AVONDALE IS PROUD OF HER NEW SCHOOL

One of the Finest and Best Equipped in State

ERECTION MADE POSSIBLE BY COMMUNITY'S ENTERPRISE

Everything Which Could Add to Comfort of Pupils and Facilitate Work Has Been Provided

 Avondale residents are looking with great expectation to a time about two weeks hence when their grammar school will be moved from its ancient quarters on Jefferson Avenue to the new, commodious and beautiful building on Miller Street.  Incidentally teachers and pupils in the school itself are waiting impatiently for the time when they will have large, light rooms in which to operate with a sufficiency of elbow room.  While it is not known just when the new schoolhouse will be occupied.  It is thought that it will not be later than April 1 anyway.

 Situated as it is in a natural forest, with its second story windows affording an excellent view of the surrounding country for miles on the west and giving an equally attractive perspective on the east until Missionary Ridge rises and curtails the gaze, the new Avondale school has an ideal natural location.  But all that man could do, all that the architect and the esthetician could do in the way of supplementing with artificial embellishments the natural attractiveness of an unusually pleasing landscape, has been done.  When the Avondale school moves into the new house two weeks hence it will occupy one of the handsomest, most convenient and commodious buildings in Hamilton County, and Hamilton County schools on the whole are superior in many respects to all others in the South.

 But one thing is needed at the Avondale school.  That is, a grading of Miller Street on the west side of the building, between the quarry and the school, down to the level of Jefferson Avenue, with a retaining wall for safety and good looks.  Danger would lurk in the quarry if hundreds of children should play in the west school yard, unless by grading and constructing a retaining wall the danger should be removed, and of course the teachers in the school and the Avondale community are very anxious that this work be done.  But they have the promise from Judge S. M. Walker that it will be done, and therefore are losing no sleep on this account.

Boyd Buchanan

Boyd Buchanan was founded in 1952 as the Chattanooga Bible School. It had been planned for almost a decade before the resources and students were available to start it. When the school opened on September 4, 1952, on Vine Street in downtown Chattanooga, it charged $3 per week as the fee for attendance and had 130 children in grades first through sixth.

In the summer of 1959, the school's board of directors changed the school's name from the Chattanooga Bible School to Boyd Buchanan as way to emphasize that the education the children received was not just about the Bible; their education included everything they needed to prepare them for further education and life in general after they left the school.[3]

The school moved to its current campus off of Moore Road in the fall of 1961. By 1978, Boyd-Buchanan had extended its education program from prekindergarten-12th grade The high school building was constructed in 1999-–which relieved some of the extreme crowding in other facilities, and the new field house was finished in time for the fall of 2006

Chattanooga High School

    Chattanooga High School was founded in the fall of 1874. An ordinance had been passed on July 18, 1872, creating a graded public school system. H. Clay Evans promoted the establishment of a school system, and a board of education was organized with two "commissioners" from each of five wards. They were S. B. Moe and Dr. E. H. Price, first ward; J. F. Loomis and Willard Abbot, second ward; W. D. Van Dyke and Dr. E. M. Wight, fourth ward; and R. M. Tankesley and T. A. Hurt, fifth ward. At a fall meeting H. D. Wyatt was elected superintendent and served in that capacity until 1892 when A. T. Barrett succeeded him.

On January 1, 1873, the first white public graded school opened on Georgia Avenue near 9th street with Professor J. A. Aycock as principal. In the fall of that same year the Panic Depression of 1873 struck, and the fledgling school system found itself without funds or credit until the individual members of the board, led by acting treasurer W. D. Van Dyke, jointly signed a $1,000 note pledging their individual credit to save the system.
    At this time there was no high school. Because of his great interest in education, Professor H. D. Wyatt was teaching a few boys informally in his office. When the decision was made to establish a high school, Professor Wyatt was serving the school system as its first superintendent.
    Professor Wyatt planned the City School System. At first there were five schools: the first district, on the East side of town which had a principal and three assistant teachers; the second district on the West side with a principal and two teachers, which was also to include a high school; the third district with a principal and two teachers on the South side. In addition to these there was a union primary school with one teacher. There was also the Howard School for colored children with a principal and four teachers.
 In December of 1873 the Board of Commissioners purchased the school in the Second District, known as "The Old Academy", from the Masonic Fraternity to accommodate a high school department. Chattanooga High School was organized on December 11, 1874, in two upstairs rooms of this building. The first high school faculty was Mr. W. D. Underhill and Miss Hattie Ackerman. The total enrollment for the first school year was 35.

