Dr. Michael Thompson

Dr. Michael Thompson, an educational and entrepreneurial professional, is a native Nashvillian and the Magnet School Assistance Program (MSAP) site coordinator at Warner Arts STEAM Magnet Elementary School. Since 2003, he has served in positions for Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS), including teacher, Title I coord., ELL specialist, academic coord., and district ELL administrator. In his current role, Dr. Thompson provides PD, instructional coaching, STEAM initiatives, grant management, and brand recognition. He has been chair of the fine arts team and launched the conservatory program, which resulted in reduced chronic absenteeism by more than 10% and an improvement of satisfactory attendance percentage from 35% to one that almost doubled! Dr. Thompson fosters environments which support outside-the-box thinking, while efficiently managing the purchase order and procurement process in a timely fashion. He credits his world-class positivity and entrepreneurial marketing and design skills for contributing to the school’s increase of enrollment from 178 to 407 in under 5 years and for reducing minority group isolation. “As principal, I have ideas about how I want things to look,” says Principal Dr. Ricki Gibbs, “but Dr. Thompson brings those to life in a way that is visually amazing and engaging to our stakeholders. Having him on my team gives us the ability to dream knowing he can come up with ideas that craft our message perfectly.” In 2022, the school exited State Priority Status (bottom 5%) and earned State Reward School Status (top 5%) simultaneously. Thompson is also the founder of Michael David Media, a custom publishing company he started in 1999 and has published several niche publications such as City Educator Magazine, Mentor Magazine, Be More magazine, SEL (Social Emotional Learning) Conference Guidebook; and a two-time publisher of the annual meeting and conference guides for Tennessee Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TNTESOL). He is the author of the book, “The Long-Term English Learner Ordeal,” which is a causal comparative study that explores reasons ELs born in America still enter high school without English proficiency. Thompson earned a Doctor of Education and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Trevecca Nazarene University as well as a Bachelor of Science in Mass Communications from Middle Tennessee State University. He holds Tennessee licenses as a Realtor and Educator with certifications in K-12 ESL, PreK-12 Administration, and K-6 All Subjects. Dr. Thompson is married to Deborah and they have one daughter.