809 E B St
Elizabethton, TN 37643

Elizabethton City Schools is awful! As a parent of a former student, I can personally attest to the fact that there is no support for parents or students. This is especially so when the students are discriminated against.

My son has been at this school for 2 years now and at first it seemed like a pretty good school, but as time went on I realized this school doesn't really do what they say they will do when you go to the welcome orientation at the beginning of each year, my son has never gotten in trouble or had a grade lower than a B since he's been in school until he started T.A Dugger Jr high, he says he doesn't feel safe in the school because other kids talk about shooting the place up and kids bring weapons to school and when reported nothing gets done. My son was getting bullied by some kids and when he stood up for himself he got suspended. The principal told a completely different story than what my son and some other kids told me that hadn't even talked to my son. I've heard from several different parents that they have experienced the same thing with their kid (s). I really think this school needs to take the safety of our children more seriously than they do, regardless if the threat is real or not I believe they should treat all threats as if they were real, and the bullying needs attention as well, how can a kid focus on their education if they feel unsafe in any way or they are being bullied by another student or staff member.

My children have thrived at this school. If you are looking for the right place for a child with special needs, West Side special ed staff will go above and beyond to accommodate your child. Between my 3 children, we’ve had a great experience with about 80% of the teachers. My only issue with a few is that they don’t make it easy to reach them if there’s a concern. Most of them use the Remind app and will respond almost immediately, which is comforting as a parent. Whenever we’ve had concerns, whether it’s about academics, behaviors, grades, peers, etc., we’ve always been able to have a meeting in-person with teachers/staff and come up with a plan to address the problem. As a whole, the support and responsiveness we’ve received at this school has been incredibly meaningful in my children’s academic, social, and behavioral development. The principal is fantastic and truly cares about every child there. The vice principal is very involved with the kids and every staff member seems to know every single child’s name. We’ve been very happy here.