CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – With the rezoning efforts finished for the new Kirkwood Elementary School opening this fall, two Clarksville schools are being repurposed to serve the school system in a different capacity: St. Bethlehem Elementary and Burt Elementary.

After serving CMCSS for over 20 years, Burt will be transitioned to a center for innovative high school models, including becoming the new home of Middle College at APSU, while St. Bethlehem will be repurposed into a facility for CMCSS to develop its first-ever Early Learning Center.

St. Bethlehem Early Learning Center

The school in St. Bethlehem had humble beginnings in the early 1900s as a small two-room building on a hill on what is now Old Russellville Pike. Booming population growth led to an increased need for more space and, in the mid-1930s, students and faculty moved into the new school, which has grown and evolved over the years.

Currently, St. Bethlehem is a Title I PreK through 2nd grade school serving almost 500 students and is the only one of its kind in the district. With the 2023-24 school year over, St. Bethlehem is gearing up to shift again, this time catering to children 5 and younger, which is a critical time for learning.

“CMCSS has developed a hub-and-spoke model, with several Pre-K programs moving to the St. Bethlehem Early Learning Center while still providing Pre-K programs at a few select satellite locations to serve students who are not within a feasible distance from St. Bethlehem,” CMCSS spokesman Anthony Johnson told Clarksville Now.

This new model will allow CMCSS to refine and streamline services, resources, support and training for these classes. Additionally, Johnson said, moving Pre-K classes out of the majority of schools will shift capacity at those buildings, which has allowed the district to reevaluate zone lines to maximize the district’s rezoning goals.

Burt Innovation Center

Named after Dr. Robert Tecumseh Burt, what was then Burt High School opened in 1952 as a segregated school for Black students. In 1970, it was changed to an integrated 7th grade school, and became an elementary school in 1980.

Dr. Burt was born a son of freed slaves and graduated from Meharry Medical College with honors. He opened Clarksville’s first hospital in 1906 and is remembered as a skilled surgeon ahead of his time and a public leader.

“To continue honoring Dr. Burt’s legacy and the history of the school, CMCSS will transition the school to the Burt Innovation Center, a facility for innovative high school models, including being the new home of Middle College at APSU,” Johnson told Clarksville Now.

Middle College is a collaborative program between the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System and Austin Peay State University that enables junior and senior high school students to obtain a high school education while concurrently receiving direct and invaluable access to free college courses.

Middle College moving into the facility is the first move, but CMCSS will be expanding offerings at Burt over the coming years.

Rezoning plans

The change in schools comes in the wake of the rezoning plan for 2024-25 school year.

According to the final rezoning plan, 822 students in the Burt/St. Bethlehem zone will be redistributed to other schools. Other highly impacted schools affected by the rezoning are Byrns Darden, Oakland and Rossview, impacting over 200 students at each school. In total, approximately 2,281 students are impacted by this rezoning plan for the new school year.

But this is only phase one of a two-phase rezoning plan, and families can expect another rezoning for the 2026-27 school year with the opening of Freedom Elementary, the 26th elementary school.

Based on the current proposal for phase two, the next rezoning will affect most, if not all, elementary schools to alleviate the pressure of overpopulation and overcrowding.

For more information about the rezoning plans, including maps with street-level detail, visit the CMCSS website.