A HISTORY OF CASCADE SCHOOL
On April 17, 1972, Bell Buckle School burned. The students from Bell Buckle then had to finish the school year in the Wartrace High School building. Soon students from Bell Buckle, Deason, Normandy, and Wartrace were all attending one school.
A controversy developed because most of the school board members wanted to follow the trend set by most of the surrounding county systems and build one, large high school centrally located in the county and have elementary and junior high schools spread across the county. Two board members from Bell Buckle and Wartrace, Mr. Kenneth Phillips and Mr. Ivan Field, wanted to combine the Wartrace and Bell Buckle schools and keep the school part of the community. The controversy was finally settled with the compromise to locate the school between the two towns. In 1974 a new $25 million building was built between Wartrace and Bell Buckle and in September of 1976 the students moved in. The school was built to accommodate 750 students: 400 for high school and 350 for elementary.
The student body decided to name the school Cascade after Cascade Springs which supplies water to the towns of Normandy, Wartrace, and Bell Buckle. The colors were a combination from each school. The black from Wartrace, the white from Bell Buckle and gold, red, and blue from both schools were combined to give bright orange. The mascot was chosen because of the many Tennessee walking horses in the area and the annual Tennessee Walking Horse National Championships held in nearby Shelbyville. The student body selected the name "Cascade Champions."
Mr. Marvin Whitaker was the first principal of Cascade School and served until 1984. Mr. Hal Skelton, who as principal of Wartrace High School was the youngest principal in the state of Tennessee, served as principal of Cascade from 1985 until 1994. The current principal, Mr. Terry Looper, is the first African-American principal in Bedford County since schools were integrated in 1965.
Cascade School strives for academic excellence and has had above state and national averages on the ACT for a number of years. The seven period schedule allows students to sample a wide variety of academic and vocational courses.
In 1983, overcrowding began to be a problem. At the present time, a new K-5 elementary school is under construction. The fall of 1997 will see the formation of two schools: a K-5 elementary school and a 6-12 middle and high school.