About MTR
Partner Neighborhoods
228 EDUCATORS* | 21 PARTNER SCHOOLS | 7 STRATEGIC NEIGHBORHOODS
*This number reflects the total of MTR residents, graduates, and alumni serving as teachers or leaders in
Memphis area high-need schools at the start of the 2025-2026 school year.
Our intention is to focus our teacher placement within specific MTR partner schools that serve students within identified partner neighborhoods.
This intentional focus will increase the access to high-potential, residency-trained teachers for children in MTR partner schools. Now in our 18th year, MTR currently has 287 residents, graduates, and alumni teaching and leading primarily within partner schools that serve seven partner neighborhoods.
Resident preferences are taken into account in the graduate placement process, and the central goal is ensuring that principals in partner neighborhoods always have a pool of high-quality teacher applicants. By working carefully on the initial placement of graduates, MTR seeks to find a good fit for the graduate and requires graduates to work for three consecutive years within a partner school.
Our seven partner neighborhoods:
Binghampton
Frayser
Graham Heights / Mitchell Heights
Midtown-Downtown
Orange Mound
South Memphis
Southeast Memphis / Hickory Hill
Binghampton
The rural town of Binghampton developed in the late-1800s at the intersection of railroads and streetcar lines through what had been the farm of an Irish immigrant, William H. Bingham. Today, Binghampton lies at the heart of the city of Memphis. It was annexed by the city of Memphis in 1919 and has experienced many changes due to desegregation and suburbanization. At the turn of the century, the community was home to several major factories employing almost 3,000 people and four grocery stores. In 1948, the architecturally beautiful East High School was completed in Binghampton under the guidance of famous Memphis architect Everett D. Woods.
Today, about 45% of residents live below the poverty line with higher than average unemployment. The community was previously currently identified as a “food desert” for lack of grocery stores but is getting a brand new grocery store after years of work to bring one to the community. Residents of the tight-knit community maintain hope despite their challenging environment and, when asked to describe their neighborhood, residents chose words like “beautiful,” “changing,” “friendly,” and “fun.” Community assets such as the Lester Community Center, Christ Community Health Services, SOS, Binghampton Development Corporation, Carpenter Art Garden, Eikon Ministries, and Shelby Farms Greenline provide the community with a source of expectation for their future.
Frayser
Frayser is a community in North Memphis bordered by the Loosahatchie River to the north, Mississippi River to the west, and Wolf River to the south, roughly defined by the 38127 ZIP code. A small piece of the Jackson Purchase, this area of land known as “The Point” remained sparsely populated with farmers during the first half of the nineteenth century. The area later became home to wealthy Memphians like John R. Frayser, a prominent physician for whom the community was eventually named, who wanted an escape from the city. When large corporations International Harvester and Firestone moved into the area in the 1940s, the community experienced growth and prosperity.
Unfortunately, Frayser has seen significant economic decline since these two employers closed their doors in 1983. About half of its residents currently earn less than $25,000 per year. Still, many of Frayser’s community members have a deep sense of pride in their neighborhood and are actively seeking to improve the community. There are currently about 15 public and charter schools in the 38127 zip code run by 7 different networks, including the ASD and several charter networks. Neighborhood partners and assets include the Frayser Community Association, Frayser CDC, Frayser Neighborhood Council, and Christ Community Health Services.
Graham Heights / Mitchell Heights
Graham and Mitchell Heights are some of the most diverse neighborhoods in Memphis, with a demographic makeup of approximately 40% Hispanic, 35% white, and 25% Black. The community has a growing sense of uneasiness, however, due to an increase in families living under the poverty line (40%) and an uptick in housing vacancy (currently 20%).
Several organizations and community assets provide services to residents of the community including Gaisman Community Center, Memphis Athletic Ministries at Leawood Baptist, STREETS Ministries, and Su Casa. The Kingsbury High School soccer team exemplifies the diversity of the neighborhood and its schools. The team’s players speak seventeen languages, learn English in the classroom, and speak Spanish on the field. Resources in Mitchell Heights, such as the Heights CDC, United Way of the Mid South, nearby Christ Community Health Services on Broad, and Memphis Athletic Ministries seek to build a stronger community where people choose to invest their lives, talents, and energy. The beauty, diversity, and collaboration between cultures, ethnicities, and organizations are signs of hope for this community.
Midtown-Downtown
Orange Mound was started in the mid-1890s as one of the nation’s first planned African-American communities. Originally a plantation, Elzey Eugene Meacham purchased the land in 1890 and subdivided it into narrow 15-ft wide lots. Orange Mound has grown since then and covers a larger area than just this initial area of subdivision. An economically mixed, self-sustaining community resulted, where African-Americans not only owned their homes but also owned and operated thriving businesses, stores, theaters, churches, and schools.
Today, Orange Mound has one of the higher levels of housing blight in the city and an unemployment rate that has for some time remained above 20%. Some tidy homes and thriving small businesses have faded into vacant lots and boarded-up storefronts. However, conversations with Orange Mound residents reveal an undercurrent of determination and optimism. From civil rights pioneer and patriarch Fred Davis, who refuses to desert his community, to organizations such as Orange Mound Outreach Ministries, RedZone Ministries, Christ Community Health Services, Memphis Athletic Ministries, SOS, and historic churches such as Mt. Pisgah CME, Mt. Moriah-East Baptist Church and Beulah Baptist Church, it is clear that the identity and history of the community provides a source of pride and hope for the future.
Orange Mound
Orange Mound was started in the mid-1890s as one of the nation’s first planned African-American communities. Originally a plantation, Elzey Eugene Meacham purchased the land in 1890 and subdivided it into narrow 15-ft wide lots. Orange Mound has grown since then and covers a larger area than just this initial area of subdivision. An economically mixed, self-sustaining community resulted, where African-Americans not only owned their homes but also owned and operated thriving businesses, stores, theaters, churches, and schools.
Today, Orange Mound has one of the higher levels of housing blight in the city and an unemployment rate that has for some time remained above 20%. Some tidy homes and thriving small businesses have faded into vacant lots and boarded-up storefronts. However, conversations with Orange Mound residents reveal an undercurrent of determination and optimism. From civil rights pioneer and patriarch Fred Davis, who refuses to desert his community, to organizations such as Orange Mound Outreach Ministries, RedZone Ministries, Christ Community Health Services, Memphis Athletic Ministries, SOS, and historic churches such as Mt. Pisgah CME, Mt. Moriah-East Baptist Church and Beulah Baptist Church, it is clear that the identity and history of the community provides a source of pride and hope for the future.
Additional Partners