1974 If  If customers can’t find it, it doesn’t exist. Clearly list and describe the services you offer. Also, be sure to showcase a premium service.

Girls Preparatory School, or GPS, is an all-female college preparatory school  It was founded in 1906 by Grace Eliza McCallie, Tommie Payne Duffy, and Eula Lea Jarnagin. GPS enrolls students in grades 6–12. These students are taught by GPS's 66 faculty members, over 80% of whom hold advanced degrees. Since 2006, Girls Preparatory School has won 20 state championships in various sports. In addition, the school has graduated 49 National Merit Semifinalists in the past 13 years. For the 2019–20 school year, GPS enrolled 560 girls from 28 zip codes, with 210 in Middle School and 350 in Upper School.

Its brother school, The McCallie School, was founded a year earlier by McCallie's brothers. GPS's Interim Head of School is Dr. Kirk Walker, former headmaster at The McCallie School.

     In 1906, Duffy and Jarnagin, two public school teachers, asked the city school board to provide a fourth year of high school studies, including modern language and a lab science, so that girls, as well as boys, would apply for college. When their request was denied, they decided to create an independent school to prepare girls for higher education and convinced their friend Grace McCallie to join them.

     In 12 weeks, they converted McCallie's former home to a school. The three founders pooled all of their money, $300, to equip and launch the school. The school opened on September 12, 1906, in a four-room schoolhouse at 106 Oak Street, which had formerly been McCallie's home. The ground floor contained classrooms with second-hand desks. There was also an alcove library and cloakroom.

The school welcomed 45 enrolled students on the first day of classes on September 12, 1906. Each girl paid $80 tuition per year, and at the end of the first year one of the students was accepted to and enrolled in Randolph-Macon Woman's College. In 1915, the school relocated to a larger brick building at 611 Palmetto Street. In 1947, GPS again moved, this time to its current home on Island Avenue, with 14 classrooms, a study hall, library and dining hall. Since the move, the campus has been significantly added on to and revitalized, with the addition of a separate middle school and high school, an 800-seat theater, and a new student center, among other facilities.

Girls Preparatory School celebrated its 100th anniversary during the 2005–2006 school year

Harrison Elementary School

    Harrison Elementary was the last school to be built under the Administration of Public Works Program. The cost of construction was shared by the federal and county governments. The federal share was 45 percent, the highest grant awarded any county until that time. Bonds for the local share of the cost were issued on July 1, 1938. An earlier bond issue had failed to gain public approval. The school was built on a 10-acre site purchased from Fletcher H. and Helen Irene Bacon for seven hundred fifty dollars. The architect was the R. H. Hunt Company, and the contractor was the L. A. Warlick Company. Construction was begun on October 17, 1938 and completed on June 11, 1939. The total cost of construction, including architect's fees and purchase of property was $87,723.44. Cost of the equipment was $4,635.84. The original building contained 9 classrooms, a 390- seat auditorium, a cafeteria equipped with 8 tables and 64 stools, a library, and an office. The 8-by-10-foot kitchen was furnished with a coal stove, hot water tank, and four fire extinguishers. Water was supplied by a well. Drinking fountains and wash basins were installed, but the water supply was not sufficient to furnish bathroom facilities. Harrison and Oak Hill, which had been located on the corner of Highway 58 and Hickory Valley Road, were consolidated. The Oak Hill School was abandoned completely. The school opened in September 1939 with a faculty of six and 191 students. There was no playground and no grass. The students, teachers, and parents worked together on the grounds, planting grass and shrubs. Their efforts were rewarded with a prize for beautification of school grounds. In 1941, the school received a 750-dollar NYA grant for grounds improvement.

