North Middle School is located at the junction of Highways 321 and 70 in Loudon County, which is in East Tennessee. Although this is generally considered a rural community, recent population growth has caused us to move closer to being classified as suburban, especially since we are so close to Knoxville and Oak Ridge.

North Middle School was built in 1978 to serve sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students from the Eaton and Highland Park communities. An addition of six classrooms was built in 1991 due to the increasing student population. As both communities continued to grow, it became necessary to move the fifth graders from the elementary schools to our school; therefore, an intermediate school wing was added in 2003 to house both fifth and sixth grades. Our seventh and eighth grade students were then redistributed throughout our original building. Throughout its twenty-six year history, North Middle School has established a reputation for setting high standards and is continually adjusting its programs and facilities to meet and exceed those standards.

The facilities at North Middle School include a two-wing, flat-roofed brick structure which houses the fifth and sixth grades in one wing and the seventh and eighth grades in the other. The classroom distribution is as follows: nine fifth grade classes, nine sixth grade classes, seven seventh grade classes, seven eighth grade classes, one SED class, two special education classrooms, one music room, one art room, one Spanish classroom, two guidance classrooms, an in-school suspension classroom, a commons/cafeteria area, a kitchen, one gym, one multi-purpose room, two office areas, two teacher workrooms, a clinic, one science lab, a computer lab, a technology lab, a laptop computer lab, and a library. We also have areas set aside for our school psychologist and Discovery teachers to meet with students. Outdoor areas include space for physical education activities and a soccer field, as well as shared use of a full-sized track/soccer field and amphitheater on the Eaton Elementary School campus, which is adjacent to our school.

The environmental and safety conditions of North Middle are a high priority. We take pride in having a clean, safe, and well-maintained building and campus. We have a well-defined school safety plan, which is administered by all staff and faculty, as well as our school resource officer. We also have several handicapped parking spaces, ramps both inside and outside the building, and restrooms that are accessible to the handicapped. We have security cameras to monitor the main entrance and the hallways, and all exits except the two front doors are locked at all times. All staff and faculty have had at least some training in emergency procedures. One faculty member is a certified CPR instructor who has trained several other faculty and staff in after-school classes. The school is regularly inspected by the Fire Marshal and Health Inspector. We also have unannounced fire drills and tornado drills to keep the students updated on what they should do in case of these emergencies. Each teacher has an emergency kit in his/her classroom to be used in case of a lockdown, evacuation, or other emergency situations. This kit includes the class roll for each period, names and phone numbers of parents/guardians, and basic first aid materials. We have a school Safety Committee which meets regularly to discuss ways to improve the safety of our students and aids all faculty and staff in implementing any necessary changes to our safety plan.

North Middle’s school day for students begins at 8:05 A.M. and ends at 3:05 P.M.; faculty and staff are required to work an additional half hour. However, we often have students and/or faculty in the building as early as 7:00 A.M. and as late as 6:00 P.M. doing extra work or participating in extracurricular activities. Students have classes 180 days; teachers work an additional ten days for professional development.

North Middle School is very proud of its seventy-three members of the faculty and administration, 18% of whom are male and 82% female. Seventy-one are Caucasian, one is Hispanic, and one is African-American. Our teachers and administrators have a combined total of 520 years of experience, as indicated by the following data: 11 teachers in their first year, 10 teachers with two to five years, 9 with six to ten years, 8 with eleven to twenty years, 9 with twenty-one to thirty years, and 2 with more than thirty years experience. The educational background of our faculty and administration is exceptional and represents twenty-five different colleges and universities across the country. We have 27% with a Bachelor’s degree, 29% with a Masters’ degree, 12% with an Ed. S, and one with an Ed. D. None of our teachers are teaching outside their area of certification.

North Middle School has a total of 847 students, including 221 in fifth grade, 210 in sixth grade, 201 in seventh grade, and 169 in eighth grade. We have 444 male students and 403 female students. The ethnicity of our students is as follows: 828 Caucasian, 10 Hispanic, 3 Pakistani, and 6 African-American. Only one of our students does not speak English; he receives instruction from the county ELL instructor in addition to regular classroom instruction. We have 21.5% of our students who qualify for free lunch, and 8.2% qualify for the reduced lunch rate. Our attendance rate is 95%. Discipline referrals are minimal, with only 3.19% receiving in-school suspension, 3.76% receiving out-of-school suspensions, and 0% being expelled from school. Our promotion rate is 98.7%, which leaves a retention rate of only 1.3%. We have a low turnover in student population, with only 13% transferring to our school and 18.4% withdrawing during the last school year.

