Gracie Porter

MNPS Students’ Personal Information Breached by State-Contracted Vendor

Metro Nashville Public Schools Information Technology Department was notified by an MNPS employee that a students’ personal information had been discovered on the Internet. The information linked back to Public Consulting Group, a state-contracted data file vendor. The district immediately contacted PCG and discovered the information was inadvertently made available through an internet search engine, Google, due to a technical error in student data delivery being tested by PCG.

 Metro Information released included 18,541 students’ names, addresses, date of birth and full Social Security numbers. This information was available through Google searches beginning on December 28, 2008. In some cases, information also contained the names, addresses and telephone numbers of the student’s parents. When the MNPS employee discovered the breach and contacted the district’s IT Department, the district immediately contacted PCG. March 30, when the district contacted PCG, the vendor informed the district the information breach had been discovered and removed March 5, 2009. However, PCG did not realize the information was still accessible through Google’s saved pages. A notification to Google was made March 30 and all information was removed from Google’s storage servers by March 31, 2009.

Metro Nashville Public Schools and the Tennessee Department of Education take this breach extremely seriously and have worked with Public Consulting Group to determine how this breach occurred, identify the students whose information was available, and ensure such actions do not occur in the future. We can assure you that the potential for misuse appears limited. Records show only four hits occurred while this information was available. Of those four hits, one was the MNPS employee. By now, all MNPS families should have received a call from the district’s automated call-home system explaining this breach and steps being taken to ensure each child’s identity is protected.
PCG has also agreed to offer all families affected one year of online credit monitoring at no cost to the family through Experian, a leading national credit monitoring and identity protection company.

We regret that this breach has occurred and we are working with all parties involved to ensure that all necessary steps are taken to protect you and your child’s personal information going forward. If you have any questions or concerns, or need additional information regarding the coverage provided by PCG, please do not hesitate to contact the Metro Schools Customer Service at 615-259-INFO (4636).

MNPS Middle School Science Fair Winners

The MNPS Middle School Science Fair was held last weekend at Martin Luther King Magnet. Five hundred seventy one projects were registered from 16 middle schools.The schools included: Antioch, Brick Church, Croft, DuPont Hadley, HG Hill, Head, Kennedy, Moore, Joelton, Margaret Allen, McMurray, Meigs, MLK, Neely?s Bend, Rose Park and West End. A complete list of winners can be found by visiting www.mnps.org, clicking on the About MNPS link, followed by the MNPS Achievements link.

Congratulations to all students who participated.

The district would like to thank Piedmont Natural Gas for sponsoring this event and providing the ribbons and trophies. We would also like to thank Adventure Science Center, Fisk University, Lipscomb University, MTSU and TSU for providing judges.

Through participating in science fair projects, students have an opportunity to investigate the world through the process of inquiry, while practicing research techniques and problem solving skills. As in the world of science, many of the projects were about improving the lives of people, increasing productivity and addressing environmental issues.

MLK Wins Tennessee Academic WorldQuest

Congratulations to students and staff at Martin Luther King Magnet for winning the first annual Tennessee Academic WorldQuest, a competition between high school student teams based on global awareness topics.The program is sponsored by the Tennessee World Affairs Council. The MLK team will next compete in the national championship match in Washington, D.C., in April.

J.T. Moore Students Excel in Math and Science Competitions

J.T. Moore 6th graders Gene Li, John Crenshaw and Michael Milam recently participated in the Montgomery Bell Academy Math Invitational. The team took third place from a field of private, magnet, charter and public schools. Individual awards went to Gene Li and Michael Milam for high performance. Congratulations to these students and teacher Mona Binda for a great showing!

Also, J.T. Moore 5th and 6th graders had more than 25 ribbon-winning entries in the MNPS District Science Fair, including six district first place positions. A big thanks to Matador faculty member Amy Leslie for organizing the school's fair entries and for the excellent overall results!

MNPS Students Qualify for State Geography Bee

Congratulations to the following MNPS students who have been notified by the National Geographic Society that they are eligible to compete in the 2009 Tennessee Geographic Bee, sponsored by Google and Plum Creek.

• William Cox - Croft Middle School
  
• Jackson Myers - Meigs Magnet School
  
• Rohan Nag - Martin Luther King Magnet

These students won their school-level geography bees and then took a qualifying test which they submitted to the National Geographic Society. The students with the top 100 scores in each of the 50 states were invited to compete at the state level.

