Nashville elementary attacked by former student provides $16,500-per-year Presbyterian education

The Nashville private elementary school that was attacked by a former student on Monday serves just about 200 students whose families pay over $16,000 each for their Presbyterian education.

The Covenant School was founded in 2001 as a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church, with which it shares a building, and serves students from preschool through sixth-grade.

It is left 'intentionally small,' according to its website, boasting a teacher-to-student ratio of just eight-to-one. 

But on Monday that small, quiet private school became the site of America's latest school shooting when a former student entered the building through a side door and began opening fire on the second floor.

Three children and three staff members were killed in the assault at the school, which does not employ a school resource officer.

The Covenant School was founded in 2001 as a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church, with which it shares a building, and serves students from preschool through sixth-grade

Police crime scene tape is seen at the entrance to The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee following the shooting Monday morning

Three children and three staff members were killed in the assault at the school, which does not employ a school resource officer. Police are seen at the school here

The Covenant School is an unlikely location for a school shooting due to its small size and private enrollment.

Any family that would like to enroll their child at the school must apply online and pay $16,500 each year for fifth-grade and $16,300 for kindergarten through fourth grade — though church members may pay $1,000 less.

Tuition for preschoolers, meanwhile, ranges from $7,250 to $11,550.  

Prospective students entering kindergarten through sixth-grade are then tested on their knowledge before they could attend the school, while children hoping to enter preschool have to pass a developmental readiness assessment.

Students are taught by just 33 teachers, who hope to instill in their pupils a sense of curiosity, intentionality and authenticity.

Students are also required to attend daily chapel services at the school, which notes: 'The authentic freedom found in Christ allows our school community to be courageous and vulnerable, full of deep learning and fearless teaching.'

After graduating from the school, many students go on to attend other private high schools in the area like Battle Ground Academy, Brentwood Academy, Christ Presbyterian Academy, Ensworth and Davidson Academy.

But on Monday, many of those students were seen running from the building today in their school uniforms after the shooting began. 

They were then transported to a nearby church on school buses, visibly crying, as they waited eagerly to be reunited with their parents. 

Family members rushed to pick up their children at a family reunification center nearby

Many of the 200 students were seen running from the building today in their school uniforms after the shooting began

Community members have described the school as being 'close-knit'

In the past, many of the deadliest school shootings occurred at public schools, which tend to have larger class sizes and are more prevalent in the United States, with about 100,000 public schools in the country and just about 30,000 private schools.

Shootings at elementary schools are also relatively rare, accounting for just 18 percent of all school shootings, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database, which monitors shootings at schools across the country.

The vast majority of these shootings occur at high schools, which account for 63 percent of school shooting incidents around the country.

It is also relatively uncommon for a former student to open fire at a school, the database found, with less than 4 percent of alumni deciding to take up arms against their alma mater.

Most shootings are committed by students, it found. 

Nashville Metro Police have said the unidentified 28-year-old female shooter entered The Covenant School using a side door shortly before 10.13am and began opening fire on the second floor.

It remains unclear how she gained access to the building, as police say all of the doors at the school were locked at the time. 

When authorities arrived at the scene, they said, they heard gunshots emanating from the second floor. 

By 10.27am the assailant had been shot dead, and authorities found she was armed with two assault-style rifles and a handgun. 

Metro Nashville Police Department Chief John Drake, right, and Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk, left, said they believe the assailant is a former student

Metro Nashville Police officers and other law enforcement officials are seen here guarding the entrance to the school in the aftermath of the shooting

Parents of students at the school have now begun to collect their children from a nearby church

It is uncommon for a former student to be a school shooter, right, and it is uncommon for an elementary school to be the site of a school shooting, left

Parents of students at the school have now begun to collect their children from a nearby church, with Susan Perkins, 68, telling DailyMail.com that her daughter and step-grandson were in the school at the time of the shooting, but were fortunately not injured. 

Her daughter is a communications director and her step-grandson is a sixth grade student.

‘I talked to my daughter and she was so busy she just couldn’t talk, just enough to say she was okay,’ said the mother, who lives in Knoxville, TN.

‘I’m just shaking with fear and so sorry that this happened,’ she said. ‘I just can’t hardly believe that three children got killed.’

She described Covenant School as a small, tightknit, Christian school where everyone knows and supports each other.

‘I did not think it would ever hap to my school and I would like to see the guns off the street,’ Perkins said.

Alison Grippo, 40, also told DailyMail.com that she has three children in Covenant School who survived. 

As word spread of the mass shooting, she like other parents were directed to nearby Woodmont Baptist Church, set up as a meeting point as they anxiously waited for their kids.

'She said her own children, like many others, were still speaking with investigators.

‘We’re waiting to be reunited with our kids,’ Grippo told DailyMail.com. ‘This is just hard to understand or put into words. We praise God in all situations, good and bad.’