School is in Session!

G. H. Givens announces school start date as September 4, 1935

We take the Russell County Schools for granted. But the school system we know took over a century to evolve. School commissioners were first appointed for Russell County in 1818; at that time the commissioners directed the schools. Russell County included what is now Wise, Buchanan, and Dickenson counties. In the 1840s the court laid out school districts under order of an act of the General Assembly. Several public and private schools served Russell County in the last half of the 1800s.

In 1870 a school system directed by a superintendent came into being. But the district boards cooperated with the county superintendent to manage school business until 1922. The present system of a county school board was enacted by state law in 1922.

In the 1930s the school board was appointed by the Trustee Electoral Board (who were appointed by the Judge of Circuit Court.) The school board, the superintendent, and the clerk of the board were the only members of the school administration!

In honor of the newly appointed superintendent, Dr. Kimberly Hooker, here's a list of the superintendents.

E. D. Miller
D.C. Alderson
M. C Clark
W. J. Kendrick
William L. Patton
H. W. Fugate
R. N. Anderson
G. H. Givens  1928-1965
Alex Levicki  1965-1971
Omer Elkins  1971-1973
A.P. Baldwin  1975-1976
David Musick  1976-1979
Charles Long  1979-1985
Larry Massie  1985-2000
Dr. Lorraine Turner  2000-2010
Dr. Michael Puckett  2010-2012
Dr. Brenda Hess  2012-2016
Dr. Gregory Brown  2016-2022
Dr. Kimberly Hooker  2022-

Posted by Kelly McBride Delph

School Memories and Teacher Appreciation Week

Photos of old Russell County schools

Since it's Teacher Appreciation Week, we have a suggestion. Call that teacher you remember fondly from your school days. Call that teacher who was so hard on you, because s/he believed you could do more than you thought you could. 

Teachers make us think of schools, so we also want to highlight the history of Russell County Public Schools. In the first half of the 20th century, most schools in Russell County were one- or two-room frame buildings. In 1930, for the white population, there were 81 schools. Seventy-two were elementary schools, and while no elementary school had more than five teachers, 43 schools had only one teacher! The five high schools were Cleveland, Dante, Honaker, Lebanon, and Temple Hill (Castlewood.)

In 1930, there were four elementary schools for African American children and no high school. One school serving these children was the Arty Lee School in Dante. It was named after Artemus 'Arty' Foster and Lee Long. Arty Foster, an African-American community leader, is credited with convincing Long, Clinchfield Coal Company vice-president, to build the school. High school grades were not added until about 1940. In 1953 a new Arty Lee School was opened that contained all eleven grades.

When they added the high school grades at the African American school in Dante, African American students were bused from Lebanon, Castlewood, and adjoining counties (as contract students.) In the middle of the century, Virginia and the Southwest Counties had high drop-out rates. Arty Lee School helped address this issue.

During May we will feature photos of some of the old schools on our social media accounts. Stop by the Lebanon Library where we will have a large frame with pictures of many of these schools.

Do you have memories of a school that has been closed? Share them. Time marches on, but the memories remain. And give that teacher a call.

Posted by Kelly McBride Delph