Education
Until sometime in the 1950s or early 1960s, small 1-room schoolhouse type schools were scattered across the county for the elementary grades, with a single high school located in Taylorsville. As roads improved and the population increased, these were phased out. Eventually all elementary classes were held in the expanded building that housed the high school in Taylorsville. This building is now known as Taylorsville Elementary. The county continued to grow and the need for a new high school became apparent at the end of the 1970s. Ground was broken in the early 1980s at the site of the new school, just across Brashear's Creek on the north side of town, alongside the newly-built highway KY 155/55N. The new high school actually housed grades 7 through 12, and opened in the fall of 1983. The class of 1989 was the first class to complete grades 7-12 in the new facility. By the end of the 1980s, the school had a small addition and during the 1990s a large addition that included a second gym was begun. The new addition was meant to house the middle school grades and give them more separation from the older grades. Until the early 2000s, there were only two public schools in the district: the elementary school (educating grades K-6) and the high school (educating grades 7-12). In 2000, a new elementary school was built, and the district split into a three-school system:
- Spencer County Elementary, housing grades K-5
- Spencer County Middle School, housing grades 6-8 in the oldest facility (the former Taylorsville High School, later housing the entire system until 1983)
- Spencer County High School, housing grades 9-12
Due to the fast growth of the county, a new middle school was built in 2004-05, and a second elementary school took residence in what had been the middle school.
As of 2009, there are five public schools in Spencer County.
- Spencer County High School, located at 520 Taylorsville Road, has an estimated 38 teachers and 880 students. The school building was built in 1982-83. The current principal is Curt Haun.
- Spencer County Middle School, located at 1263 Mount Washington Road adjacent to Spencer County Elementary School, has an estimated 45 teachers and 650 students. The school building was built in 2004-05. The current principal is Ed Downs.
- Spencer County Elementary School, located at 1265 Mount Washington Road, has an estimated 52 teachers and 800+ students. The school building was built in 1999-2000. The current principal is Dale Kleinjan.
- Taylorsville Elementary School, located at 206 Reasor Avenue, has an estimated 25 teachers and 490 students. The school building is the oldest in the district, having been built in 1938. The current principal is Chuck Abell.
- Hillview Academy, located on Main Cross, has an 3 teachers and 48 students. The current principal is Bob Hafendorfer.
Read more about this topic: Spencer County, Kentucky
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