The 2009 Tennessee Geographic Bee will be held at Tennessee State University, Avon Williams Campus (downtown), Friday, April 3. The state winner will receive $100 and a trip to Washington, D.C., where he or she will represent Tennessee in the national finals at the National Geographic Society headquarters, May 19-20.

Congratulations and best wishes to these students as they represent their schools at the 2009 TN Geographic Bee!

Johnson Teachers to Present at National Conference

Dr. Judith Whalley, Ed Demesa and Jolie Simpkins, 9th grade Services Learning Teachers at Johnson School, will present a session on service learning at the 19th Annual National Service-Learning Conference, which will be held in Nashville.This is the largest gathering of youths and practitioners involved in service learning. This year the focus of the conference is celebrating service learning?s role in the regeneration of hope.

Hillwood Holds SLC Informational Night

Hillwood High School is hosting an informational session in the Media Center of Hillwood High, Thursday, March 26, at 6 p.m. The purpose of the session is to communicate the many educational choices offered at Hillwood. All parents and rising 8th grade students from Martha Vaught, H.G. Hill and Bellevue Middle, as well as the current 9th and 10th grade classes are encouraged to come and learn about Smaller Learning Communities and Hillwood's Freshman, Career and Thematic Academies.

SLCs offer students numerous benefits: relevant and rigorous curriculum; 21st Century Skills such as critical thinking, ICT (information, communication, and technology) literacy, life skills and 21st Century content; the opportunity to form closer relationships with teachers and advisors; practical work experience through job shadowing and internships; the possibility for industry certifications; the opportunity to learn in the context of a particular industry or subject theme (such as Arts or Communications); more engaging curriculum and instruction; and, preparation for College AND Career and how this all relates to earning a high school diploma under the new guidelines being implemented this fall.

Recently, Hillwood's Public Health Academy students got a special visit from a Nashville author. Marvelyn Brown, a Nashville native and AIDS activist, visited Hillwood?s Wellness students to tell her story of being a young heterosexual woman who contracted HIV/AIDS. The former track and basketball star was just 19 and in the best shape of her life when she learned the devastating news. Since her diagnosis, Brown has traveled the nation as an AIDS activist. Students and teachers were fascinated by her and her story. Brown's visit is a prime example of the extra learning tools and resources that can become available through Smaller Learning Communities.

East Lit Students Need Help Constructing a Sturgeon!

East Literature Magnet High is looking for old bed sheets.The science and drama departments are partnering to construct a very large puppet in the form of a lake sturgeon that will wander through the streets of East Nashville, along with 40 students, Friday, April 17.

At the end of its journey through East Nashville, the lake sturgeon puppet will take its permanent residence at the Shelby Bottoms Nature Center in Shelby Park.

The puppet is a gift to the city from the students at East Lit in commemoration of the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency's program of reintroducing the lake sturgeon in to the rivers of Tennessee. East Lit students have also been invited to participate in a lake sturgeon release at the boat ramp of Shelby Park, at which they will be joined by many local dignitaries.

Alignment Nashville Awarded $1.35 Million Grant for Middle School Program

Alignment Nashville has been awarded a $1.35 million grant by the National Science Foundation for a three-year project to increase the number of students interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The project will allow middle school students to participate in after school activities as well as a week-long summer camp.

The project will serve two groups of 100 students. The goal is to increase computer skills, allow students an opportunity to experiment with rapid-prototype technology, and teach students about the wide variety of STEM careers. In addition, teachers from six Metro middle schools and three high schools will receive intensive training to increase their own technology and teaching skills.

Tennessee graduation rates on the rise

A new study shows that Tennessee graduation rates are among the few in the country on the rise, and Metro Schools is no exception. For the past five years, MNPS has made improving graduation rates a top priority. In this time, the district?s overall graduation rate has increased by more than 14 percentage points, with the state report card showing a graduation rate of 72.6% for the 2007-2008 school year (up from 58.2% in 2003-04).

The new report, released by the Baltimore University's Everyone Graduates Center, found the largest gain in the nation was in Tennessee. The state average has risen from 61% to 72%. According to the report, only 12 states saw an increase, with all others remaining flat.