Veteran educator to lead successful, non-traditional Metro School

NASHVILLE, Tenn.  – The Academy at Opry Mills will have a new look and a new principal
when it officially re-opens.  Billy Fellman has been named the new principal at the academy. Fellman, currently
principal at Jere Baxter Alternative Learning Center, has been with the district for 22 years.  During his time
with Metro Schools, Fellman also served as assistant principal at Head Magnet Middle and resource teacher at
Pearl-Cohn High. 

“I am excited and honored to serve as the new principal of the Academy at Opry Mills,” says Fellman. “This is
an opportunity for me to help students reach their high school graduation and go on to higher education. I look
forward to the successes and challenges ahead and working with a great staff to help the students achieve
their goals.”

Fellman is a native of Nashville where he graduated from DuPont High School. He later received his bachelor’s
degree from Tennessee State University and master’s from Trevecca Nazarene University. For more than 26
years, Fellman has worked as a TSSAA official for football and basketball state games and championships.
Beside his educational obligations, Fellman serves on the Waterford Homeowners Association Board of
Directors, and the Middle Tennessee Football and Middle Tennessee Basketball Officials Associations. He has
been married to his wife Nancy for 26 years and they have three daughters, Kayla, Kelly and Kathy. 

When it re-opens, the Academy at Opry Mills will join the Academy at Old Cockrill and the Academy at Hickory
Hollow as non-traditional schools that offer high school diplomas to people aged 17-21 with at least 14 high
school credits. The schools provide a rigorous, accelerated curriculum to students who are serious about
earning diplomas. The original Academy at Opry Mills was relocated to Hickory Hollow after the May 2010
flood inundated Opry Mills. The Academy at Hickory Hollow and the Academy at Opry Mills are Simon Youth
Academies developed in concert with the Simon Youth Foundation.

The new year means changes to the instructional leadership team for Neely’s Bend Middle School, part of Metro Nashville Public Schools. Phillip Hammonds, assistant principal at McMurray Middle, will move into the executive principal role at Neely’s Bend. 

“Mr. Hammonds has shown his commitment to middle school education and is dedicated to our middle
school transformation process,” said Dr. Lora Hall, associate superintendent of middle schools. “We are
excited to see what he will bring to his new role in the new year.” 

Hammonds began his career in Metro Schools as a language arts teacher. He has served at Antioch
Middle, J.T. Moore Middle, McKissack Middle, Stratford High and McMurray Middle schools, serving in
various positions that include classroom teacher, coach, athletic business manager, principal designee,
team leader, Title I coordinator, and interim principal to assistant principal. He has worked with various
initiatives that include International Baccalaureate (IB), Professional Development Schools (PDS),
Smaller Learning Communities (SLCs) and Fast ForWord (FFW). 

Hammonds holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Tennessee State University, as well as a
master’s and specialist degrees in administration and supervision. He is near completion of the doctoral
program.  

Chief Steve Anderson announced the promotion of 14 officers to the rank of sergeant effective January 1, 2012. These new sergeant positions are necessary to staff the new Madison Precinct, which will begin operating on January 1.

The 14 officers being promoted to sergeant are:

“These individuals have a combined 148 years of Nashville police experience, and have expressed a strong desire to join our first line staff of supervisors,” Chief Anderson said. “I have every expectation that they will continue to serve our community very well as sergeants.”

Officer Matthew Barnes

Detective Anthony Brooks

Detective Troy Gossett

Officer Ryan Hampton

Officer Matthew Howlett

Officer Scott Hull

Detective David Layne

Officer Jonathan Marklein

Officer James McGill, Jr.

Detective Robert Peterson

Officer Marty Reed

Officer Matthew Sears

Detective Michael Straube

Officer Mark Wells

Clint Wilson, most recently the assistant principal of curriculum and instruction at Antioch High, will assume the executive principal role at Glencliff High. Previous administrative positions within the district include assistant principal at Wright Middle and Stratford High.

Wilson also spent two years as principal of Lebanon High School, during which time he increased the graduation rate by 7.4%, raised four of five TVAAS areas, and earned a $35,000 grant from AT&T for the school¹s freshman academy. He also served as a member of the implementation team for small learning communities in MNPS and is a graduate of the Principal¹s Leadership Academy of Nashville in 2005.

Other professional experience includes presenting at the national small learning communities conference this past June where he presented on designing an academy based master schedule, the implementation of effective professional learning communities, and the utilization of community support and resources. He has also led past professional development on data driven instruction, rigor in the classroom, and using common core standards to raise benchmark scores.

He plans on building on the many successes that Glencliff has experienced in the last several years and to bring a strong focus on transforming teaching and learning