Great Schools Partnership is uniquely positioned as the only public-private partnership that works side by side with Knox County Schools to bring the most promising research and effective practices in public education to our schools and classrooms. With generous support and tremendous community involvement, our team is is helping students, families, teachers and neighborhoods achieve success. Our core initiatives include: - Community Schools strategy convenes community resources by utilizing the school as the neighborhood hub in order to remove barriers to student learning, and to promote healthy, vibrant families, schools and communities. Currently, Great Schools operates 13 Elementary Community Schools sites and 3 Middle Community School sites. - Leaders for Readers is a volunteer program that helps first, second and third grade students improve their reading skills. The program is in more than half of Knox County Elementary Schools. - TeacherPreneur provides grants to teachers across the school district allowing them to test innovative strategies in the classroom. For the 19-20 school year, 18 grants totaling $105,750 were presented to teachers. - Thank A Teacher celebrates our community's unsung heroes - Teachers. Each spring in support of the national Thank A Teacher week, we make special arrangements to thank our local teachers who do so much to support the future of our community as a whole. -Research and Development in conjunction with Knox County Schools provides the opportunity to implement innovative educational strategies where the district has the greatest need for additional support or resources.