Public education has a long history in Nashville
 
The story of Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools is the story of two school systems that emerged on different dates, developed side by side, but traveled separate roads until the consolidation of Nashville and Davidson County in 1963 brought them together into a single system. 

 Our oldest school presently in operation is Robertson Academy, which traces its origin to an act of the United States Congress approved April 17, 1806. The act provided for an academy in each of Tennessee’s (then) 27 counties. The school has operated continuously since that time, today serving as the center for the MNPS gifted and talented program.  

 The City of Nashville began exploring the idea of public education in 1821, opening its first school in September of that year. This school did not remain open long, as the idea of public education still was a new one. Thirty years later, the city began looking at ways to establish a system of public schools and sent Alfred Hume, a well-regarded principal of a classical school in Nashville, to study public schools in other cities and prepare a report on how their practices could be used in Nashville. 

Nashville’s first public school, Hume School, opened February 26, 1855. It was a three-story brick building, housed 12 teachers and served all grades. Today, that building is still in use as Hume-Fogg Magnet High, serving 874 students in grades 9-12.  

 With the exception of the Civil War, the Nashville Public Schools operated from 1855 until being absorbed by the Metropolitan School System in 1964.  

In Davidson County, excluding the City of Nashville, the public school story began in 1907 when the Davidson County Board of Education was created and began coordinating public schools in the county. Initially, Davidson County was divided into a number of individual school districts. Six schools from the original county district remain open today as Metropolitan schools. They include Margaret Allen (formerly Rosemont), Antioch, Jere Baxter, Bordeaux, Brick Church and Harpeth Valley.  

With the creation of a single Metropolitan government for Nashville and Davidson County in 1963, the two school systems that had operated side by side for better than half a century were merged into one. The new Metropolitan Board of Education held its first meeting July 1, 1964. 

Today, Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools is the 49th largest urban school district in the nation. The consolidated city-county district covers Davidson County, an area of approximately 525 square miles. There are 136 schools, including 74 elementary schools, 35 middle schools, 17 high schools, 3 alternative, 4 special education schools, and 3 charter schools.  We serve 74,733 students and employ 5,786 teachers and certificated staff, as well as 4,227 support staff. 

The school district is led by a nine-member elected Board or Education and its appointed director of schools. Funds for the system's operation are approved and provided by the Metro Council, as the Board of Education has no taxing authority.