The Williamson County Board of Education approved the name of two future elementary schools during their Feb. 20, 2023 meeting, one of which will honor the county's first African American principal.
Amanda H. North Elementary was unanimously approved by the board and will be located on Wilkes Lane and is expected to open in August 2023.
According to WCS, North was a lifelong educator who began her teaching career in 1934 at Boxy Valley School, later serving as principal at Thompson’s Station’s grade 1-8 African American school and teaching adult education classes at Natchez High School.
North graduated from Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial State College, which later became known as Tennessee State University.
“I am delighted that the Williamson County Schools Board honored Mrs. Amanda North by naming the school after her,” Williamson County Historian Rick Warwick told The News.
“Mrs. North was a matriarch of a family of highly respected teachers. She began teaching in the 1930s when Black teachers were only paid half the salary of White teachers. Their one-room classrooms were substandard with no running water, only a wood stove, no electricity, and sometimes no outdoor privy. Mrs. Amanda North was dedicated to teaching her students with what she had. I know her family appreciates this honor.”
African American Heritage Society of Williamson County President Alma McLemore called North an “education icon” and said that the announcement was “a great moment and a great time in our community and our country's history.”
“The Williamson County School system as well as the Franklin Special School District has benefited tremendously from Mrs. North’s dedication, love and commitment to education, as there have been four generations of educators from Mrs. North’s family since she began teaching in 1934,” McLemore told The News.
Family members and descendants of Williamson County educator Amanda H. North pose for a photo following the Feb. 20, 2023, Williamson County Schools board meeting which approved the naming of Amanda H. North Elementary School which is set to open in Fall 2023.
“We must appreciate those who have gone before us, share their stories and honor them for these are the legacies that are created that give hope to our youth and others in our community and to encourage them to go above and beyond as Mrs. North did. She is very deserving of having the school named in her honor.”
The name beat out the other proposed option, North Star, which would have combined North’s name with that of Star Pointer, “the first horse in a harness to run a mile in under two minutes” which was born on a farm neighboring the school property in 1889.
Several community members spoke in favor of naming the school in honor of North, including members of community group One Wilco, some of whom spoke against the suggestion that North’s name even appear in a shared name with an animal.
A second school set to open on Cox Road in 2026 was also named, with the board unanimously approving the name Arrington Elementary School.
According to the WCS agenda, the name honors the Arrington community which it will serve and was the “top choice of those who provided community input to the naming community.”
Other proposed names were Patton Elementary School and Arrington Creek Elementary School.
The board also unanimously approved the transfer of $580,000 out of the district’s Rural Contingency Fund to “complete the supplies and materials cost” for the school buildings that are still under construction.
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