 During World II, the school was used as an agency to register soldiers and issue rationing stamps. The principal during those years contributed many additional hours to this work. Miss Martha Bean and Miss Angie Fleeman organized and filed old Harrison and Oak Hill records and delivered surplus government commodities to disadvantaged families in the community. Rex Richey delivered cafeteria supplies to the school. For a time, breakfast was served in the cafeteria. Sulfur fumes from the TNT plant created a problem. The fumes were sometimes so strong that the children couldn't go outside to play.  Fortunately, the school contained empty classrooms which could be used for recreation.

 In 1945, the Kings Point School burned, and Harrison hosted Kings Point students for about three years, until that school was replaced. In September 1948, a fire started spontaneously in the stage dressing room. Nancy Kelly, one of Mrs. Paden's students, discovered the fire during recess. The fire department from the Volunteer Ordnance Works responded to Mrs. Troutman's call. It was necessary to cut a hole in the roof to extinguish the flames, a task which required almost two hours. The stage curtains, a piano, some books, and other equipment were destroyed. For several years during the fifties the school taught seven grades.

 In 1952 the seventh grade fielded a baseball team, with Virginia Webb coaching. The team won the knot-hole championship. During the fifties, pipes were laid to bring water to Harrison. Mr. Mayberry wanted to install plumbing facilities at the school and have bathrooms ready for use when the water line was completed. An appropriation wasn't available for the work, but the bathrooms were installed anyway -- at the rate of one fixture a month -- and charged to maintenance. The day after the water was connected, Mr. Mayberry heard a commotion and went to investigate. The disturbance was coming from the cafeteria. The water pressure had blown up the water tank on the back of the coal stove, flooding the kitchen and ruining the stove. The cafeteria staff cleaned up the mess and served sandwiches for lunch. A new electric stove was purchased and installed, but the school wasn't getting enough power to operate it properly. For several months, Mrs. McGee and her staff managed to serve hot lunches with only one burner and the oven operable. Eventually, a substation was built near Hickory Valley Road, solving the power problem. With an adequate power supply, the cafeteria staff was hampered only by limited work- space. In 1964, four classrooms, a new and larger cafeteria, and kitchen and two bathrooms were added to the school. Remodeling converted the office into a lounge, the library into an office, and the cafeteria into a library. Plans were drawn by the firm of Hunt, Caton, and Holt. The contractor was L. J. Baker, Jr. The total cost of the addition was $148,521.00. The cost of equipment was $20,674.62. The addition was completely funded by bonds authorized on November 6, 1962. Construction was completed in March 1964.

    A school qualifies for a secretary when its enrollment reaches 350. Harrison's first secretary was Betty Adamson, assigned in 1965. In 1967, Quintard Whittle took over the job. In 1970, Vance Wilson, Child Development Consultant, was added to the faculty. In 1971, Mary Ann Potter was assigned to the school in a position she described as principal-in-training. Her time was divided equally between Harrison and Ooltewah Elementary Schools.  On December 15, 1972, Miss Potter was appointed principal of Bess T. Shepherd School. Both Miss Potter and Mr. Wilson hold the distinction of being a "first and only" for Harrison Elementary School.

    About ten years ago, real estate developers discovered Harrison and launched a furious building campaign in the community. The resulting student invasion was more than the school was prepared to handle. Throughout its existence the school's growth had been leisurely, if not occasionally regressive. Suddenly, it was overflowing with students. In 1959, the enrollment was 310, an increase of 119 over a period of twenty years. During the next six years, about 50 students were added. Between 1965 and 1972, the school's enrollment doubled. The teaching staff doubled during Mr. Bean's seven years with the school -- from 10 in 1964-65 to 20 in 1970-71.

    Classrooms were improvised to accommodate the expanding school population. Classes were conducted on the auditorium stage, in the library, and even in the teachers' lounge. Portable teaching units, each containing four classrooms, were set up at the school in 1969, 1970, and 1971.

    On April 13, 1972, Syd Lang, Contractor, began construction of a B-classroom addition to the school.  Edwin E. Howard was the architect. The cost of this addition was $171,500.00. The classrooms were occupied in early September.

Harrison Elementary's current enrollment is 762 students, 41 faculty members, 8 cafeteria workers, and 1 custodian. There are 32 regular classrooms, 2 special education classrooms, a Chapter I classroom, and a speech and language classroom. The remainder of the faculty consists of a music teacher, physical education teacher, librarian and guidance counselor.

