About

Pelham Elementary was founded in the early 1900’s to provide education to the children of the local farmers in the area.  It is believed that Pelham Elementary began as a 1 room school house.  Around the late 1930’s, the building would grow to two classrooms.  The rooms were simply known as, “The Big Room” and “The Little Room”.  “The Big Room would house students in 5th through 8th grade, and “The Little Room” would house students in 1st through 4th grades.  In 1938, the iconic rock wall that still outlines the northwest border of the campus was constructed by the WPA (Workers Progress Administration - Locals called it the “We Piddle Around” program).  At this time, there were several other small rural schools in the area.  They would include:  Elk Head, Paynes Cove, Providence, and Valley Home. Over the years, these structures aged and were in need of repair.  Many of the rural areas within the community lacked the funding to maintain the buildings.  The schools would consolidate to just two locations, the Valley Home School and Pelham School. These locations would remain active for several years. In the 1960’s, the Grundy County School Board made the decision to consolidate down to one school in the valley.  Pelham Elementary was chosen to serve as the educational institute for the children in the Pelham Valley area.  With the consolidation, the board elected to fund the building of a new school in 1969.  While several additions have been made over time, the main section of the school comes from the construction of the 1969 project.

 

Pelham Elementary now serves students from Pre K to 8th Grade.  The enrollment at Pelham Elementary has grown over the years.  During the 1990’s, the enrollment was around 100 students.  Today the school has 140 students. 

 

          There are many benefits that Pelham Elementary offers to its students.  The rich history and the small rural setting have cultivated a family type atmosphere that welcomes all students and parents.  Many of our students are 3rd and 4th generation students. The school is a place where students can feel safe and have an opportunity to learn.  Pelham Elementary has been awarded the Lottery for Education After school Program Grant that offers both intervention and enrichment type activities.  We have an award winning National Jr. Beta Club as well as a school choir that has performed at venues such as “The Caverns” and “First Horizon Park” (Home of the Nashville Sounds).  Students have several extracurricular activities that they can choose to participate in such as:  boys’ and girls’ basketball, girls’ volleyball, cheerleading and 5K running club.

School