The day after the ribbon cutting, the toughest critics of the new Collierville High School got to look around – the high school’s seniors begin classes Monday, Aug. 13.

And the tour got rave reviews.

2. American Way Middle Makes Debut as an I-Zone School - Wednesday, August 8, 2018

It may have been inevitable that American Way Middle School would be on the schedule of Shelby County Schools superintendent Dorsey Hopson to visit on the first day of the school year.

Earlier this year, state education officials wanted the grade 6-8 Parkway Village school turned over to the state-run Achievement School District or SCS to approve a charter to turn around the low-performing school.

3. Grade Floors Revealed With Grade Tampering - Thursday, December 14, 2017

As Shelby County Schools officials were just beginning to investigate allegations of grade tampering at Trezevant High School in September 2016, they were also looking into reports that Trezevant teachers were told in writing by the vice principal that the school had a “grade floor” – no nine-week grades lower than a 60.

4. 3-Attorney Panel to Review Mackin's Allegations Against Shelby County Schools - Friday, June 9, 2017

A panel of three attorneys, including former U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton are investigating allegations of a cover-up, sexual harassment, theft and widespread grade tampering made last week by former Trezevant High School principal Ronnie Mackin.

5. Shelby County Schools Board Seeks Role in Grade-Tampering Investigations - Thursday, June 8, 2017

Shelby County Schools board members will meet in special session Thursday to talk about allegations of grade tampering renewed June 1 when Trezevant High School principal Ronnie Mackin resigned from the school system.

6. SCS Board Members Huddle With Attorneys On Grade Tampering Allegations - Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Shelby County Schools board members meet in special session Thursday to talk about allegations of grade tampering renewed June 1 when Trezevant High School principal Ronnie Mackin resigned from the school system.

7. Bibbs Empowers Teachers for Student Success - Friday, December 9, 2016

Miska Clay Bibbs never planned to pursue a career in education. But no matter where life takes her, she always ends up coming back to it.

8. Hopson Begins Mapping Out Schools ‘Transformation’ - Thursday, September 29, 2016

Shelby County Schools superintendent Dorsey Hopson says his plan to right-size the school system to emerge in October will be about “transformation” including turning East High School into a “magnet school.”

9. East High Magnet School Planned as Part of Larger SCS "Transformation" - Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Shelby County Schools superintendent Dorsey Hopson says his plan to rightsize the school system to emerge in October will be about “transformation” including turning East High School into a “magnet school.”

10. Crosstown High, 4 Other Charter Schools Win Approval - Thursday, August 25, 2016

Shelby County Schools board members approved a new Crosstown High charter school Tuesday, Aug. 23, for the Crosstown Concourse development and four other new charters for the 2017-2018 school year.

11. SCS Board Approves Crosstown, Four Other Charters, Rejects Three - Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Shelby County Schools board members approved a new Crosstown High charter school Tuesday, Aug. 23, for the Crosstown Concourse development and four other new charters for the 2017-2018 school year.

12. SCS Board Approves Crosstown, Four Other Charters, Rejects Three - Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Shelby County Schools board members approved a new Crosstown High charter school Tuesday, Aug. 23, for the Crosstown Concourse development and four other new charters for the 2017-2018 school year.

13. The Rest of the August Ballot - Saturday, July 9, 2016

If all goes according to plan on the Aug. 4 election day, Linda Phillips hopes the result is that you don’t see her in any of the reporting on election night.

14. SCS Charter Schools Strategy Evolves - Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Shelby County Schools board members vote Tuesday, June 28, on two new charter schools for the 2017-2018 school year and may reject applications for eight other charters, including Crosstown High School, for now.

15. SCS Budget Plan Goes To School Board For Vote Monday - Monday, May 16, 2016

Shelby County Schools board members meet Monday, May 16, to vote on a budget proposal that goes to the Shelby County Commission for funding.

The budget proposal up for a vote Monday has $27 million in red ink – the gap between revenues and expenses.

16. Last Word: Mud Island Money, Elvis Mystery and Beyond Barbecue - Friday, May 13, 2016

It looks like the dry rub will be in order for Memphis in May's barbecue weekend with a shower or two keeping the dust down in Tom Lee Park Wednesday.

If you can see it through the smoke, Mud Island might strike a first-tme observer as a marked contrast to all of the activity in Tom Lee Park that goes right up to the bluff's edge.

