Bulldozers are rolling in Knox County, but this is not just another campus going up next to a football field. County leaders and the McNabb Center have broken ground on what officials say will be Tennessee’s first public recovery high school, a purpose-built campus aimed at helping teenagers get treatment for substance use while staying on track to graduate.
The new facility is an expansion of an existing program that serves roughly 20 students today. Organizers say the dedicated building will boost capacity to more than 60 and is slated to open this fall, a timeline local leaders are pitching as a rare and urgently needed investment in youth recovery that blends classroom time with outpatient care.
Groundbreaking aims to combine school and treatment
“Oftentimes, when you’re seeking out treatment, there’s not an educational component to it,” Mary Katsikas, executive vice president of the McNabb Center, told WVLT. According to the station, Knox County officials joined McNabb staff at Monday’s ceremony, where they outlined plans for students to receive outpatient care while taking classes on site.
Local officials framed the project as a way to keep students in classrooms rather than forcing a choice between treatment and education, positioning the school as a prevention-minded option for families who might otherwise see kids fall behind or drop out entirely.
New building expands the Elevate program
The McNabb Center says a $9.2 million capital campaign is paying for a standalone, 13,000-square-foot facility that will house three classrooms of roughly 20 students each, effectively tripling capacity to about 60. McNabb President and CEO Mona Blanton-Kitts, in a statement posted by the organization, said, “By addressing both their educational and recovery needs simultaneously, recovery programs empower students to rebuild their lives and thrive in sobriety.”
Knox County Schools will partner with the McNabb Center to staff the school with educators and make sure students keep earning credit toward graduation, according to the center. The building plans also call for group and individual treatment rooms, a cafeteria, an outdoor classroom, and space for virtual learning.
What a recovery high school is
Recovery high schools are secondary schools designed for students in recovery from substance use or co-occurring disorders, combining standard academic coursework with counseling and recovery supports, according to the Association of Recovery Schools. The group maintains a national directory of programs around the country and currently lists no active recovery high schools in Tennessee, a gap that helps explain local leaders’ claim that this will be the state’s first public recovery high school.
A systematic review of research on recovery schools finds limited but suggestive evidence that these campuses can support abstinence and some academic gains, while also emphasizing that the evidence base is still thin and that more rigorous evaluation is needed. The authors urge continued study as more schools come online, a category Knoxville is now poised to join. For more context on existing programs, see the directory maintained by the Association of Recovery Schools.
Next steps and timeline
The McNabb Center says the new campus is expected to open this fall, with construction progressing in the coming months. WVLT reports that the Elevate program began in August 2021 and currently serves about 20 students, who receive outpatient care while attending classes. The new facility is designed to triple that capacity when it opens.
Funding for the expansion came through the Helen Ross McNabb Foundation’s capital campaign, which the foundation says was driven by local donors and covered the majority of the project’s cost. County leaders at the groundbreaking described the school as a way to keep students connected to education while in treatment, and the McNabb Center and Knox County Schools say they will release more information about enrollment, referrals, and day-to-day operations as construction moves forward and an exact opening date is set.
