NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) – The Tennessee Department of Education has extended its partnership with PBS to provide students daily instructional programming through the fall.

Starting Tuesday, all six Tennessee PBS stations– WNPT Nashville, East Tennessee PBS, WCTE Upper Cumberland, WKNO Memphis, West TN PBS, and Chattanooga WTCI – will offer educational programming weekdays from 10 a.m. –12 p.m. EST, through the fall semester. 

For the month of September, programming will focus on english and math for students in first through fourth grades.

“We are incredibly grateful for to our partners at PBS across the state who are continuing to help provide access to educational content to Tennessee families and students,” said Commissioner Penny Schwinn. “These videos– created by Tennessee teachers in Tennessee classrooms—were viewed heavily through the spring and summer, so we are excited to continue the partnership and help keep students reading, exploring, and learning throughout the fall semester.”

The partnership was started earlier this year as a tool to help bring learning to kids at home because of the pandemic.

A total of 320 virtual classroom lessons providing ELA and Math instruction for 1st –8th grade students are available on the department’s YouTube page and have had more than 100,000 views there since the spring.

“Getting academic instruction daily is so critical for our students, but not everyone has reliable access to the internet,” said Eric Lomax, director of Perry County Schools. “PBS has always been a supporter of public education and we are thankful that kids across the state will continue to have access to these videos, broadcasting right from their TVs, during the fall semester.” 

 During the fall semester, the schedule will be updated on the department’s PBS Teaching Tennessee webpage and the PBS affiliate stations’ websites.

Schedule for September 8- September 25, Monday through Friday:
• 10:00 AM ET: 1st Grade ELA
• 10:30 AM ET: 1st Grade Math
• 11:00 AM ET: 2nd Grade ELA
• 11:30 AM ET: 2nd Grade Math

Schedule for September 28- October 2, Monday through Friday:
• 10:00 AM ET: 3rd Grade ELA
• 10:30 AM ET: 3rd Grade Math
• 11:00 AM ET: 4th Grade ELA
• 11:30 AM ET: 4th Grade Math