In the latest episode of Let’s Talk HCS, Superintendent Justin Robertson sat down with leaders from Clifton Hills Elementary, Hixson High School, and members of the Hamilton County School Board. The conversation focused on one key idea: when students feel connected, they succeed.

Principal Lindsey Starnes shared how Clifton Hills turned from one of the lowest-performing schools in Tennessee into a thriving school community. “When I first started… I remember getting a letter from the education commissioner basically saying Clifton Hills is one of the lowest performing schools in the state,” she recalled.

The first step was building culture and climate through personalization. Starnes explained, “My mentor… was basically like, you’ve got to get the climate and culture right first before you can worry about academics.”

One big change was the “house system.” Fourth grade teacher Rachel Shuford described it: “Every student is placed into a house when they spin a wheel. It kind of makes just a smaller community inside of a big community. They have their own house colors, they have their house mascot and whoever gets the most points can do a house party at the end of the month.”

Teachers said the system has grown into a true mentorship model. “It also allows teachers to know each other,” Sarah Mason added. “Kids enjoy it and the teachers enjoy it. We look forward to pep rallies, and the kids see us excited and they see us interacting with other people in the school that we don’t typically interact with.”

Clifton Hills also added a nurse practitioner to help families without health care. Starnes explained, “Our chronic absenteeism has decreased tremendously because families just feel comfortable coming to the school like we’re going to help you here.”

The podcast then moved to Hixson High School, where former principal Dr. Lee Ziegler and his team described how relationships built the foundation for academic growth. Dr. Ziegler admitted, “I was not a good student myself. The teachers that I responded the best to were the ones that took the time to build relationships in the classroom and kind of that warm demander, you know, just holding us to high standards, but at the same time building those connections.”

At Hixson, freshmen get extra support through the Freshman Academy and Ambassador Program. Senior Jeremy McPherson explained, “My hardest time was my freshman year. So when I heard in my sophomore year that there would be an ambassadorship for the freshmen, I signed up.”

He described how small moments made a difference: “Definitely the circle times and connections. Just talking to them about, you know, like silly things like, how was your weekend? What’s your favorite chip? It just helped build a connection.” 

Assistant Principal Shunta Daniels added, “If freshmen fall behind in their freshman year, they are highly likely to drop out and not graduate on time. So we meet weekly to talk about Behavior, Attendance, and Grades, and we put those into additional supports.”

Board members Joe Smith and Karitsa Mosley-Jones closed the conversation by reflecting on why connection is central to success. Mosley-Jones said, “Everybody’s unique. Everybody’s coming from a different household. Everybody’s coming from a different community and making sure that we are able to support those students as they are learning academically by personalizing things and making sure that they feel like they belong is important.”

Smith agreed, stating, “If they’re from all kinds of backgrounds, then obviously they’re presenting with all kinds of different needs. And so I think it’s very important that the public school system be poised to meet needs that are often multifaceted and very complex.”

The results are clear. As Starnes put it, “Yes, we want to personalize school for kids, but we also want to hold kids to high expectations.” When students know they belong, they show up, work harder, and achieve more.

By 2030, Hamilton County Schools will be a leader in developing diverse graduates to be connected, competitive, and life ready. One of the commitments for Hamilton County Schools is, every student learns. This is seen by supporting all HCS students to achieve: believing in and acting on the capabilities of all of our students in becoming readers, writers, and thinkers. Also, this commitment will be measured by producing student achievement gains by focusing on and measuring what matters most for both academic press and personalization in the classroom. Hamilton County Schools cares, and as HCS moves closer to the ultimate goal of all children thriving and experiencing a future without limits, we want to ensure every student learns

Want to hear the full conversation and more stories from our schools? Click this link to listen to this episode of Let’s Talk HCS. You can find it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.