• Putnam County Senior High

    (1966 - 1981)

    The continued growth of Cookeville in the 1960s led to calls for the construction of a new senior high school for grades 10-12.  The construction of this new school, located on Highway 70 East, was plagued by various disputes and even litigation between contractors, the school board, and the Quarterly Court.

    The new Putnam County Senior High building was designed in 1963 and was based on a controversial design of hexagonal clusters called ‘pods’ that branched from the school’s main building that housed the gymnasium, cafeteria, and administrative offices.  Students would have to go outdoors to change classes.  All of the pods were equal in size but they did not contain the same number of classrooms.  Some pods had six rooms, some four, and some three.  The pod arrangement allowed them to be departmentalized.  Each pod contained classrooms for only one subject such as math or English.  One pod was an individual building in itself and had its own heating and air conditioning system which was housed on the roof.  This unit controlled the temperature and the air flow for one pod only.  Since it was not tied into one system for the entire building, it could better react to the condition of its pod.  In the center of each pod was a hexagonal room.  This area served as a storage area for equipment and materials and as a working area for the teachers.

    In October 1963, the State Fire Marshall and the State Board of Education approved the plans and an architect was directed to finish the details.  The low bid was over $1,400,000 which exceeded the available funds.  After the contract was let by the school board, the County Court sued to prevent construction.  In March 1964, the cost was lowered to about $1,158,000 by leaving out two clusters and the auditorium construction.  When the Board’s request for $750,000 was refused, the Board voted to sue.  The Board received the $750,000 in September and construction resumed in December.

    On August 27, 1966, Putnam County Senior High School opened with space for approximately 1,000 students in grades 10-12 from the Cookeville and Algood communities.  The staff consisted of one administrator, 35 full-time and 5 part-time teachers.  The pod design, which some citizens said gave the building an “extraterrestrial appearance,” immediately met with the disapproval of many residents.  The school was overcrowded from the opening and the addition of two pods and an auditorium was approved in 1967.  Their cost was said to be about $309,000.  In 1968, Putnam County Senior High School became accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and School. 

    In 1975, PCSHS became a comprehensive high school with the addition of a vocational complex.  Each department studied its course offerings with the idea of completing vocational education for students entering the workforce and enhancing opportunities for the college-bound students. 

    The 1980s saw more changes for the high school.  In 1981, a student-led initiative was successful in changing the school's name from Putnam County Senior High School to Cookeville High School.   

    Sources:

    Brutton, Bobbie (June 3, 2003).  “20th century brought many changes to school system in Putnam County”. Herald-Citizen, Cookeville, Tennessee

    Putnam County Senior High School, The Cavalier Vol. I (1967)