School Characteristics

Tulip Grove Elementary is located in the eastern area of Davidson County off Lebanon Road near the Davidson County – Wilson County line. The school’s name is derived from the Tulip Grove Mansion of Hermitage built by Andrew Jackson in 1836 for a loyal and devoted nephew.

Tulip Grove opened in the fall of 1989 with an enrollment of 820 Kindergarten through sixth grade students. The dedication ceremony was held December 10, 1989, led by Dr. Robert Halpin, the first principal. The initial faculty consisted of thirty-five teachers.

In 1999, the grade configuration changed to Kindergarten through fourth grades and served students from the community and a non-contiguous zone. This zone included students bused from the north Nashville area around D.B. Todd Boulevard. Rezoning for these students occurred in the fall, 2003-2004. There is still one bus of five students grandfathered to Tulip Grove from this area to maintain continuity for these students. In 2001, Tulip Grove was designated an English Language Learner (ELL) center to service non-English speaking students zoned to schools in the area. There are eight self-contained ELL classrooms serving students in grades Kindergarten through fourth.

Tulip Grove Elementary consists of 41 classrooms, a gymnasium, cafetorium, clinic, guidance office, media center, reading lab, science lab, two art rooms, music room, conference room, office suite, teacher workroom, teacher lounge, two playgrounds and a kitchen with two self serve lines. The facility and grounds are used by local community groups throughout the year. These groups include the YMCA Fun Company, the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.

The personnel at Tulip Grove believe that students can experience success in a safe and secure environment. The school has automatic locking security doors which provide safety for students, faculty, staff and parents. Other safety procedures include: sign-in for parents and guests, visitor name tags, faculty and staff identification badges, visible emergency plans, consistent fire, tornado and situation drills, arrival and dismissal procedures, a school wide discipline plan and a student discipline referral system. Tulip Grove meets all ADA regulations. There are two handicapped accessible entrances with handicapped parking provided at the front of the school. Tulip Grove has two full time nurses provided by the Metropolitan Health Department. One nurse serves our Life Skills students and the general population and the other nurse serves an individual student.

Tulip Grove Elementary is a K – 4 school with an enrollment of 592 students. Grade distribution breaks down as follows: Kindergarten – 145, First Grade – 107, Second Grade – 114, Third Grade – 109, Fourth Grade – 104 and Life Skills – 13. There are 5% of students receiving four or more hours of Special Education services and 22% of students receiving ELL services.