Nashville Big Picture High School, 160 Rural Ave.: grades 9-12, 125 students in 2024-25, state letter grade D.

Last checked Oct. 19, 2026. Sources: Nashville Big Picture High, 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, school profile, graduation rate and ACT files and spring 2026 test file and the federal NCES school directory.

Nashville Big Picture High School is a Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) high school serving ninth grade through 12th grade. MNPS’s 2026-27 pathways chart lists it with the Lawson cluster in the district’s Southwest quadrant.

  • Address: 160 Rural Ave., Nashville, TN 37209
  • Main office: 615-353-2081
  • Grades: 9-12
  • School hours: 8 a.m. to 2:15 p.m., according to the district’s 2026-27 start times
  • Website: bigpicture.mnps.org

Who to call

  • Front office: 615-353-2081
  • Enrolling a new student: the school, or the Lawson Enrollment Center, 8001 Highway 70 S., 615-353-6000, 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 Brenda Diaz, according to the school’s website.

Enrollment

The federal NCES directory counted 150 students in the 2023-24 school year, with 16 full-time-equivalent teachers, about 9 students per teacher. The Tennessee Department of Education’s 2024-25 school profile file has a newer count of 125 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, 2025 graduation rate file and 2024-25 ACT file:

Measure Nashville Big Picture High
Overall letter grade, 2024-25 D (score 1.9 of 5)
Achievement grade D
Academic growth grade F
College and career readiness grade A
Overall success rate on state tests, 2024-25 18.6%
College and career readiness rate, 2024-25 73.3%
Graduation rate, class of 2025 more than 99% (of 30 students)
Average ACT composite, 2024-25 19.2 (30 students tested)

The state’s spring 2026 test file has the share of Nashville Big Picture High students who met or exceeded expectations on each end-of-course exam: English I 24.2%, English II 57.1%, Integrated Math I 12.9%, Integrated Math II 16.7%, Integrated Math III 13.8%, Biology 29.6% and U.S. History 22.2%. The 2025-26 letter grades have not been published yet.

The State Report Card page for Nashville Big Picture High holds the full detail: results by grade and subject, chronic absenteeism and results for each group of students.

Admission and pathway

Nashville Big Picture High 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.

MNPS lists Nashville Big Picture High among the schools that require students to audition or interview; the school contacts applicants to arrange it.

The district’s 2026-27 pathways chart (PDF) lists Nashville Big Picture High with the Lawson cluster, whose zoned high school is James Lawson High.

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)
  • Dec. 15-17: half days for high school exams
  • 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 2:15 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.

Sports and activities

The school’s athletics page lists baseball, basketball, bowling, boys and girls soccer, cross country, football, softball, volleyball, golf, wrestling, tennis and track and field. For game nights, see our Friday night football guide and the scoreboard.

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Frequently asked questions

What grades does Nashville Big Picture High serve?

Ninth grade through 12th grade. The school is at 160 Rural Ave. in Nashville; the main office number is 615-353-2081.

What is Nashville Big Picture High’s state report card grade?

Nashville Big Picture High received a D overall in Tennessee’s 2024-25 School Letter Grades, according to the Tennessee Department of Education.

What time does Nashville Big Picture High start?

School runs from 8 a.m. to 2:15 p.m., according to the district’s 2026-27 school start times.