Samantha West

Reporter, Chalkbeat Tennessee

Samantha West is a reporter for Chalkbeat Tennessee, where she covers Memphis’ Shelby County Schools, the state’s largest school district with over 110,000 students. She’s a 2021 Education Writers Association Reporting Fellow and New to the Beat rookie. Before joining Chalkbeat, she was a K-12 education reporter for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin and the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram. While studying journalism and English at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, she interned at The Washington Post and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as the Ann Devroy Fellow. A native Minnesotan and a seven-year Wisconsinite, she’s passionate about hotdish (not casserole), the Green Bay Packers and saying "ope, sorry."

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• From Chalkbeat Tennessee

Memphis school board is divided over school policing agreement

By Samantha West September 22

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More Black male teachers needed, says speaker at Memphis Education Fund conference

By Samantha West September 17

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Shelby County Schools reports over 200 teacher vacancies at the start of the school year

By Samantha West September 13

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20,000 COVID diagnoses in Memphis-area students is a sobering pandemic milestone

By Samantha West September 13

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Timeline: Teacher deaths, mask debates rock Memphis during the first 30 days of school

By Samantha West, Cathryn Stout, and 3 more September 9

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Tennessee: We want to hear about your quarantine experiences this school year

By Samantha West September 7