Center for Creative Arts

We are excited to share that CCA's middle school has been named the Arts Rich School of the Year!

Three Schools Named "2026 TAA Arts Rich Schools of the Year" Nashville, TN – The Tennessee Arts Academy Foundation is proud to announce the recipients of the 2026 TAA Arts Rich School of the Year awards, recognizing three Tennessee schools for their exceptional dedication to providing high-quality arts education. These schools have shown an extraordinary commitment to excellence in the arts for their students and communities.

2026 TAA Arts Rich Elementary School of the Year:
Idlewild Elementary School
Memphis-Shelby County Schools, Memphis, TN

2026 TAA Arts Rich Middle School of the Year:
Chattanooga High Center for Creative Arts - Middle School
Hamilton County Schools, Chattanooga, TN

2026 TAA Arts Rich High School of the Year:
Bearden High School
Knox County Schools, Knoxville, TN

“These schools demonstrate the transformative power of arts education. Through their commitment to artistic excellence, student growth, and community engagement, they are creating opportunities that will impact young lives for years to come. Their work serves as a model for schools across the state.”
-William H. Watkins, Jr., President, Tennessee Arts Academy Foundation

Each of the three winning schools will be publicly recognized and awarded a cash prize at the Tennessee Arts Academy's Bravo! Awards Banquet and Performance on July 15, 2026, hosted on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro,

We love that Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) took the time to honor a teacher who made on impact on one of their new students. Congrats, Mr. Hogan!

Congratulations to three of our junior dance majors, Teagan Dupree, Anna Kate McKissick, and Vada Moore, who are beginning their summer intensive study at MTSU for the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts Dance Program. These dancers auditioned and were selected from the entire state of Tennessee, and we are so proud of them!

Join us for a Broadway Bound Send-off Celebration - Thursday, June 11 at 3:00 pm!!! We are so proud of our Jewel Award winner, Tytus Hayes, and we want to send him to New York City for the 10-day national competition (The Jimmy Awards) with music, balloons, and cake!

Help us know how much cake to order. Use this link to RSVP: https://forms.gle/GJCz7gdkQAuGwiuU6

We hope to see you on the front porch at CCA on Thursday!

Tivoli Theatre • Walker Theatre • Memorial Auditorium. Hamilton County School News Hamilton County Schools

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Wishing all the best to the one and only Mr. Vincent Hale, who was offered the big promotion to Assistant Principal! We will all miss him greatly, but we know he will bring his fantastic energy, smarts, joy, and so much more to the STEM school next year. We are grateful for all he taught us, for his passion for the arts, for his sense of humor, and for how much he cares about everyone. His leadership of the Green Team, direction of the Men’s Ensemble, mentorship to many students, and pronunciation of the names of 5 classes of Seniors at graduation are just a few of the things we will miss. Most of all, we will miss seeing that beautiful smile every day.

Mr. Hale is a CCA star and we know he will do amazing things in this next stage of his career!

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We are hiring! We are currently seeking an Acting Teacher/Director and a Technical Theater Director. Both jobs are posted on the Hamilton County Schools jobs site.

We are excited to announce Magge Hudgins as our new Dean of Fine Arts!

After earning her B.A. in English and Theatre at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, Magge Hudgins moved to New York City to pursue theatre as a Director and a Stage Manager. New York Credits include: Theatreworks USA, Theatre for the New City and the Trinity Players where she was the General Manager and resident director. Magge attended Brooklyn College and earned her M.F.A. in Directing, The Joel Zwick scholarship award as well as being accepted into the LIncoln Center Director’s Lab inaugural class. Magge is on the Executive Board at the Chattanooga Theatre Centre after many years there volunteering as an actor and working as a director. Magge has taught acting classes at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga and has also spent the most amazing 19 years teaching Acting at the Center for Creative Arts, thoroughly enjoying every single day and admiring the student and faculty creativity, joy and passion for the Arts!

We also congratulate Mr. Vincent Hale on his promotion to Assistant Principal at the STEM School.

For those who are ready to launch the 26-27 school year, our Summer Reading Assignments and our Student Supply Lists are now posted on our website. https://cca.hcde.org/. Scroll to the bottom of the front page.

Chattanooga High School Center for Creative Arts – Hamilton County Schools After graduating from Wellesley College with a double major in Music and History, Dr. Levine began her career teaching 3rd grade and directing musical theater productions in the New Orleans Public Schools. Dr. Levine was the Principal of Normal Park Museum Magnet, a Pre-K through 8th grade school in...

Volleyball! Yes, that’s right - volleyball! We are starting a girls high school volleyball team and are looking for a coach. Please email Dr. Levine ([email protected]) if you are interested in launching this new team.

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It's that time again! Help us stock our teachers' classroom for the 26-27 school year with the items that add color and engagement to students' learning! Here's our Amazon wishlist:

Check out my list on Amazon