McMinn County High School

McMinn County High School
Location
2215 Congress Parkway Athens, Tennessee 37303 United States
Information
Type	Public
Established	1903
Principal	John Burroughs (effective 2008-2009 school year)
Color(s)	Black & Gold
Mascot	Cherokees

McMinn County High School is four-year public high school founded in 1903 in Athens, Tennessee.

McMinn County High School's school colors are black and gold and its mascot is the Cherokees. In 2007-2008 there were over 1,500 students enrolled. The principal of the establishment beginning the 2008-2009 school year is John Burroughs.

History

McMinn County High School started in 1890 as the Athens Female College, which became McMinn County High School in 1903.

McMinn County High School established itself in a new school in 1926. McMinn County High School is the oldest high school in East Tennessee and the second oldest in Tennessee.

McMinn County High School has had several principals through the years with B. L. Hale and J. Will Foster both establishing long tenures as great leaders during hard times.

Mr. Hale become principal in 1928, serving a long tenure during the Depression and through World War ll. During Mr. Hale's tenure, the school lost enrollment due to the depression, but was beginning to grow when World War II started.

Mr. Foster took over in 1943 and watched the returning veterans come back to the high school.

In 1951 McMinn County High School suffered a fire that destroyed the wing opposite Madison Avenue. Another minor fire in a part of the building over the school library delayed the opening of the school year in August 1952.

After Mr. Foster left as principal, he was followed by R. E. Childers, D. E. Weir, Ralph Nunley, Jim Parris, John Forgety, Oran Creasman, J. C. Burris and Johnny Grubb.

McMinn County High School built additional classrooms and a new gymnasium for its students in 1960.

In 1980, a new $10,000,000 complex was built on Congress Parkway with academic and vocational classes on the same campus. Classes were moved from the old building to the new complex in October 1980.

In 2008, Johnny Grubb announced his retirement from the position of principal. The replacement is for the following school year of 2008-2009 is John Burroughs.

The administration for the 2008-2009 school year is principal John Burroughs, vice-principal Preston Moser, vice-principal Vivian Lynch, and athletic director Jimmy Haynie.

Presently, McMinn County High School is still growing with an enrollment around 1,600 students.

School days

The students attend six classes a day. During the 2007-2008 school year, the "Pow Wow Period" was initiated. This period consisted of a one hour lunch time combined with club meetings and other activities. The Pow Wow Period was removed at the beginning of the 2008-2009 school year and replaced with "Tribe Time," which is a set time every Friday after lunch where students have club meetings and participate in clubs and inter murals. The "Tribe Time" activity was removed at the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year. Clearly they can't figure out what the hell they are doing.

Advanced Placement Program

McMinn County High School offers its students the opportunity to take up to six Advanced Placement classes.

The AP classes that MCHS offers are as follows:

• AP Biology

• AP Calculus

• AP European History

• AP Language and Composition

• AP Literature and Composition

• AP U.S. History

Clubs

The clubs that are available for the students are as follows:

• Academic Competition Team

• Anchor Club

• Annual Staff

• Art Club

• Band

• Chess Club

• Chorus

• Dance Club

• Dead Movie Critics Society

• Elks Teens

• FBLA

• FCA

• FCCLA

• FFA

• J-Teens

• Journalism

• Junior Civitan

• Key Club

• Life Skills

• Math Team

• Mu Alpha Theta

• National Honor Society

• National Merit

• Outdoor Club

• Recycle Club

• SADD

• Science Club

• SkillsUSA

• Spanish Club

• Student Council

• Video Game Club

External links

• McMinn County High School official website