Williamson County Schools Opens Innovation Center

Just ahead of the first day of school, Williamson County Schools unveiled its $15.5 million Williamson County Innovation Center. 

The building at 106 Claude Yates Dr., bordering Franklin High School’s campus, features an airplane hanging from the lobby ceiling, as well as an industrial kitchen, hospitality spaces and labs for computers, virtual reality and heavy machinery. On Friday, school officials, county officials and students enrolled in the programming at the 26,000-square-foot facility.  

The building was funded by an Innovative School Model Grant distributed by the Tennessee Department of Education, says Kris Schneider, assistant director of the center. It will offer courses in firefighting, aviation, cybersecurity and AI, hospitality and tourism and advanced power and machinery. 

“Today is really just a starting line, and where it goes is the definition of innovation,” Schneider says. “We don't know what that's going to look like. Years from now, I hope you don't remember this ceremony. I hope you remember that this building was the first place that a student got a credential, that got a career, that got an opportunity that they wouldn't have gotten in a traditional school.” 

The land was previously occupied by the Williamson County Animal Center, which has since relocated to 1006 Grigsby Hayes Ct., near Old Charlotte Pike. WCS broke ground on the site in December 2024.  

“Today is just not about cutting a ribbon. It's about opening a door-a door that leads to the next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs, problem solvers right here in Williamson County,” Williamson County Mayor Rogers Anderson said at the ribbon cutting. “I don't know of another community that can pull this off.”

Jeremy Qualls, executive director of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Campus, said the district’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center has laid the groundwork for the space over the past eight years. 

“For our students, this space means access — access to tools, access to technology, access to mentorship and coaching,” Qualls says. “Most of the time, those things are reserved for college campuses or corporate offices. For our teachers, it means a place to bring bold ideas. It means a place where they can be creative with these students, and it means a place where they can become the ultimate cheerleader and mentor for our students.”