Putnam County Schools designated as an exemplary district by the Tennessee Department of Education for the 2024-2025 school year.
That is the highest designation a school district can receive. It’s the first time Putnam County Schools have received the distinction, according to Superintendent Corby King.
“We’ve been an advancing district many times over the years, which is one step below exemplary,” King said. “We know we are doing a lot of good things, that we are providing great opportunities for our students. This is just kind of verifying the work that we are doing. So it’s an honor to be recognized as an exemplary district.”
Nine Putnam County Schools also received reward school status, which, according to King, is the most reward schools the school system has ever had. The nine schools are Algood Elementary, Algood Middle, Burks Elementary, Cane Creek Elementary, Capshaw Elementary, Cornerstone Elementary, Northeast Elementary, Park View School, and Prescott South Elementary.
“We’ve added a few more over the past several years,” King said. “Our teachers are working extremely hard. They are digging into collaborations and time, and working together. Prepping lessons together and our students are the winners for that. We have more students than ever receiving industry credentials, making mid-state honors, and all-state honors in our arts classes, scoring above the 21 benchmark on the AC. We’ve got a really just a great group of students and teachers, educators. There’s some exciting stuff in the Putnam County School System.”
King said two of the schools missed being deemed a reward school by less than a tenth of a point. King said the plan to keep adding schools ot the reward list each year is to focus on where they missed the mark.
“Every group of students are a little bit different,” King said. “Their needs are more, but we look at the data that comes in and we work together. The supervisors, the principals, the teachers, we all work together to see what does this group of students need in order to push them over the hump, to increase opportunities for them, to show success, and to meet expectations or exceed expectations on the exams.”
King said right now, young students may not realize how important their hard work is. King said his message to those young students is to keep working hard, and they will get to reap the rewards later in life.
Putnam County Schools are one of only 14 school districts across the state to receive the exemplary status.
