Cherokee High School (Tennessee)

Cherokee Comprehensive High School
Established 1980
Type Secondary School
Principal Gloria Silvers
Asst. Principal Vakisha Henard, David Kenner, Bob Edens
Students 1,120[1]
Grades 9-12
Location 2927 Highway 66,
Rogersville, Tennessee, USA
District Hawkins County School System
Director of Schools Steve Starnes
Accreditation Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
Colors Red and Black         
Athletics TSSAA District 2 AAA (5A/Football)
Mascot Chiefs
Yearbook 'Keetoowah'
Newspaper 'The Cherokee Chief'
Fight Song War Chant
ACT Average 18.2[1]
Website http://www.hck12.net/cherokee

Cherokee Comprehensive High School is a secondary school within the Hawkins County School System near Rogersville, Tennessee.

History

Cherokee High School was founded in 1980 after the Hawkins County Board of Education had determined in the mid-1970s that it would be more cost effective for the school system to construct and operate two comprehensive high schools rather than the four community-based high schools it was then operating. The two schools would be centered in the western and eastern ends of the county, to service the county's two main population centers: Rogersville-Bulls Gap-Mooresburg and Church Hill-Mount Carmel-Surgoinsville.[2]

The same population was being served by Rogersville High School and Bulls Gap High School prior to Cherokee's construction. So that these populations would still be served under the new plan, the Board of Education purchased land as equidistant from Rogersville and Bulls Gap as possible. The present site is located at the intersection of Highway 66 and Highway 70 in the community of Persia.

The school was named after nearby Cherokee Lake.

The high school recently added a freshman academy program.

Student demographics

According to a 2011 report card from the Tennessee Department of Education, approximately 58.2% of Cherokee students are considered to be "economically disadvantaged", as that term is defined by the Department.[1] The same report indicates that, for 2011, the student population of Cherokee was distributed as follows:

RaceNumberPercentage
White1,18496.0 %
African American252.0%
Hispanic191.5%
Native American/Alaskan30.2%
Multiracial 30.2%

Academics

According to information from a 2011 TN report card published by the Tennessee Department of Education, Cherokee students averaged 18.2 on the ACT.[1] The report also states that attendance was 93.6% for 2011 and the graduation rate was an all-time high of 89.1% in 2011. Graduation rates have increased more than 27% since 2007.

Athletics

The School's mascot was derived from old Rogersville High's Warriors; its colors were taken from the orange-and-black of the old Bulls Gap High and the maroon-and-grey of the old Rogersville to derive the current Red and Black Cherokee Chiefs. Men's and women's varsity, junior varsity, and freshman teams compete in the Tennessee Secondary School Athletics Association Division I, in the following classifications:[3]

SportClassificationConference
Opponents
All Sports
District 2
AAA
(5A/6A Football are part of AAA. Cherokee football is 5A)
• Cocke County High School(Newport)
• Seymour High School(Seymour)
• South-Doyle High School(Knoxville)
• Jefferson County High School (Dandridge)
• Morristown East High School (Morristown)
• Morristown West High School (Morristown)
• Sevier County High School (Sevierville)

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 According to the 2011 school year data from the Tennessee Department of Education
  2. ↑ See the history of Hawkins County Schools at the school system website.
  3. ↑ "Classifications". Tennessee Secondary School Athletics Association. Retrieved 9 May 2013.

External links