Fiftieth Anniversary and History of Harrison Elementary School - 1989  

Submitted by Susan Kendall SusieQ1160@aol.com

Lookout Mountain School

  In 1878, the “Little Red School House” opened as the first school on Lookout Mountain, serving residents in both Tennessee and Georgia. Over the years, Tennessee’s population continued to grow and by 1900, Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, had a new school. In 1927, Lookout Mountain School (LMS) was turned over to the Hamilton County School Board, and a new building was erected at its present location in 1929.  LMS became the first school in Hamilton County to begin a planned schedule of school desegregation in 1962. 

McCallie School 

Brothers Spencer Jarnigan and James "Park" McCallie founded the school in 1905, which remained under the control of the family until a Board of Trustees assumed management of the school in 1937.

Founded as an all-boys school, McCallie became a military school in the wake of World War I, with students wearing uniforms and participating in military drills.

In 1970, McCallie dropped its military program as a result of admission challenges during the Vietnam era.[2]

While the school's Board of Trustees agreed to allow the admission of African American students beginning with day students in 1969 and boarding students in 1970, the school did not admit its first African American student, David Chatman, until 1972.

Montgomery Avenue Colored School

     Originally named Montgomery Avenue Colored School, later renamed Main Street Colored School after Montgomery Avenue became Main Street.  In 1881, this public school, originally housed in a church building, became the first in Chattanooga to have an African American teacher assigned to teach African American students. The circa 1890s building was built to accommodate Chattanooga's growing African American population, as were East Fifth Street and East Eighth Street Schools. 

A Two-story brick building with triple stone arched entry, steep pitched roof with two front gable dormers, side gable dormer also visible on left side, and center steeple with gothic cupola. A low stone wall marks the boundary of the property and utility poles, and wires are visible in front of the building. There were small bare trees out front, and a low modern-looking horizontal structure behind, with a square brick smokestack behind it.  

Oak Hill School

Oak Hill School no longer exists and very little is known of its history. The school was located in the Highway 58 area below Harrison in Hamilton County. The exact location and dates of its existence are unknown. According to an 1887-88 County School report, Oak Hill was one of two schools located in Harrison. To date, no records from this early Hamilton County school have been found.

An academy was established in Harrison in 1838.  Depending on the source this school was the Harrison Academy, Harrison Male Academy, Hamilton Academy, or the Hamilton Male and Female Academy.  It was operated by the State of Tennessee or the Harrison Masonic Lodge and was private, semi-private, or public. Possibly the school was all of these. Its charter was changed several times over the years.  On November 12, 1867, the Tennessee State Legislature passed an Act transferring control of the Harrison Male Academy to Masonic Lodge 114. Between 1867 and 1873, the academy became the Hamilton Male and Female Academy. The school was closed about 1890.

Red Bank High School 

     Red Bank High School began as an extension to the one-year-old Red Bank Junior High School in 1938. Recognizing that the original plans for the school serving grades 7, 8, and 9 were not fulfilling the needs of the Red Bank community and surrounding areas, the Hamilton County Board of Education added a 10th grade in 1938, an 11th grade in 1939, and finally a 12th grade in 1940.

     During the three years of movement toward being a complete high school, Red Bank High School created its unique identity in the area. Blue and white were chosen as the school’s colors, and the Lion was selected as the mascot. A school newspaper was created called the Blue and White, while the yearbook was named the Roar. The school's colors of blue and white, with the addition of red from the name, creates the three colors the American flag consists of, which is the reason why those two colors were chosen. The first senior class, consisting of 50 students, graduated in 1941.

     Due to the booming population growth in the area of the school, the Board of Education built several additions to the original building. Additions in 1939, 1944, and 1955 not only opened up new classrooms but also provided an auditorium, a band room, a music room, and athletic facilities. With the opening of a new Red Bank Junior High School in 1960, grades 7 – 9 were removed from Red Bank High School, opening up much more space for the increasing school population and for a much-needed home economics department. During the 1970 – 1971 school year, a new cafeteria, study hall, and gymnasium were added, and the old cafeteria space was renovated for use by the JROTC department.