17. Shelby County Schools Board Eyes Wheel Tax to Bridge Budget Gap - Friday, May 13, 2016

Shelby County Schools board members are looking at the county wheel tax to bridge some, but not all of the $27 million gap in their still tentative budget for the new fiscal year.

The specific solution they are looking at is the half of the $32 million in annual revenue from the wheel tax that Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell has proposed go instead to capital projects across all seven public school systems in Shelby County. The new fiscal year begins July 1.

18. Only One School Board Seat Contested - Saturday, April 16, 2016

It’s usually filing too close to the deadline that ends up shedding potential candidates from local election ballots.

That is the case with two would-be challengers to a pair of Shelby County Schools board incumbents on the Aug. 4 ballot.

19. Two More August School Board Races Go Uncontested - Thursday, April 14, 2016

It’s usually filing too close to the deadline that ends up shedding potential candidates from local election ballots.

That is the case with two would-be challengers to a pair of Shelby County Schools board incumbents on the Aug. 4 ballot.

20. August Primaries Feature Intra-Party Challenges - Monday, April 11, 2016

Two years after a disastrous slate of races for countywide offices, there is a move among younger Democratic partisans in Memphis to shake up the Democrats who represent the city in the Tennessee Legislature.

21. 8th Congressional District Primaries Draw 22 Contenders, 13 Republican - Friday, April 8, 2016

The Republican primary race to fill the 8th District Congressional seat Republican incumbent Stephen Fincher is giving up drew a field of 13 contenders – seven from Shelby County and four from Jackson, Tennessee – at the Thursday, April 7, noon filing deadline for the Aug. 4 ballot.

22. Bartlett Judicial Races Shifted To August Ballot - Thursday, March 24, 2016

The two municipal judges in Bartlett learned this week that they have races to run on the August ballot, not the November ballot they were scheduled to run on.

The addition of two races to the Aug. 4 Shelby County ballot comes two weeks before the April 7 filing deadline for the nonpartisan local races as well as the state and federal primary contests.

23. Crosstown High School Plans Emerge - Thursday, January 21, 2016

As more details emerged this week of a new high school in the mammoth Crosstown Concourse redevelopment, there remained many other details to work out before the August 2017 planned opening.

Crosstown High School, which would use the University of Memphis’ Campus School as a model, has been talked about behind the scenes since Gestalt Community Services pulled out of Concourse last year. SCS board members got their first look at the plan Tuesday, Jan. 19.

24. Candidates Already Gearing Up For August Elections - Friday, January 8, 2016

The ballot for the March 1 Tennessee presidential primaries and county primaries for General Sessions Court Clerk was set while many voters were focused on the holidays and preparations for the new city leaders taking office in January.

25. Clay-Bibbs Joins Teach Plus As Executive Director - Friday, July 31, 2015

Shelby County Schools board member Miska Clay-Bibbs is the new executive director of the Teach Plus Memphis office.

Teach Plus is a national nonprofit that develops teacher leadership and seeks more involvement for teachers in setting education policies and practices.

26. Pera Elected Vice President of Tennessee Bar - Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Lucian T. Pera, partner in the Memphis office of Adams and Reese LLP, has been elected vice president of the Tennessee Bar Association and will automatically become president of the organization in 2017-2018. Pera, who joined Adams and Reese in 2006, concentrates his practice in commercial litigation, media law, and legal ethics and professional responsibility.

27. Democratic Divide Widens in Election Results - Friday, August 8, 2014

Democrats have retained their seven-vote majority on the new single-district Shelby County Commission that takes office Sept. 1.

That and the re-election victory of Democratic incumbent Cheyenne Johnson in the race for Shelby County Assessor of Property were the only bright spots for a divided local Democratic Party that lost every other countywide partisan elected position to Republicans in the Aug. 7 county general election, just as they lost every countywide position to Republicans four years earlier.

28. Cohen Prevails, Incumbents Dominate - Friday, August 8, 2014

Democratic U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen held off Thursday, Aug. 7, the most serious electoral challenge he’s faced since winning the Congressional seat in 2006, in the form of attorney Ricky E. Wilkins.

29. 2014 Campaigns Hit the Streets - Monday, April 7, 2014

With the April filing deadline behind them and early voting for the county primaries a week and a half ahead, those running for elected office in Shelby County this year kept a full weekend schedule.

30. Harris Files Ford Challenge at Deadline - Thursday, April 3, 2014

Memphis City Council member Lee Harris is challenging Democratic state Sen. Ophelia Ford in the August primary for District 29, the Senate seat held by a member of the Ford family since 1975.