Opening School

We’re writing with an update and a renewed appeal to help us put the immunity in community as school activities resume. Watching the recent surge in delta variant-related COVID-19 cases and seeing our region relegated to fodder for late night talk show monologues, it’s clear that our capacity to bend the wider curve remains finite. But we can work our acre (or seven) to set an instructive example at 2000 Edgehill to keep everyone safe and healthy. Here’s the emerging plan and the rationale:

Vaccination stands as the best measure against contracting any form of the virus. Uptake among faculty, staff, and eligible students last spring proved enormously encouraging. While other school settings, especially large districts, face daunting challenges keeping track of exactly who is protected in that way, our scale makes doing so entirely within reach, and our Health Team will carry that responsibility for those on campus daily, as they do with all inoculation records. Knowing exactly who’s vaccinated and how extensive that protection is at USN will be essential as we determine the best path forward.

Our working plan had been for vaccinated students, staff, visitors, volunteers, and vendors to formally confirm that status, which would then have meant mask wearing in the building is optional for them. This week’s guidance from the CDC for K-12 schools, acknowledging the elevated contagiousness and transmissibility of the predominant COVID-19 strain, has put those plans on pause, and we think it most prudent to start school with the certainty of everyone masked when indoors. We’ll be reviewing all available data and relevant local conditions, week by week.  

The plan had been for K-6 students and a range of other folks with special needs that preclude vaccination to be masked all along, accounting for that half of our enrollment. We think it best to start the year together K-12 and adjust appropriately from there. Beyond that important measure of protection as we wait for vaccine authorization for those younger children and for other numbers to improve, masks will also limit any quarantine we’d need in the event of a positive case, again per updated CDC bulletin. We anticipate very little contact-tracing quarantine as a result.

We plan to continue offering testing as a strategy to decrease spread within the school community and to limit missed days for students with signs of illness. We will continue to promote keeping sick folks home, sending them home when symptoms arise at school, and offer both rapid COVID-19 tests and quick turn-around PCR testing when indicated. 

Our aim is simple — make USN an island of immunity to the fullest extent possible, even as other settings may remain dismissive or overtaxed in the face of the public health challenge we face. What you can do is remember that what each of us does affects all of us. Recalling last summer’s Commitment to Community, keep making choices to mitigate risk — you know well where those risks reside in your household’s instance. 

We’ll continue to monitor events as August 17 approaches and adjust in concert with our Medical Advisory group, still meeting more than a year into this pandemic journey. And yes, the sometimes-meandering CDC guidance can be a source of frustration, but we cannot let our resolve diminish as a result. In so many ways we’ve come miles since last summer, but there’s work yet to do. As always, send any questions our way, and thanks for all you are doing to keep us all working and learning together.

We’ll be in touch once more in the week before classes resume with any final reminders.

Stay well,

Director
 
Health Team Director
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School News

List of 3 news stories.

  • University School of Nashville students Eleanor Mixon '27 and Dylan Omary '27 voted first the first time on Thursday, October 29, 2026 at the Scarritt Bennett.

    Seniors take field trip to cast first ballot

    All 40 eligible University School of Nashville students in the Class of 2037 registered to vote ahead of the voter registration deadline, and Eleanor Mixon '27 and Dylan Omary '27 walked across the street from USN to the Scarritt Bennett Center to cast their first ballots on the final day of early voting.
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  • The ballot box and beyond: USN Seniors civically engaged

    Students in High School History Teacher Cameron Parsons' Advanced Topics: American Government and Politics Class have been working diligently on civic engagement projects that required them to participate in the democratic process.
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  • An evening of erudition: 22 seniors enter Cum Laude Society

    Congratulations to the Class of 2027 inductees of the USN Cum Laude Society: Jack Barrett, Charlie Blau, Alder Brandon, Olivia Brown, Elisabeth Crane, Alexandra Drewry, Lucia Gellert, Melis Kurtulus, Abigail Manoukian, Lily Margalit, Eleanor Mixon, Louisa Nordberg, Mia Orefice, Karsen Puzniak, Ruchika Ramachandran, Jacqueline Seale, Elliott Spiller, Laine Theobald, Alexander Truss, Yifan Wang, Madeleine Wiseman, and Julia Young.
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Archive

Athletics News

List of 3 news stories.

  • Mountain Bike Team Takes on “Electric" State Champs Trails, Dehner Snags Overall Podium Medal

    Steve Smail & MTB Team Coaches
    With trail names like Megawatt, Electric Avenue, High Voltage and Livewire, the mountain bike team knew it was time to pedal out some extra watts for their NICA/TICL State Championships at Raccoon Mountain, and survive the technical trails above Chattanooga full of boulder gardens, rock drops and sandy rubble.
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  • Mountain Bike Team Takes on Winged Deer Trails, HS Makes Podium Appearance

    Steve Smail
    Winged Deer Park and trails in Johnson City hosted our 4th race on Sunday October 11th, and despite a bit of hurricane outwash winds and showers - and reduced team numbers due to fall break and distance from Nashville - our racers utilized all available skills and speed which helped “wing" Sophomore Claire Dehner to a 4th place podium spot, our first podium appearance and medal for the season.
     
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  • HS athletics recaps for September 11-17

    Tiger golfers have officially qualified for the region tournament, and our other teams are not far behind. Volleyball sits near the top of the district, finishing up regular season play next week with Senior Night. Girls soccer continues to hold first place in the district after another 9-0 win, and our cross country runners are chasing after some school records. To round it all out, our mountain bike team traveled to Oakfield to continue to improve on their times for the season. There’s plenty more where that came from- so be sure to come out to the River Campus, Sperling Gym, or out on the road to cheer on our Tigers before their seasons end.
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Contact

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

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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.