Knoxville Preparatory School, a tuition-free all-boys charter that opened in fall 2024, will stop operating at the end of the 2025–26 school year, school leaders announced Friday. The school currently serves sixth- and seventh-graders and says it will offer targeted support to help students and staff secure new placements before the next academic year.
The Prep Public Schools' Knoxville Prep subcommittee voted to wind down campus operations at the close of the 2025–26 school year. Subcommittee chair Dr. Amber Williams called the move painful and said it followed lower-than-expected enrollment and academic outcomes that did not live up to the network's promises to families. “We reached a crossroads where we had to decide if we would simply exist, or if we would thrive,” Williams said, as reported by WVLT.
How Knox Prep started
The all-boys campus launched in fall 2024 with an inaugural sixth‑grade class and a long-term plan to add grades through high school, according to Knoxville Preparatory School. The program was modeled on the PREP network's Chattanooga school and has operated in space on Irwin Street in North Knoxville, according to Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley.
Transition plan and funding
To ease the transition, the network says each family will be paired with a professional “dedicated school navigator” to help identify and enroll students in the best fit for the 2026‑27 school year. The school also plans specialized summer academic programming and is committing more than $300,000 to cover transition costs for students and staff. The subcommittee stressed that the decision applies only to Knoxville Prep and not to Chattanooga Prep, according to WVLT.
Local context
The closure is a sharp reversal for an operation that secured local approval after district evaluators recommended the charter and highlighted Chattanooga Prep's results as a model, as previously noted. Tennessee Firefly covered the original approval process, which praised Knoxville Prep's academic plan and community outreach. The quick timetable now leaves families and staff with only months to make new plans before fall enrollment deadlines arrive.
Next steps for families
Knoxville Prep says it will contact families directly and that school navigators will guide enrollments while staff-level supports are arranged. Families with questions can call the campus at (865) 394-8989 or check the school's online channels for posted updates, according to Knoxville Preparatory School.
