Advisory Board Member
Dr. Adrienne Battle has served as Superintendent of Metro Nashville Public Schools since 2019, making history as the first woman and first MNPS graduate to lead Tennessee’s second-largest school district.
A Nashville native, she is a graduate of the district’s John Overton High School, Missouri State University, and Tennessee State University, where she earned her master’s, education specialist, and doctorate degrees in Educational Administration and Supervision.
MNPS has achieved historic outcomes, including four consecutive years of Level 5 TVAAS growth – the highest possible rating – in the Tennessee Value Added Assessment System in 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025, and the highest graduation rate in district history for the 2023-2024 school year. The district received national recognition for the second year in a row in the Education Recovery Scorecard for its work on post-pandemic academic recovery, with Top 10 rankings among large urban districts for growth in both reading and math from 2022 to 2023 and again from 2023 to 2024.
The district was most recently designated as a 2025 NABSE Demonstration District, a prestigious national recognition presented by the National Alliance of Black School Educators. Dr. Battle and the district won a Midsouth Emmy in 2025 for “Every Student Known: The Creation of an Anthem,” a documentary about the making of the district’s song, which reflects its Every Student Known mission and mantra, and the district recently released “I Believe I Belong,” an album of songs by MNPS students.
In 2025, Dr. Battle received the Save the Music Foundation Administrator Award for Distinguished Support of Music Education and the ATHENA Traditional Award from Nashville Cable, a women’s professional organization, as well as the A.F. Bridges Award for School System Administrator of the Year for Athletic District 5 from the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee presented Dr. Battle with the CEO Roundtable Series Changemaker Award in 2024.
She was named the Professional Educators of Tennessee’s 2022 Superintendent of the Year and was featured in the Nashville Post’s Most Powerful Women in 2023. In 2021, she was named the Tennessee Principals Association’s Supervisor of the Year and received the Nashville NAACP’s Legacy Award. Dr. Battle’s tenure reflects a relentless commitment to ensuring that every student is known, supported, and prepared for success in college, career, and life.
As an MNPS parent, she understands the power of partnerships with all stakeholders, families, and the community.