Ensights Magazine

founders of the HS

The Founding of Ensworth's High School: A Risk Worth Taking

Michelle Andrade, Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications
The spirit of a place is evident. If enough people believe in something, it becomes a truth. If enough people believe that truth, it becomes a culture. A culture passed from one generation to the next is a tradition. Everyone came together in support of the vision and In Search of Truth.
We come into certain circumstances and spaces just as we are meant to. Ask anyone who has lived for years on this Earth, and they will reflect there is something to this thing we call life. Is it fate, luck, a higher power, or something else? We may never know. But the stars aligned for the founding of Ensworth's High School. The people, place, time, philanthropic support, and talents all came just as they were needed to create a new place that has impacted the lives of thousands of people—a family school serving students from Kindergarten to Grade 12.  

The Vision

In the Spring of 2001, the Board of Trustees presented a new strategic plan, bringing enhancements to the well-established Red Gables Campus, and renewed discussion on the opening of a high school unfolded. The Board partnered with an independent firm to research the feasibility of such an endeavor. In March 2002, the proposed expansion of Ensworth School research results were presented to the Board of Trustees. When 65% of surveyed parents said they would highly consider sending their students to Ensworth for high school, it was evident that this adventure had above-average feasibility. 
 
Former Board Chair Townes Duncan returned to serve as Chair again and to spearhead the process of deciding whether to open a high school or not. "What initially drove [the decision to expand Ensworth to a K–12 school] was to protect the K–8 experience," shared Duncan. "Adolescence is hard, and the K–8 experience gives kids opportunities to lead during a challenging developmental time of life."
 
Years of contemplation culminated in several surveys, parent perspectives, thoughtful deliberation, conversations, possibilities, and, inevitably, a final vote. In concurrence with the 2001–2002 strategic plan, a special committee, including Trisha Elcan, Brad Reed, Bobby Mathews, Jim Tate, Alison Douglas, Townes Duncan, and Bruce Moore, was formed to research and study compiled data for a solid year. The committee broke into two groups tasked with an impartial pro/con approach to all information. They gathered data on comparable schools in similar cities to help Ensworth create a viable financial model.
 
The special committee presented the findings to the full Board. The Board required a supermajority to move forward to ensure that a decision had broad support. On April 16, 2002, the Ensworth Board of Trustees voted to open the High School. It was more than just a decision. It was forging a new path. On that Tuesday night, the answer was to move forward. 

The Foundation

At the end of the meeting, Townes Duncan and Head of School Will Moseley left the room to follow up with future key players who would be instrumental in the development of the High School. 
 
Will Moseley was in his third year as Head of School. Earlier in the school year, Will had approached former colleague David Morgan, whom he had worked with at The Bishop's School. "What do you think?" the question may have been, but David was deep in an extensive two-year exploration of best practices in high schools. Additionally, a long-time educator, coach, and Ensworth parent Ricky Bowers had expressed interest in Ensworth expanding to a K–12 school. Following the Board’s decision to move forward, conversations began in earnest with Bowers, and he agreed to join the founding faculty. Morgan and Bowers, along with Moseley, were the dynamic trio who formed the foundation of what Ensworth High School would become. They worked with the Board of Trustees to hire architects, contractors, and faculty, all of whom were motivated by the mission, vision, and development of the program. Former Director of Communications Anne Stringham recalls, "The facilities were designed and built to empower the innovative program." 
 
Ensworth launched a capital campaign that significantly enhanced Red Gables Campus with Patton Hall, Ingram Library, and renovations to the arts, sciences, administration, and classroom spaces. This effort also included building the High School. Parent Kathryn Brown shares, "Everyone was just so excited. It was contagious. Parents would host gatherings in their homes. People invited current parents for dinner to come and hear about the High School, what it would be, and everything it would entail."
 
David Johnson was hired in May 2002 to coordinate the project in collaboration with architect Graham Gund to ensure the High School would be ready to open in August 2004. Details, waterways, Native American burial grounds, and codes had to be managed carefully throughout the process. David shares, "In that two-year time frame, we had to select design and construction teams, put together committees to finalize the scope, hire department chairs for the High School to develop the curriculum, complete the drawings, obtain the permits, and get it built and equipped. The number of decisions that were needed and the speed at which those decisions had to be made were almost overwhelming." 
 
