History:

Cane Creek Elementary School is named after a creek that runs near the property. The area in which the school is located uses the name for many places. Cookeville has a 150-acre park to which we have accessibility to through walking trails. Cane Creek Sports Complex contains softball fields within walking distance. Also, Cane Creek Road is in the vicinity. All these places are named after the creek that runs along this property and empties into the lake at Cane Creek Park.

A farmer owned the property prior to April 1994. He then sold the property to the Putnam County Board of Education for the construction of a new elementary school. During the building stage, it was called Southwest Elementary. Upon completion of the building, however, it was named Cane Creek Elementary. The school opened in August 1995 to alleviate overcrowding in other elementary schools. It was the first elementary school that had been built in Putnam County in over twenty years.

Today:

Cane Creek Elementary is a feeder school to Prescott Central Middle School for grades 5 and 6, followed by Avery Trace for grades 7 and 8, then Cookeville High School grades 9 through 12.

Cane Creek welcomed its current principal, Dr. Donna Shanks, in the fall of 2001. Currently, there are 330 students enrolled in the school, with 33 teachers and 32 support personnel.

Cane Creek Elementary, along with other schools in Putnam County, has been awarded the Governor’s A+ Award for Excellence. In the spring of 2002, Cane Creek Elementary was accredited through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. To achieve accreditation the staff must complete a self-improvement plan annually.

Since we are strategically located in the city of Cookeville, we are fortunate to play a part in training our education majors who attend Tennessee Technological University. By coming into our classrooms, these future educators from all over the United States are given the opportunity to observe teaching strategies on a first-hand basis.

Visitors who enter the building must check in at the office where they will sign their name and time they enter the building. Each visitor receives a visitor’s badge that will be worn at all times while in the building. At the end of their visit, visitors sign out in the office and return their visitor’s badge.