Starting this year, our Head of Middle School Ryan Harris will take on the additional responsibility of assistant head of school for external affairs. Ryan will continue to lead our middle school and serve as assistant head this year before completely transitioning into his new role for the 2021-22 school year. Currently in his eighth year at FRA, Ryan holds a master's degree in educational administration and supervision and a bachelor's degree in elementary education and teaching from Trevecca Nazarene University.

We are honored to have so many of our alumni creating a legacy for their families here at Franklin Road Academy. This year, we welcome 17 new legacy students:
 

Ella Grace Beasley (Garrett Beasley '96)
Wyatt and Olivia Cain (Ryan '96 and Courtney Cain '95)
Heath Carpenter (White Carpenter '09)
Charlotte Ann and Lainey Given (Carley Tucker Given '00)
Thomas, Robert and Olivia Lown (Katie Tomlinson '95)
Brown Pewitt (Laing McCullough '01)
Jody Pierce (John '89 and Amber Pierce '90)
Max Robinson (Jeff Robinson)
Waylon and Mire Wiggs (Jon Wiggs '01)
Thomas Woodard (Tom Woodard '79)

We are excited to welcome outstanding new faculty to our community. These exceptional educators bring experience, education, and a passion for FRA's mission to provide a challenging educational experience within an inclusive Christian community.

We are proud to introduce our new board members for the 2020-21 school year. From business operations and strategy to communications and philanthropy, these six individuals bring an incredible amount of experience and expertise to the board. Jared Allen, Jeb Beasley, Victor Berrios, Matthew Denmark, Rosemary Plorin, and Jaimie Robinson will join Board President Clif Tant '94, and members Laura Campbell, Tobi Jane Frankfather, Steve Halas, Daron Hall, Patti Hudgins, Dr. Tamika Hudson, Kimberly Jackson, John S. Larkin II, Michael Lindseth, Jr. ’88, Steve Maggart, R. Dale Mitchell, Andrew Scarlett ’97, and Christy Smith. 

Students in the class of 2020 will likely never forget the events of the final semester of their senior year in high school. Through all of the challenges of COVID-19 and the introduction of remote learning, they led the student body with resilience and grace. The senior class demonstrated the true spirit of FRA by celebrating and supporting one another through this time of uncertainty and change. To our seniors, we are incredibly proud of your accomplishments and encouraged by the creative, caring individuals you have become.

Click here to watch a special graduation video to celebrate and honor the class of 2020.

Prince the Panther formally received a name my freshman year when the older panther suit was retired and the current suit was first worn. Before that, he was just a panther without a name, but he has been around for at least the 15 years I have been at FRA.

There was a senior, Jamie Kendrick, who was Prince the Panther for that year and handed the so-called baton to me as a sophomore. I have been Prince for the last three years.

Prince’s goal when he’s on campus or around students is to spread school spirit and make someone’s day better. Prince brings a lively energy to any room as he always tries to hype people up.

This year’s diploma conferral was an unforgettable experience for the class of 2020 and their families. The social distancing measures necessary to flatten the curve of COVID-19 were felt in many ways throughout the spring, but on May 23, the energy and love this senior class has for one another and for their faculty was on full display.

haven't always considered myself an artist. I would write, but I would certainly never go around telling people I was an artist. It never felt like I was performing a poem but more that I was sharing my heart, and performing happened to be the way I was able to share.

When I start writing, I like to start by writing the ways the Lord has been working in my life lately—the people, interactions, and things He might want me to notice and act on or learn and grow from.

I don’t sit down, and say, “I’m going to write a poem.” I start with a free write and see where my mind takes me—see where the Spirit leads me. I write down my feelings, my thoughts, what happened in my day, my struggles. Sometimes they just form that way, and sometimes I get in a flow and add rhyming to it.

This year, nine of our student athletes committed to continuing their sport at the collegiate level. We are excited to announce that Sean Casey, Andrew Cox, Zharia Hutchinson, jacob Jackson, McKenna Matlock, Ethan Rhoden, Sam Taylor, Summer Vo, and Jeremy Washington will be advancing their athletic careers.

In the early hours of Tuesday, March 3—before COVID-19 changed our lives forever—Nashville suffered a devastating tragedy as an EF3 tornado cut a wide swath of destruction from downtown Nashville to Wilson County.

The storm and its aftermath impacted many from the FRA community. From Five Points to Mount Juliet, FRA students, parents, and staff took inventory of damaged homes and automobiles. While many in our community were inconvenienced, the brunt of the storm spared the majority of FRA families.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said for longtime FRA rivals Donelson Christian Academy. At approximately 12:53 a.m., DCA took a direct hit from a storm that had measured winds of 165 mph. The tornado destroyed the elementary school, left the athletic facility in ruins, devastated the upper school buildings, and cleared the campus of dozens of trees. The devastation was total, and almost 10 years after the flood which also consumed the campus, DCA was left with another massive rebuilding job.