Historical Background
Principals' History
East Chester Elementary
Historical Background
Principals' History
East Chester Elementary School was constructed in 1962. An addition of four classrooms was built in 1975. The twenty-six classroom building for grades K-5 was finished in 1975. Later, two portable classrooms were added. A few years later another portable building was added.
East Chester remained K-5 until 1997 when the county elementary schools were reorganized. In August 1997, it became a K-3 school.
Currently, East Chester houses a preschool program for the developmentally delayed along with K-3 students.
East Chester has had 6 principals since its establishment in 1962: Lewis Jones, William Barrett, Linda Patterson, Randle Fenimore, Nancy Hemby and Melinda Parker.
East Chester's Principals
Our current principal, Melinda Parker, began her teaching career here at East Chester in 1985 as a second grade teacher. She remained in this position until the fall of 1989 when she moved to 5th grade at East Chester. In 1992 she became a 21st century classroom teacher. In 1997, she moved to the newly organized Chester County Middle School where she was a teacher in a multimedia technology center called CRICKIT Lab for grades 4-6. In the fall of 2001, she became East Chester's sixth principal.
She was a state finalist for Tennessee Teacher of the Year for the year of 2000-01. She has also received other awards including: Education Edge Teacher of the Year, Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year, Who's Who Among America's Teachers and Apple for the Teacher Award from WSMV television in Nashville. Mrs. Parker has strong leadership abilities which have been exhibited in the many changes and improvements thus far.
Our Theme
East Chester's theme is based upon the ideas revealed in "Lessons from Geese." The faculty, staff, students, parents, administration and community of East Chester are similar to the V formation of the geese which are flying together to reach a common destination. At East Chester we work together as a team to make our educational experiences positive and successful. Though we may choose different paths to reach our goal, the destination is the same...education. Every individual has a significant and oftentimes changing role to play in helping our team to reach its goal. We "honk" to encourage all of those around us; this enables us to continue to soar. Anytime we hear the honking of Mrs. Parker's horn, we know we are to offer a kind encouraging word or a compliment to someone around us. Finally, we stand by each other in good times and bad times to ensure that everyone reaches his final destination...success in education.