     Recognizing that the limited acreage of the campus on Dayton Boulevard prohibited further growth, Red Bank High School changed campuses with Red Bank Junior High School in the summer of 1982. The new campus on Morrison Springs Road offered 54 acres of space for new growth and development. Four new additions to the campus have provided valuable facilities. In 1982, a wing was built to house the JROTC department, and in 1983 a new football stadium was completed. Then in 1986 a wing was built to accommodate the move of the 9th grade back into the Red Bank High School student body, and in 1991 a wing was opened with a new gymnasium, cafeteria, conference room, and library, as well as offices and classrooms.

SCHOOLS IN THE SNOW HILL AREA
Phebe Morgan phebem@comcast.net

The earliest school in the Snow Hill area was the Frog-Level-Trickum school.  Located at what is now Greenwood Road and Island Point Road.  The name is partly derived from the creek that runs through the property – Frog Level Creek.  The land was donated by the Padgett family and additionally used as a church. 

            A one room school was located where the Crossroads Baptist Church now stands (Ooltewah-Georgetown and Mahan Gap Road). 

            The James County Board of Education purchased 5 acres for a nominal price at the corner of Mahan Gap and Snow Hill Road after 1900.  Crossroads and Frog-Level-Trickum were consolidated into Snow Hill.  At that time a frame schoolhouse was built.  One of the first teachers was F. T. (Flauvous) Hoge.  The frame building remained until a brick building was built in 1925. 

SNOW HILL ELEMENTERY SCHOOL

The new Snow Hill Elementary opened in 1982 and is home of the Hawks. The current enrollment of approximately 569 students in grades PreK-5. Snow Hill is dedicated to creating a learning environment that will enable all students to solve problems, think critically, and achieve academic and social success. At Snow Hill, we strive to provide a community school of excellence which promotes character development and high expectation of academic achievement for all students in a positive, clean, and safe environment with the assistance and support of committed staff and parents.

 Saint Elmo Schools

  The first ST Elmo Elementary School was built sometime around 1890 and was located at W38th across from Chattanooga Medicine Company. As ST Elmo and Kirkland grew the need for another school grew also. Col. A.M. Johnson donated land at W47th and Alabama Avenue where several wooden buildings were built to serve as an additional school.  In 1903 Col. Johnson left property where a new school could be built at W47th. In 1906 the new red brick three story school was built behind the old wooden buildings. The school became ST Elmo Grammer School and the old school at W38th St became a colored school.

     The 17th district high school located at W37th, and Tennessee Avenue became known as Louie B. Sanderson and was a white only school.  In the 1934-35 school year Kirkman Vocational School was built and the high school students from ST Elmo were zoned for Kirkman, the old colored school on W38th St. was closed and Sanderson School became Calvin Donaldson Elementary School where it remained until the 1967-68 school year when a new school was built in Alton Park.

Tyner High School

First 50 Year History of Tyner High School

    In 1906 the citizens of Tyner felt the need for a high school in their community since Chattanooga High School was the nearest one and transportation was sometimes difficult.  W. H. Varnell one of the leading citizens of Tyner, wrote to each of the seven members of the Hamilton County School Board telling of the great need for a high school and stating that the community would donate a site for the erection of the building.

 The board decided to erect a school at Tyner, and the land for the building, purchased by the citizens from J. R. Smith for the sum of $250, was donated.  W. S. Beck, chairman of the Hamilton County School Board at the time, was very helpful in securing a $10,000 appropriation from the County Court for the building.  Some of the leaders in this historic movement were Dr. T. N. Elben, T. J. Friar, T. D. Hawley, B. M. Tankersley, J. P. Smith, L. S. Roberson, Prof. S. H. Moran, J. E. Conner, Loss Friar, Gabe Walder, and J. T. Cooper.

 On November 26, 1907, the citizens of Tyner gathered to dedicate the new structure.  The devotion was led by Reverend Farris, of the Tyner Methodist Church, and Dr. P. P. Claxton, from the University of Tennessee, delivered the dedicatory address.  About 200 citizens of Tyner, mostly farmers, served a dinner on the grounds at the conclusion of the ceremony.

