History

The History of Caton's Chapel School

    Caton's Chapel Elementary School is located in the Caton's Chapel Community on Bird's Creek Road. The school sits on a hill overlooking fields and mountains that were once farm and pasture land but have now given way to subdivisions and commercial rental properties as the school lies near the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. In the early 1900's school was originally held in the Caton's Chapel Methodist Church where the Caton family whom were early leaders in the church and school donated the property for this use. School enrollment records show that in 1927, Caton's Chapel Elementary School had a total of 89 students.
    In the mid 1950's, Reverend Sheldon Ogle donated the property where the present school is located. The original structure still serves as part of today's school building. Although drastically renovated, this original section of the school is still recognizable to its former students. This section provides a sense of history and nostalgia for its former students and faculty and instills a sense of pride and belonging for this once small community school.
    Caton's Chapel Elementary School's enrollment grew in number as several smaller neighboring community schools closed their doors. These schools included Williamsburg, Shady Grove, Richardson's Cove, Oldham's Creek (Boogertown), Mountain View (Locust Ridge), and McMahan School (Pearl Valley).
    The core of the present school was built in the mid 1950's. Two classrooms were added in 1985. However, our school's appearance was changed dramatically in October of 1990 when a 1.75 million-dollar building addition was completed. Overcrowded conditions resulted in two more classrooms to be added consecutively in October of 1993, March of 1995, January of 1996, and December of 1997. In the spring of 2003, a new expansion was completed to our school. The expansion included eight new classrooms that house grades 5 through 8 and one office for our special education. Due to expected growth of the Caton's Chapel Community, the Sevier County School System has purchased the land to the right of Caton's Chapel Road for future growth and development.