected at random and there will be no waiting list. It also eliminates the requirement of proof of residency or a child’s birth certificate with the application; documents will be required upon admission instead.

MTSU and the Campus School have a relationship dating back almost a century.

MTSU began as a teacher training college in 1911, and the Campus School — originally the Middle Tennessee State Teachers College Training School — functioned as a laboratory for aspiring teachers from MTSU to practice their craft in real classrooms.

MTSU still owns the school — its location within walking distance of campus off East Lytle Street — and provides other funding for it, while RCS runs and operates it.

The school continues to host teacher candidates, or student teachers, from the university’s College of Education for their hands-on student teaching placements and practicum hours to this day.

Dr. Rick Vanosdall

“The long relationship between MTSU’s College of Education and Rutherford County Schools through the Homer Pittard Campus School demonstrates a continuing development of professional teacher preparation in the state,” said Rick Vanosdall, interim dean of the College of Education.

“We are thrilled to continue this important working relationship almost a century later and to be part of facilitating important decisions — such as this recent admissions policy update — to support the school.”

For more information on the admissions policy update, click on the link here.

To learn more about MTSU’s College of Education, check out the website and Facebook page.

— Stephanie Barrette (Stephanie.Barrette@mtsu.edu)