RUTHERFORD COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — Tennessee’s fourth largest school district is hosting a hiring fair to help fill roles at multiple schools, including one currently under construction. Saturday’s event at Stewarts Creek High School is all part of the effort to alleviate overcrowding in the Rutherford County School district.
The all-new Poplar Hill Elementary school is set to open next fall in the fast-growing Blackman area. The building along Baker Road is 146,000 square feet with 60 classrooms. Construction is on schedule with plans to open in August 2025 with around 900 children.
“It’s massive as you can see when you drive by but I can’t wait to make it feel like a family and not so massive when we get inside,” said newly appointed principal, Jason Eaton.
He explained that they’re taking student from nearby schools where they’ve had to rezone some students due to overcrowding.
“We’ll be bringing teachers in from those schools as well as new teachers from around the district and that is going to be my number one priority is to bring us together, build a culture that feels like a family, a place where we can really inspire kids, empower them to become leaders,” said Eaton. “We are overcrowded. If you drive by any school across the county, more than likely you’re going to see portables behind schools. This is going to alleviate some of that in order for students to feel like they’re a part of something that belongs to them rather than having to squeeze into classrooms, have overcrowded places. They’ll get to come here and be free to be creative and teachers can feel the same.”
And district leaders are hiring for all kinds of roles – kindergarten through fifth grade teachers, physical education, special education, and library staff.
The in-person career fair is at Stewarts Creek High School Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. The district also offers signing bonuses for hard-to-fill positions, such as ESL, special education, math and science. They’re also hiring for support roles, including cafeteria workers and custodians.
Job candidates can explore various opportunities within the district including the Rutherford Teach Now program.
“You can go start teaching as long as you have a bachelor’s degree, and then we can walk you through the rest of it. We’ll have our career people there to help walk you through it. And it is truly transformational for us as a district,” said Director of Schools Dr. Jimmy Sullivan. “It is very low cost. You don’t have to worry about going and getting through the extra processes of getting an additional degree, but it helps people that have a career and they’re just missing that pedagogy of, ‘how do I teach a kid?'”
Follow this link to learn more about the Rutherford Teach Now program.