 When school opened in the fall of 1907, it boasted an enrollment of 38; but by the end of the term the enrollment had increased to 59.

 Tyner was organized as a four-year high school, but in 1932 the seventh and eighth grades were added.  A separate building was erected for the two lower grades.

 As the enrollment continued to increase, the need for additional facilities was met in 1937 with the erection of the present main building.  In 1954 another structure was erected adjacent to the main building.  In it are quarters for music, science, and industrial arts classes, and an enlarged cafeteria.  At the present, two new buildings are under construction, a home economics building and a new complete junior high school.

 This year 1957, Tyner suffered a great loss when “Old Main” the first building constructed in 1907 burned.  The new junior high school is being erected on the site where “Old Main” stood and will be an entirely separate plant from the high school.

 The campus has grown from the small ten-acre tract in 1906 to thirty-four acres at the present time.  The enrollment has grown from 38 during the first term to 1060 at the beginning of the 1956-57 term.  The administration has enlarged from a principal and one teacher to a principal, thirty-seven teachers, two secretaries, two custodians, a cafeteria staff of eight, twelve bus drivers, and a school nurse.  In the first years the school offered ten subjects.  Now in the program of studies for grades 9 through 12, a total of 42 ½ high school units are offered in 14 subject fields.

 As we go to press, steel girders rise where once stood “Old Main”; thus, old customs, old ideas, and old buildings give way to new, as we look back on this past 50 years of Tyner history. 

From 1957 Tyner High School Yearbook, "The Tally-Ho"

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Chattanooga University 1886

    The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga had its beginning August 7, 1872, when a group of twelve clergymen and educators assembled in the Pine Street Methodist Episcopal Church to discuss the possibility of establishing a central southern school for the Holston, Central Tennessee, Alabama, Blue Ridge, Georgia and Virginia conferences of the Methodist Church. A meeting was called for September 19-20, 1872, and a plan for a Central University was endorsed, but the plan was abandoned for the time. In 1880 the Southern Conferences asked the General Conference to instruct the Freedmen's Aid bureau to take charge of the Church's educational work among the white people in the South. The General Conference issued the instruction and the Freedmen's Aid Bureau began a work in addition to its original task. By 1881 the society was ready for the establishment of a southern school and the first duty was selection of a site. Bishop Warren was chairman of a committee from the six conferences which decided upon Chattanooga as the location. In January 1888, the property which is now the site of the University was purchased for $30,000, one half of which was subscribed by Chattanooga citizens. J. W. Adams and H. S. Chamberlain were active in raising the amount.

Ground was broken in February 1884, and work began on the original building, which was completed in the summer of 1886.

The University opened its doors September 15, 1886, with a faculty of eight members, one of whom was Dr. E. S. Lewis, acting president. One hundred and forty students were enrolled. The school was called Chattanooga University.

At the fall meeting of the Holston Conference in 1888, it was decided for financial reasons to unite Grant Memorial University, which had been established in Athens, Tennessee, with the Chattanooga school under the name Grant Memorial. Scholastic work was divided, the three professional schools of law, medicine and theology were continued in Chattanooga and the College of Liberal Arts was in Athens. After six months the Holston Conference decided that the name Grant Memorial was not distinctive enough to convey the intention of honoring General Grant and it was changed to the U. S. Grant University. The two schools were still included in one name and administration.

In 1897 Bishop Joyce was appointed to Minnesota and he was succeeded as chancellor by Dr. John H. Race. Dr. Race returned the College of Liberal Arts to Chattanooga and emphasized the regular college courses. In 1904 he announced a gift of $50,000 from Dr. D. R. Pearson of Chicago, conditioned upon an additional fund of $150,000. The trustees succeeded in raising the necessary amount.

In 1907 the name was changed again, and the school became the University of Chattanooga; with this change began an era of popularity and enthusiastic support. In 1909 citizens of Chattanooga, in appreciation of Dr. Race's service, presented "The President's House" on Oak and Douglas Streets to the Board of Trustees, and in that year the Methodist Episcopal Church deeded all its school property in Chattanooga and Athens to the University. The value was estimated at three quarters of a million dollars.
History of Hamilton County and Chattanooga, TN by Zella Armstrong, 1931