On Wednesday, we celebrated four of our senior athletes who have committed to continuing their athletic careers at the collegiate level next year. We are proud of the leadership, dedication, and determination these students have demonstrated during their time at FRA. Congratulations to Will Braam who will compete on the cross country team at  Rhodes College, Conner Moore who will play football for Southern Methodist University, Tzunami Polito who will play golf at Lipscomb University, and Timothy Pinkston who will play golf at Union University. Go Panthers!

On Tuesday, the FRA Alumni Association celebrated our 12-Year Club students with a family luncheon. We are incredibly proud of these students and all they have accomplished during their 12+ years at FRA.

Our 12-Year Club members for 2021 are Van Christian, Jackson Cummiskey, Thomas Daniels, Emma Flegel, Kaylee Gentry, Sophie Hart, Iris Heldman, Isa Holt, Caleb Huddleston, Will Maggart, Parker Meeks, Reece Moore, Alex Mick, Mattox Telwar, Campbell Carroll, Addy Carroll, Erin Nash, Hayes Dalton, Isabelle Matthews, Jack Norris, Elijah Warrix, Taylor Smith, Alex Taylor, and Thomas Cartiglia.

Franklin Road Academy officially announced the opening of the new Crockett and Tansil Fitness center as part of an ongoing expansion of the FRA athletic center. In addition to the new 4,000 square foot, state-of-the-art fitness center, this space contains women’s and men’s home and visitor locker rooms, a new digital Alumni Hall of Fame, athletic offices, and a training room. This is part of a larger expansion that includes a new wrestling facility, team film rooms, dance/yoga studio, coach’s locker rooms, and a renovation to the existing gymnasium. The 15,500 square foot addition follows the opening the 38,400 square foot Weicker Center for Student Life in August of 2019 and the 12,500 square foot Scarlett Family Chapel in May of 2018.

Franklin Road Academy recently hired Channing McCullough as the next head of middle school. McCullough is currently serving as acting head of middle school and grade-level dean at Princeton Day School in Princeton, New Jersey. She holds a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. McCullough has over 11 years of experience in coeducational, independent pre-kindergarten through grade 12 schools. 

McCullough began her teaching career at Forsyth Country Day School in North Carolina. She has spent the past seven years serving at Princeton Day School as a teacher, coach of multiple middle school sports teams, band director, and grade-level dean before being appointed as the acting head of middle school for the 2020-21 school year.

“She is a graceful leader,” a colleague of McCullough’s shared. “Her students love her. She has high expectations for her students and her colleagues. She is warm, engaging, empathetic, and bright.”

We are thrilled to present this year's middle school musical, Annie Jr. We would like to offer special thanks to Annie Ernst, Brian Myers, The Tennessee Titans, Jeb Johnson, Kimberly Moulds, Bethany Dinkel, Jennifer Schraw, DaJuana Hammonds, Aliya Wisinski, Miriam Gaines, Julia Nolan, The Pull-Tight Players, Derek West, Matt Davenport Productions, Cindy Thornton, Amanda Gibbs, Ross Bolen, and Brenda Jewell. 

We would also like to thank all of our wonderful cast members and their parents for the dedication and commitment to making this show possible.

s we look ahead to our 50th Anniversary celebration year, we have several exciting updates to share with you regarding our awards for alumni and friends of Franklin Road Academy. In addition to our Distinguished Alumni Award, we are introducing two new awards, the Athletics Hall of Fame and the Arts Circle of Honor. Nominations for all three awards are open now through March 31, 2021. Please review the details below for information on each of the awards. We look forward to celebrating the accomplishments of our alumni and friends.

Two Panther wrestlers qualified for the TSSAA DII State Championships in Chattanooga. Two more narrowly missed the opportunity in their high school debuts! Junior Thatcher Frankfather (182lb. class) and freshman Logan Maki (106lb. class) each finished 3rd at the TSSAA Regionals qualifying them for the State Championships.

Freshmen Bobby Council and Griffin Frankfather each placed 5th at the Region Championships just missing the 4th place qualifying standard.

Isabelle Steinert '22 was honored on Monday night as one of Middle Tennessee's first-ever female Eagle Scouts. The virtual ceremony was held at the Grand Ole Opry House and celebrated 21 female scouts. Larry Brown, the council's chief scout executive, commented, “This is a great day for the Middle Tennessee Council as we celebrate the accomplishments of these trailblazing Eagle Scouts. This class of Eagle Scouts represents 8% of our registered female Scouts–and this is only the Boy Scouts of America’s second year of offering the Scouts BSA program to young women.”

Congratulations Isabelle!

The Faculty Fellows Program is designed to bring dynamic early-career educators to FRA for one-year fellowships. Fellows are typically only one to two years removed from their undergraduate work. All fellows are paired with a master teacher with whom they collaborate throughout the year, adding another instructor to the classroom and another mentor for our students.

Applications are due Monday, February 8. Click here to learn more and to apply.

Congratulations to Coach John Pierce '89 for his 300th career win with the Panther basketball team! The boys celebrated the 50-39 win against Grace Christian on Friday night. Congratulations coach!