State's Largest Rural School Grows

By Jenna Lee Stevens

Approximately 130 students more students enrolled at Cookeville High School this year compared to the previous year. Each grade level, even the pre-school, experienced enrollment increases for the 2012-2013 school year. Currently, 519 seniors, 525 juniors, 619 sophomores, and 542 freshmen attend CHS.

By Blake Gentry

"The sophomore class is obviously larger this year which is unusual as the freshmen are usually the largest of the classes.  Why is anyone's guess," explained Mr. Keith Brown. In a school accommodating 2,231 students, certain enrollment concerns exist. Of course, budget constraints continue to affect the school each year. Enrolling more students calls for various adjustments. For instance, creating schedules and managing class sizes for such a large number of students are challenging tasks at CHS. More students may also require more lockers per grade; this year, several seniors were assigned to junior lockers simply because the enrollment increases. Ms. Debbie George stated, "We do have increased enrollment each year, which means our community is growing, and we will eventually need to have two high schools in Putnam County." She also suggested that zoning the high schools might be a more economical solution.