About Bean Station Elementary


         Bean Station Elementary School, a Title 1 school serving around 400 students in grades Pre-K/6, is located in a rural community of Bean Station in the eastern part of Grainger County in East Tennessee. The school was originally constructed in 1913, but was destroyed by fire in 1939. The school was moved to its present site when it was reconstructed in 1940 due to the creation of Cherokee Lake. The new four room school house opened in 1942 and was used until 1967. In 1968, the present main building of the school was rebuilt increasing the number of classrooms to twenty-one. In addition to the classrooms, an office complex, teacher workroom, cafeteria, gymnasium, library, and restrooms were all part of the new school. Due to the increase in student population, a second permanent building was added to the campus in 1978. It originally consisted of six classrooms, an office, restrooms and a playroom. In 1999, fourteen classrooms, restrooms, and a workroom were added to this building almost doubling the classroom capacity of the 1968 building. The two buildings now house thirty-seven classrooms, three special education classrooms, two computer labs, gym, playroom, cafeteria, teacher workrooms, and several offices. In addition to the two permanent buildings, two portable units are used for storage.  
            Dwayne Brabson has been in the role of principal since 2005, but has been in the school for several years as a teacher and assistant principal. Matt Gowan has served as the assistant principal for since 2008. He has taught at Claiborne High School in Tazewell, Tennessee and at Lamar High South in South Carolina.
                    The environment and safety conditions of Bean Station Elementary School are a high priority as the faculty and staff takes pride in having a clean, safe, well-maintained campus. There are several handicapped parking spaces and restrooms that assist in ease of access to the building. School safety is maintained through the implementation of the county-wide safety plan, which is administered by all staff, faculty, and school resource officer. Security cameras monitor all entrances and hallways. All entrances are locked at all times with access to the front doors is monitored by camera and staff controlled magnetic locks. The school is regularly inspected by the Fire Marshall and Health Inspector. Disaster preparedness is maintained through unannounced fire drills, tornado drills, and emergency lock down drills. The school safety team meets regularly to discuss ways to improve the safety of our students.
            As of last count, Bean Station Elementary School has thirty-seven certified personnel that make up the faculty and administration, 13% of whom are male and 87% female. Our teachers and administrators have a combined total over 800 years of experience. The faculty and administration hold a variety of degrees. We have 35% with a Bachelor’s degree, 24% with a Master’s degree, 3% with Master's degree plus 30 hours, 35% with and Educational Specialist Degree, and 3% with a Ph.D.  None of our teachers are teaching outside their area of certification, and 100% are highly qualified.