About
Who We Are
Mission StatementOur Mission
University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.Who We AreOur Community
University School of Nashville is a K-12, independent, all-gender, non-sectarian day school established in 1975 as the successor to Peabody Demonstration School. USN is known for its academic excellence and for its commitment to putting students first.Our student body includes 1,081 students from 55 zip codes in Middle Tennessee as well as 36% students of color with 52 countries of origin represented among our families. Nashville is approximately 38% people of color, according to the 2020 U.S. Census.
Purpose & Meaning
"....this moment feels new to so many of us as education evolves. How can we teach and learn in different ways?
USN was founded as a demonstration school to ask those big questions ... and give students a sense of meaning to participate in their education. "
USN was founded as a demonstration school to ask those big questions ... and give students a sense of meaning to participate in their education. "
-USN Director Amani Reed
Our Campuses
The Edgehill Campus in Midtown Nashville is on 7 acres bordered by Vanderbilt University. It comprises six buildings, several acres of outdoor field space, some 1,081 students, and more than 200 faculty and staff. Two wings of the Edgehill Campus are powered by a large geothermal energy system beneath the Back Lawn.
The 81-acre River Campus in North Nashville is on the banks of the Cumberland River. It is home to a dozen athletic playing fields, an eight-lane track & field complex, eight tennis courts, dedicated baseball and softball facilities, and a solar power generation array. It also includes 15 acres of designated wetlands with more than 1,000 feet of boardwalks and outdoor classrooms for field trips and research.
The 81-acre River Campus in North Nashville is on the banks of the Cumberland River. It is home to a dozen athletic playing fields, an eight-lane track & field complex, eight tennis courts, dedicated baseball and softball facilities, and a solar power generation array. It also includes 15 acres of designated wetlands with more than 1,000 feet of boardwalks and outdoor classrooms for field trips and research.
A Historic Commitment to Education
Our History
University School of Nashville is the 1975 successor to Peabody Demonstration School, which was founded in 1915 by Peabody College.Winthrop Model School: 1888 – 1915
Founded in 1888 by the Peabody Board of Trustees on the University of Nashville campus, then home to the State Normal College for teachers, the Winthrop Model School was named for Robert Winthrop, the president of the Peabody Fund, created by George Peabody after the Civil War to improve education in the South.
Peabody Demonstration School: 1915 – 1975
In 1915, planned and led by Dr. Thomas Alexander, Peabody Demonstration School was founded on Peabody College's new campus on 21st Avenue, combining the old observational method favored by Peabody Normal College President W.H. Payne and the new experimental methods of teacher training. At first the school was located in the basement of the Jesup Psychological Building. In 1925, the present Edgehill Campus building, designed in the classical style by the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White, was completed on Edgehill Avenue.
University School of Nashville: 1975 – present
In 1975, when Peabody College could no longer support the Demonstration School, a group of parents, teachers, and students founded University School of Nashville, dedicated to the original PDS principles of academic excellence, educational best practice, and inclusion. PDS faculty and students remained in the same hallways and classrooms and matriculated through USN.
Read more about the history of Peabody Demonstration School.
Agents, Advocates, AcademicsWho We Are
This is the beginning and the end: agency, advocacy, academics.From pig dissections to Creative Writing Projects,
AirPods, club flyers, and SATCO takeout in hand.
We're armed with questions to take control of our own answers.
This is the middle: curious, competitive, and full of quirks
We carry each other, keeping one another afloat and rising like a tide
We are navigators through the wild waves of who we were and who we want to be,
We arise, we strive, and await the moment we arrive.
And this is the beginning again: small, fresh, and full of wonder
We burst through doors with resolve and possibility.
Studying each other, studying ourselves
We are eager to discover who we are
and where we belong
This is who we are:
agents, advocates, academics.
This K-12 poem was presented to Amani Reed during his investiture of as the 11th Director of University School of Nashville and Peabody Demonstration School on April 17, 2023. It was composed by: Sheerea Yu '23, Nashville Youth Poet Laureate 2022; Misha Davydov, Kindergarten Teacher; Christine Park, Eighth Grade English Teacher; Freya Sachs '00, English Department Chair; and Yue Yuan, Sixth Grade English Teacher.
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Curriculum
13 grades, unlimited possibilities. -
Creativity
Creativity, inspiration, collaboration. -
Competition
Transformational teamwork.
Contact USN
Edgehill Campus
2000 Edgehill Ave.
Nashville, TN 37212
Phone: 615-321-8000
Fax: 615-321-0889
Email: info@usn.org
River Campus
1200 County Hospital Road
Nashville, TN 37218
2000 Edgehill Ave.
Nashville, TN 37212
Phone: 615-321-8000
Fax: 615-321-0889
Email: info@usn.org
River Campus
1200 County Hospital Road
Nashville, TN 37218
USN Mission:
University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.
University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.