Demographic Information: 
Fentress County School System

Location and History

Fentress County is one of 95 counties in Tennessee and located in a rural area of the Upper Cumberland on the picturesque Cumberland Plateau.  The county sits on the eastern most section of Middle Tennessee and is bordered by Pickett County (north), Scott County (east), Morgan County (southeast), Cumberland County (south), Overton County (west) and Putnam County (southwest).

The Tennessee General Assembly created Fentress County from parts of Overton and Morgan Counties on November 28, 1823.  The county was named in honor of James Fentress, the Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives, who had assisted in passing the enabling legislation for the new county.

The City of Jamestown was established in 1828, five years after the County of Fentress was established.  Jamestown was incorporated as a city in 1837.  Both Fentress County and the City of Jamestown are named for prominent local politician James Fentress.

Community and School District Demographic Data

Fentress County is 499 square miles in area and is home to over 17,000 people (99% White, 0.4% Black, 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native and 0.1% Asian, with
approximately 25.0% of the population living below the poverty line).

• STUDENTS:  98.8% White; 0.4% Black or African American; 0.4% Hispanic; 0.2 Asian and 0.04% American Indian.  The Free and Reduced Lunch population is 76%.

• FULL-TIME STAFF:  100% White

Demographic data reflects a growing student population and a greater number of students receiving free and reduced lunch benefits.  Student membership has increased from 2,215 students during the 1997-1998 school year to 2484 students during the present school year.  As of January 2010, 76% of students qualify for Free/Reduced Lunch.  That number is 1% increase since September 2009 and a 3.2% increase since 2007-2008.  Approximately 1% of our students are in the Gifted Program and 11% participate in S