Type Public secondary Principal Michael Reynolds Grades 9–12 Phone +1 865-689-1400 Mascot Bobcat | Established 1906 Faculty 150 Number of students 1,200 District Knox County Schools Founded 1906 | |
Address 5321 Jacksboro Pike, Knoxville, TN 37918, USA Similar Powell High School, Knoxville Catholic High Sch, Knox County Schools Inc, Grace Christian Academy, Webb School of Knoxville Profiles | ||
Central High School is a public high school located at 5321 Jacksboro Pike in the Fountain City neighborhood of Knoxville, Tennessee, operated by the Knox County school system. The school's athletic teams are nicknamed the Bobcats, and its colors are red and black.
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History
Central was formerly located at what is now Gresham Middle School in the heart of Fountain City, which, in the 1960s, was the largest unincorporated community in Tennessee. Its name is something of a misnomer, because it was never located near the center of Knoxville, even when Fountain City was annexed into Knoxville in the early 1960s. The northernmost high school in Knoxville before the annexation of Fountain City was Fulton, and in the county, Powell, Karns, and Halls high schools were farther north.
2008 shooting
On August 21, 2008, 15-year-old student Jamar Siler entered the school cafeteria and approached student Ryan McDonald sitting at a lunch table. Siler fatally shot McDonald, and was arrested by authorities a short time later. The two had been in previous altercations, the details of which were not released to the general public. Siler was then taken into custody.
Siler was initially tried as a juvenile until Tim Irwin, Juvenile Court judge, ordered that he be tried as an adult. In November 2011, at age 18, Siler pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received a 30-year sentence.