Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet Middle School at Head Campus, 1830 Jo Johnston Ave.: grades 6-8, 342 students in 2024-25, state letter grade A.

Last checked Oct. 19, 2026. Sources: Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet Middle School at Head Campus, Metro Nashville Public Schools’ school directory, 2026-27 pathways chart (PDF), district calendar, school start times and zone finder, the Tennessee Department of Education’s State Report Card, 2024-25 letter grade and school profile files and spring 2026 test file and the federal NCES school directory.

Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet Middle School at Head Campus is a Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) middle school serving sixth grade through eighth grade. MNPS’s 2026-27 pathways chart lists it with the Pearl-Cohn cluster in the district’s Northwest quadrant. MNPS lists it among its magnet schools.

  • Address: 1830 Jo Johnston Ave., Nashville, TN 37203
  • Main office: 615-329-8160
  • Grades: 6-8
  • School hours: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to the district’s 2026-27 start times
  • Website: head.mnps.org

Who to call

  • Front office: 615-329-8160
  • Enrolling a new student: the school, or the Pearl-Cohn Enrollment Center at McKissack Middle School, 915 38th Ave. N., 615-329-8170, option 4, open 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. weekdays (all eight centers); MNPS Family Information Center 615-259-4636
  • Applying: the MNPS School Options process
  • Getting there: MNPS says that in most cases it does not provide school buses to out-of-zone students at optional schools; high school students, and middle school students at MNPS optional schools, ride WeGo buses free through the StrIDe program (Transportation, 615-259-4636)

Principal

Principal Kenyae Arnold, according to the school’s website.

Enrollment

The federal NCES directory counted 551 students in the 2023-24 school year, with 30 full-time-equivalent teachers, about 18 students per teacher. The Tennessee Department of Education’s 2024-25 school profile file has a newer count of 342 students.

State report card

Tennessee grades every public school A to F. The department says School Letter Grades give “a snapshot of how each school in the state is performing, including student achievement and academic growth measures for all schools, as well as a measure of college and career readiness just for high schools.”

From the state’s 2024-25 letter grade file:

Measure Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet Middle School at Head Campus
Overall letter grade, 2024-25 A (score 5 of 5)
Achievement grade A
Academic growth grade A
Growth of the lowest-scoring 25% of students A
Overall success rate on state tests, 2024-25 55%

The state’s spring 2026 test file has the share of Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet Middle School at Head Campus students in tested grades who met or exceeded expectations on TCAP: 50.2% in English language arts, 54.7% in math, 57.7% in science and 67.5% in social studies. The 2025-26 letter grades have not been published yet.

The State Report Card page for Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet Middle School at Head Campus holds the full detail: results by grade and subject, chronic absenteeism and results for each group of students.

Admission and pathway

Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet Middle School at Head Campus has no attendance zone. Students apply through the district’s School Options process, which MNPS says uses a computerized random selection for applications received by the deadline; for 2026-27, applications opened Jan. 20, 2026, and were due Feb. 13. New MNPS families may apply year-round to optional schools with open seats.

The school gives enrollment preference to students who live in its geographic priority zone (map, PDF); MNPS says admission from the zone is not guaranteed and depends on available space.

The district’s 2026-27 pathways chart (PDF) lists Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet Middle School at Head Campus with the Pearl-Cohn cluster, whose zoned high school is Pearl-Cohn High.

Name change: Head Magnet Middle became Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet Middle at Head Campus in 2026-27. MNPS says eighth graders who meet the academic and assessment requirements of the MLK pathway and accept their offer keep a guaranteed seat at MLK Magnet High for ninth grade, and that the school stays open enrollment (district page).

Calendar and school hours

The MNPS 2026-27 district calendar has these dates next:

  • Thursday, Oct. 22: report cards issued
  • Tuesday, Nov. 3: parent conference day, no school for students
  • Wednesday, Nov. 11: Veterans Day, district closed
  • Nov. 23-27: Thanksgiving break (district closed Nov. 26-27)
  • Friday, Dec. 18: half day; the second quarter ends
  • Dec. 21 to Jan. 1: winter break
  • March 22-26, 2027: spring break and the spring holiday
  • Tuesday, May 25, 2027: last day for students, a half day

The school day runs 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to the district’s 2026-27 school start times; the school kept its schedule when the district adjusted start times for 2026-27.

More

Frequently asked questions

What grades does Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet Middle School at Head Campus serve?

Sixth grade through eighth grade. The school is at 1830 Jo Johnston Ave. in Nashville; the main office number is 615-329-8160.

What is Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet Middle School at Head Campus’s state report card grade?

Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet Middle School at Head Campus received an A overall in Tennessee’s 2024-25 School Letter Grades, according to the Tennessee Department of Education.

What time does Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet Middle School at Head Campus start?

School runs from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to the district’s 2026-27 school start times.