Peabody Demonstration School

Peabody Demonstration School was founded in 1888 by the Peabody Board of Trustees. The school was first founded as Winthrop Model School; in 1915, it became Peabody Demonstration School (PDS), a part of Peabody College intended to demonstrate the operation of a school. The school was founded by Dr. Richard Thomas Alexander. While it was Peabody Demonstration School, it became the second high school in Nashville to be desegregated, following Father Ryan High School, and the first one to be fully desegregated, meaning that extra-curricular activities were desegregated in addition to academics. The demonstration school was closed in 1974, several years before Peabody merged with next-door Vanderbilt University. The students' parents bought the school; by a student vote, the school was established as University School of Nashville.

The Transition Years

The Budget crisis at Peabody College ultimately led to the closing down of the Demonstration school and switch to University School of Nashville. By 1969, deficits grew and faculty dealt/faced a salary freeze, which created tensions, anxiety, and frustrations (page 314). There was a board (Faculty Advisory Council) that discussed how to escape the financial squeeze. Many different ideas were proposed, and after months of committee hearings, the FAC submitted its proposal (316). On January 31, Claunch ordered new guidelines that could reduce the faculty size, therefore saving money. There were protests, and Claunch, the president, would shut down committees because there were too many and other ideas/views. The select committee believed that Blair Academy be independent, and it became the school of music. The most controversial idea was the closing of PDS (335). “The school was a popular, much loved, and very successful college preparatory academy for the children of mostly affluent parents (336). Peabody sold the school building and seven acres of land to a new committee, the University School Committee (336). This caused Peabody to lose its most valuable acreage because that land provided the best link or connection to Vanderbilt campus.

Financial Issues

An Interview With Norma Miller

Norma Miller has been working in the Business Office at USN since June 1977, almost 37 years. Her employer at the time, Stuart Blankstein, a member of the transition board the year Peabody Demonstration School became University School of Nashville, advised her to look into a job at the newly independent institution, and she has been here since. Not surprisingly, reforming the finances of USN was a massive undertaking. “I was thinking ‘What have I gotten myself into? Will we make it?’” Miller recalls. She worked to perform an audit on the school, and get an open line of credit at the bank. The lack of funds also threatened to pull the school under; in 1979, USN had only $3,000 in endowment, and currently it has $11 million. Only after several years did USN truly find stable footing and take off to become the culturally aware, diverse, academically challenging school it is today. “We were never in compliance with the bank loan… the first few years, surviving was all we did,” Miller remembers. Ms. Miller has been here through thick and thin, and the ups and downs of school leadership in the years immediately following the transition, from Dr. Pratt, headmaster of the school when it was PDS to Harvey Sperling, to the present. “Dr. Pratt knew he was not coming back [after the 1977 school year]…I was here when Dr. Snedcof was here, we went through a huge ordeal with him, there was huge turmoil within the faculty…the faculty and staff were very upset and worried, I knew there were some issues. With Mr. Rodgers being here, everything calmed down, we turned a corner…I thought ‘OK, we will be able to survive and thrive’. By the time we got to Mr. Sperling, we were on the front end of becoming a real, independent school.” Despite the rocky beginnings of USN, Miller thinks that it helped strengthen the school: “[There was] a lot of coming together…any other school would’ve collapsed...It’s a wonderful place to work, there’s a sense of community on all levels.” Miller laughs when remembering the antics of some of the students at a young USN: “I’ll never forget…one day I saw two girls sunbathing outside.” When asked what the biggest difference was between USN in the ‘70s and USN today, she said “The kids smoking out on the wall across the street. They would go out during lunch or breaks and smoke. It’s a sign of a cultural change in Nashville…to a certain point.” Looking back to its inception almost 40 years ago, USN hasn’t changed much. It’s a testament to the dedication of the faculty, staff, parents, and students that it is here today, something Miller attributes to “almost constant meetings” and a “continued long-term vision.” On why USN has survived through the struggles, Miller noted that “everyone had a common vision; they were determined to keep University School. It was such a unique school…the Nashville community needed it.”

The Administration of PDS/USN

An Interview With Heber Rodgers

Heber Rodgers, a teacher at the Peabody Demonstration school during the transitional period from PDS to USN, arrived in 1959. He remembers small classes full of students who were enthusiastic and motivated to learn. He remained the “accelerated American History teacher until 1969 when he became Associate Director. He stayed in that position for ten years until he was appointed Interim Director of PDS. Unlike Associate Director, however, he was only in that position for a couple of years because he retired in 1995. After he finished sharing his various positions at PDS, he clearly described the day the director announced that the school would be closing. He was in the auditorium helping the students, new and old, sign up for classes, when the Director of PDS walked in and told everyone to stop signing up for classes because the school was closing. Rodgers distinctly remembers feeling “Shocked but not surprised” after he heard the news. This caused an uproar with the faculty and parents who fought and campaigned to keep the school opened under a new name, University School of Nashville.

Interview With Heber Rodgers:

Interview With Ms. Schneider

The Modern USN

The University School of Nashville is now one of the most prestigious independent schools in the Nashville, Tennessee. Historically, along with and alternating with Montgomery Bell Academy, USN has more students recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Program than any other Nashville high school. In the Class of 2011, with 91 students, there were 12 semifinalists and 13 commended students recognized by the program. In 2010, both Presidential Scholars for Tennessee were USN students. USN also produced a Presidential Scholar in 2012.