We bet you didn't know these facts about Knox County Schools!
Summer break is over and students are back in classrooms Aug. 8. The Knox County Schools district is welcoming more than 58,000 students, nearly 5,000 staff members spread across 90 schools. New this year is an elementary school — Mill Creek open to grades K-2.
In celebration of back-to-school, here are some fun facts about the district we bet you didn't know!
The district public education system is old: 152 years to be precise.
The first school here, a private one, started in 1793 and was operated at a farm four miles northeast of Knoxville. The site was later known as Miss Pattie Boyd's farm and it offered two five-month long sessions, or semesters, at an annual cost of $7 per student.
The city's first school for Black students was Burnside School, which was established in 1864 at 1503 Detroit Ave., according to records at the Knox County Museum of Education.
In January 1871, the people of Knoxville voted 433 to 162 to establish a system of free schools. Months later, in September, the district opened in nine rented buildings with schools for about 1,000 students and 17 teachers.
Among the first 17 teachers, there were two men paid $40 a month and 15 women paid $32.50 a month. In today's dollars, that's about $1,000 a month for men and about $812 for women.
Alexander Baird was the first superintendent of the district. He was from Ohio and served in the position for four years.
The first school building was built at 311 Morgan St. for $6,000 in 1874.
The district's first high school graduates, in 1877, were Isabella Boyd and Rosa Leftwhich.
In the 1881-82 school year, vaccination was required for admission to schools. Resistance from some parents meant that school enrollment declined consequently.
An 1885 survey showed the dropout rate was higher for boys than girls, prompting discussion about adding more vocational skills, such as bookkeeping and accounting, to the curriculum to improve retention.
In 1913, newspapers reported that Knox County was the only county in the state with the distinction of having libraries in all of its schools.
The school board was first elected by Knoxville's taxpayers a hundred years ago in 1923.
In 1933, Bible classes were introduced in high school.
The district's first and so far only female superintendent was Mildred Doyle, who held the position from 1946 to 1976.
Knoxville city schools and county schools merged in the 1986-87 school year.
Armstrong Chapel, Burnside, Laura Cansler and Eastport were among the dozens of schools that primarily served Knoxville's Black students.
Entertainer Johnny Knoxville, best known for appearing in the MTV reality show "Jackass," graduated from our very own South-Doyle High School in 1989.
Of the nearly 59,000 students in the district, 17% are Black, 3% Asian and 12% Hispanic, according to data from the state Department of Education.
Within the district, measured by student enrollment, Hardin Valley Academy is the biggest school with 2,096 students, followed by Farragut High School with 2,067 students and Bearden High School with 2,048 students.
With the addition of Mill Creek, the district now has 51 elementary schools.
The biggest elementary schools are Hardin Valley, Karns and Northshore Elementary.
The biggest middle schools are Farragut, Bearden and West Valley Middle school.
Source: Archival records maintained by the Knox County Museum of Education located at 801 Tipton Ave.
Areena Arora, data and investigative reporter for Knox News, can be reached by email at areena.arora@knoxnews.com. Follow her on Twitter @AreenaArora.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: We bet you didn't know these facts about Knox County Schools!
