Bike Chattanooga is celebrating 11 years in Chattanooga with the addition of 50 e-bikes, electrifying the Walnut Plaza station and expanding with a new station connecting the Hill City neighborhood.
Bike Chattanooga launched in 2012 and has seen steady growth in usage over the years, with the first half of 2023 docking 43,000 bike share trips.
The company added e-bikes in 2018, which generate nearly three times as much usage as pedal bikes. From January to June, users have ridden e-bikes 88,000 miles across the city.
The fleet now totals 105 e-bikes and the electrification of the popular Walnut Plaza station. The addition of a new station in North Chattanooga at 799 North Market Street expands the system’s footprint.
Find a Bike Chattanooga station at bikechattanooga.com.
Fundraiser features acclaimed songwriters
Blood Assurance is inviting the public to an inaugural charity event featuring several popular songwriters.
Songwriters in the Round will take place Tuesday, Aug. 8 at the Colonnade in Ringgold (264 Catoosa Circle). The gathering will begin with dinner at 6:30 p.m. and conclude with a concert featuring Keith Follese, Adriene Follese, Ryan Follese and Brian White.
The lyricists will also share the stories behind their well-known songs.
Tickets are $100. A VIP experience is also being offered for $150, which includes premium seating and a meet-and-great with the performers.
All ticket sales will benefit the Blood Assurance High School Grant program, an initiative that provides funding to local high schools that have hosted blood drives with Blood Assurance.
Purchase tickets at www.bloodassurance.org/songwriters.
HCS students meet or exceed state levels
Hamilton County students achieved at or above statewide proficiency levels in 22 of 28 tested areas during the 2022-23 school year, according to recent TCAP data.
Hamilton County Schools student data from 2022-23 shows the district’s students performed above the state average in 79% of test areas, including English, math, science and social studies.
Three positive areas within 2022-23 HCS testing data are historically underserved student growth, third-grade ELA proficiency and mastery achievement growth. While students met state standards, the data also showed growth in the number of students achieving level four mastery in many subject areas.
As HCS concluded the third year of the adopted ELA curriculum, the district earned a 40.6% proficiency in third-grade ELA. This is the first time HCS has reached over 40% proficiency since the new ELA standards and reflects the implemented curriculum’s success.
Additionally, the state data indicated a significant improvement in performance across Hamilton County’s historically underserved populations.
Two areas of significant mastery include high school English II, showing a 14.8% increase over 2021-22 data, and third-grade science, increasing by 9.1% over last year.
Finally, Hamilton County students showed higher proficiency in English (1.5% higher), math (2.0% higher), science (1.6% higher) and social studies (2.4% higher) across all grades than the overall performance of the state.
UTC, College Pads partners for housing marketplace
A new University of Tennessee at Chattanooga program will help students locate off-campus housing and assist with other needs they might experience living off-campus such as finding potential roommates and price and location comparisons.
UTC will launch its Off-Campus Student Services program for the 2023-24 academic year. Housed in the Office of Student Outreach and Support, the program aims to help students find off-campus housing and educate students on their rights and responsibilities as renters.
Find College Pads’ Chattanooga off-campus housing listings at offcampushousing.utc.edu/listing.
To list properties on the site, contact Kayla Babcock, College Pads’ senior regional market director, at kayla@collegepads.com. To learn more, contact Brett Fuchs at brett-fuchs@utc.edu.