A New Campus, A New School: Memphis Grizzlies Prep Expands
For 14 years, Memphis Grizzlies Prep has operated out of a single building in Downtown Memphis. This fall, that changes. The school is moving into a new campus at 2230 Corry Road, adding more than 100 seats to its boys' school and opening the doors to something new: Memphis Grizzlies Prep STEAM School for Girls.
The idea took root back in 2018. "We began to do our research and said, what would it take in order to create the same thing for young women in Memphis?" said Tim Ware, executive director of Memphis Grizzlies Prep. "Fast forward to today, we're finally able to open that school in the fall of 2026, with a founding cohort of sixth grade students."
Why a STEAM School for Girls
"We know that girls historically have been underrepresented in the STEAM fields," Ware said. "That number goes up exponentially when you think about girls of color being represented in the STEAM fields. Memphis Grizzlies Prep STEAM School for Girls is an answer to that challenge."
Camile Melton-Brown, founding principal of Grizzlies Prep STEAM School for Girls, shared a similar view. "We really want to offer young ladies an opportunity to really delve into the world of science, technology, engineering and math, as we see the wave of the future," she said. "We want our young ladies to be at the forefront of that in the future, so it's important to give them that foundation now so that they can have that confidence, that knowledge, to go forth in endeavor in whatever area they choose in the future.”
(Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)
A Place to Be Seen
“I really want families when they come in, especially our students, to see themselves reflected in this school, to see their values, to see their quirks, their interests represented in the halls, in the classrooms, in the content that they're reading," Brown said.
Ware described the same hope in his own words: "When families and students walk through the doors of Memphis Grizzlies Prep for the first time, what they will see is promise. What they will see is a space where they are seen, where they are heard, and where they are affirmed."