David Johnson recalls, "This committee trusted each other and the design and construction team so that decisions were made, and those decisions didn't change.” The uniqueness of the nature of this project and the people who came together was evident. “This level of cooperation is very rare, but without it, I don't believe we would have made the early August date with furniture in classrooms, food in the kitchen, and green grass in the quad. Sports fields were ready to play games and practice, library books were on the shelves, and supplies were in the art rooms."

The Program

While fundraising and plans were taking place, hiring was also underway. Department Chairs were hired 18 months out. Joe Brady would head up the Math Department, Myra McLarey, English, Dr. John Bean, Science, John Faulkner, Arts, David Chanaca, History. Nancy Scoville, Red Gables World Language Department Chair, was added as an advisor until a permanent Department Chair could be hired. Countless others helped in the program development, embracing a democratic process for establishing everything from the schedule to requirements for student electives. As a team, they spent an entire year creating the curriculum process for the school. What could it be? Everyone brought their expertise to the table and literally built the school from the inside out. 
 
Understanding the culture of Red Gables was essential to establishing the High School. David Morgan shared that understanding the preexisting culture was "probably the most important thing about the High School. The spirit and love of learning, love of the children, and what we were doing as teachers really was the foundation for everything we did." Teachers were brought in and given space to create. 
 
Joe Brady fondly remembers being on Red Gables Campus. "Each of us was asked to teach a class along with the planning of the school, and I got to teach a seventh-grade math class. There was really a wonderful benefit to that.” The opportunity to know the Ensworth community was created by design to enhance the experience for all involved. “We got to know them; they got to know us. Plus, it was fun to see and learn how the Middle School acted and reacted to things in planning for the High School."
 
The faculty and leadership had ideas of what education could be and came to Ensworth for, as Ricky Bowers proclaimed, "A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." It was a risk—a huge one. Nashville families needed more choices. Families wanted to provide their children a similar experience to what they had at Red Gables through high school. Ensworth had a thriving Kindergarten through Grade 8 school, but there was still a need for improvements in some areas. The focus to continue building up what had been working ensued as the decision to expand was embraced. Could Ensworth do both successfully?
 
David Morgan shares, "We decided everything from scratch. Sometimes, I gave input on what I had seen nationally, but I never voted on any of the proposals. This was a team effort. What the team decided was what we did, and it turned out to be something that was different from any school in the country. It was a very exciting program that involved student immersion, discovery, and exploration based on integrity and principles."
 
David Chanaca was a veteran teacher at Ensworth's Middle School. David's extensive experience in the Middle School made him the prime candidate to embark on the path of developing the History department. "It was a blank slate," David shares. "The Board didn't come to us and say this is the school we want you to create. Will Moseley didn't say this is the school we want you to create. They said we want you to create a high school in the model of our Middle and Lower School with the whole child in mind. Go at it. Do it. I was like a kid in a toy store. It was both exhilarating and frightening at the same time."
 
"One of the many wonderful traits of Ensworth's High School was Will Moseley's intent of students being successful at every level," said Kathryn Brown "One of the philosophies was that every student was met at their level and raised up to their best potential. As a parent, you can't wish for anything better."
 
Academics were only some of what was being developed. They were also building the culture of Ensworth’s High School. "What I thought was really cool was at three o'clock when school was over, kids didn't leave. They didn't go home. And if you did, there is a chance of a teacher running into you and asking what you were doing. 'You're going home? Don't go home, come on. I want you to be a part of this group, or I want you to be a part of the theater. It doesn't matter if you can't act," Kathryn shares. Everyone was invited in, and everyone had a part to play in the foundation of that first year. 
 
There were many ideas, and this was a new way of school. Ensworth didn't just happen. There were, and are, many people behind the scenes, ensuring it survives. Everyone had to build. Maybe not the physical structures, but the culture, curriculum, and student body required everyone's help. These were the types of people drawn to Ensworth's High School at the genesis. Faculty, staff, and families who enrolled that first year had to have an entrepreneurial mindset to share in the vision of creating something like this, and that vision was worth the risk.
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Red Gables Campus (K–8)

Nashville, TN 37205
(615) 383-0661

Frist Campus (9–12)

Nashville, TN 37221
(615) 301-5400
Ensworth is a coeducational, kindergarten through twelfth grade, independent day school.