The basic curriculum of North Middle School includes English, reading, science, social studies, and math. Pre-Algebra and Algebra I are also offered in the seventh and eighth grades. In addition, the special area classes include physical education, music, guidance, library, art, technology, and Spanish. Our gifted students attend Discovery Class once a week, where they work on challenging enrichment projects and activities. Additionally, the math department offers pre-algebra and Algebra I classes to advanced math students. Some English and reading classes are also scheduled so that advanced students can be in the same class and work together at a faster pace as they complete a more challenging curriculum.

Students may also choose to be involved in several unique programs, such as sports, clubs, and
other extracurricular activities. The clubs include the following: Animal Behavior Club, Art Club, Beta Club, Breakfast Club, Drama Club, 4H, Kids for Christ, Leo Club, National Junior Honor Society, Sign Language Club, Spanish Club, Young Democrats, and Young Republicans. Sports include baseball, basketball (both junior varsity and varsity for boys and girls), cross country, track, golf, soccer, and swim team. Many other activities are available to the students, including the following: Winter Art Show, Spring Art Show, beginning band, advanced band, concert band, band festivals and clinics, chorus, chorus festivals, cheerleading, dance team, custodial helpers, Duke University Talent Identification Program, Fantasy of Trees, open gym and library nights, extended library hours during the morning and afternoon, Journey North Tulip Project, Journey South Monarch Migration, Knowledge Masters Open, landscaping projects, outdoor science lab, school beautification projects, Science Fair, Geography Bee, Spelling Bee, office assistants, student-led prayer group, Bible study, peer tutoring, Weather Bug Achieve, and yearbook staff. In addition, the guidance department provides opportunities for the students to participate in the following projects and activities: AIDS/HIV education, American Lunch Association of Knoxville, Christmas Angel Trees, Barbizon/Modeling and Personal Development, Be Like Me/Tennessee National Guard, Beyond the Limits, Break the Cycle, Careers/Jobs/Business Owners, Epilepsy Foundation, Fifth Grade Manners, fifth grade orientation and tour of North Middle prior to school opening, high school transition activities, Junior Achievement, Just Wait – Hope Resource Center, Leadership Team, Loudon/UT Extension Office, Loudon County Drug Enforcement Program, Loudon County Foundation, Mental Health Association of Greater Knoxville, National Kidney Foundation, Sixth Grade Star Link-up Club, TCIDS/UT/Career Development, Traveling Trunk/Tolerance/Diversity, UT Athletic Program, Social Skills Team, Military Support Group, organizational skills study, eighth grade girls group, and anger management classes.

The parental and community support for North Middle are outstanding. One indication of this is the fact that about 3% of our students do not live in our community. Their parents choose to bring them here, even though they must provide transportation every day. We also have a very active Parent Teacher Organization that assists the school with monetary and other needs, including scheduling volunteers to help with teacher appreciation events, fund raising, landscaping, and other activities. We also have several parent volunteers working in the classroom to assist both teachers and students. Several businesses in the community also support us by donating money and/or supplies for activities, such as the parent picnic, landscaping program, and recycling program. These businesses include Wal-Mart, Meadowview Nursery, Wampler’s, Hardee’s, Celebration Station, Baskin-Robbins, Wendy’s, Ingles, Food City, Coca-Cola, and Lenoir City Utilities Board.

The area within Loudon County that North Middle serves has a population of approximately 27,500, while Loudon County’s total population is near, 42,000. This northern end of Loudon County has experienced rapid growth throughout the 1990’s, based on the county’s 25% growth during this same period. Our community has a very traditional population. The number of white persons is 95.2%, while the black population is 1.1%. Hispanics make up approximately 2.3%, while American Indian, Pacific Islander, Native American, Hawaiian, and Alaskan each represent less than .5% of the population. The median age within Loudon County is 41 years of age. The average family size is 2.82 persons, while the average household size is 2.42 persons. Most residents in the area fall within the “middle” economic level, with a median income of $40,400.

Currently, there is only one private school in northern Loudon County, which serves students in grades kindergarten through high school. However, there are several private schools in west Knox County, which are within a 15-20 mile radius of North Middle School.

Loudon County enjoys an unemployment rate of just over 3%, which is well below the state and national averages. Loudon County residents are fortunate to have many small businesses, including retail and commercial companies, as well as moderate sized industries, that make up most of the employment opportunities. In addition to the defense plants located in nearby Oak Ridge, other major employers in Loudon County are as follows: Arvin Meritor, Monterey Mushroom, Yale, Kimberly Clark, Strongwell, Viskase, and Staley. These companies employ between 200 and 500 each.

Within Loudon County, including the area that is served by North Middle, 44% of the residents have a school age child/children, which has been an indicator of the growth in student population at the school. (Note: All demographic information is based on the entire county numbers because we are not zoned and therefore serve students from all parts of the county.)