Featured In the New Documentary, “The First Class”
In 2024, award-winning documentary filmmaker Lee Hirsch premiered “The First Class,” a documentary that goes inside Crosstown High to give viewers a front-row seat to the experience of its first graduating class.
Learn more here
Crosstown’s journey began when Memphis parent Ginger Spickler saw a billboard advertising the XQ Super School Challenge. She invited teachers, parents, students, local architects, writers, and business owners to join a design team that grew to 69 people. They gathered input from more than 200 students who shared how they often felt unheard in school.
Crosstown’s stakeholders wanted more dynamic and engaging learning experiences for their students and a student body that represented a broad spectrum of learners in Memphis. Their brightly lit, lively school opened in 2018 inside Crosstown Concourse. The building is a ten-story, one-million-square-foot Memphis landmark that’s been redeveloped with more than 40 businesses, nonprofits, health facilities, and civic groups. Students learn through projects, such as analyzing pollution in local soil and its correlation to cancer rates. Crosstown High’s commitment to represent a broad spectrum of learners means it recruits students from across Memphis.
The public charter school serves about 480 students in grades 9-12. Together, students, teachers, and leadership keep students at the center and believe in all learners’ academic, cognitive, and social growth. Crosstown stays true to its carefully crafted mission and culture through constant iteration, alignment, and goal-setting.
