Baton Elementary School

Baton Elementary School was established in 1915 in the Baton community, North Catawba Township. It is located off of Connelly Springs Road. The Baton community lies between Cajah Mountain and the Catawba River.

Prior to 1900, the community had two schools (Lutz and Bean), three churches (North Catawba Baptist, Mountain Grove Baptist and Union Grove Baptist), and one store, which was a two story building with a post office. Few homes were in the area.

With the turn of the century, large farms with large families lived in the area and there came a need for a larger school to serve the children. In 1915, Lutz and Bean schools were consolidated and a larger building was built in the center of the community on land donated by William J Bean and Waitsel M Smith. Both men served on the school board for many years.

The first structure was a white wooden structure with three large classrooms, with folding doors connecting/separating them, a stage, a large foyer, two cloak rooms, a library and a storage room. The classrooms could be joined by opening the folding doors, leaving the stage in the middle to create a large auditorium. At that time, it was considered one of the best school buildings in the country. The school house became the center of the community's society as public debates, literary contests, plays and performances, and all manner of events were held.

When the school first started, it offered ten grades and had three teachers. The teachers would board with families in the community, often paying rent. Approximately 100 students attended Baton when it began. Students wishing to further their education would often go to Rutherford College in nearby Burke County. Later on, students would go to Hudson High School. In the late thirties, one of the smaller rooms was converted to a classroom and a fourth teacher was added.

In 1941, with the enrollment of 150 students, the need for a newer, larger building was realized and the newer building began its use in September 1942. The new building had six standard classrooms, a library, an auditorium, an office, restrooms, and a lunchroom in the basement. During World War II, sixth grade boys acted as custodians, arriving at the school at 4am to get the boiler operating so the building would be warm when other students arrived.

As the farms became housing developments, more space was needed. The office and library had become additional classrooms. In 1952, a new west wing was added providing for two more classrooms and a restroom. A new lunch room was built and the old one became a boiler room.

In 1956, four new classrooms and a library were added to accommodate the rising population. The library quickly became another classroom. In 1962, four new classrooms, a science room and a large new lunchroom were built. In 1967, two temporary classrooms were added. In 1971, the auditorium was renovated into a media center. In 1972, the first mobile classroom was added. As enrollment increased, four more mobile classrooms were added.

In 1974, the science storage room was converted to a reading room and a reading specialist was added to the staff. Also added to the staff were a music teacher, a physical education professional and a guidance counselor. All were part-time positions. On 1 Jul 1974, Caldwell County School System and Lenoir City School System merged to create the present Caldwell County Schools. That fall, the first kindergarten class began at Baton.

For the 1977-78 school year, Baton Elementary School began serving Kindergarten through sixth grade. What had previously been Hudson High School became Hudson Middle School and seventh and eighth grade students from Baton, Sawmills, Whitnel and Hudson, as well as ninth grade students now went to Hudson Middle School. Two high schools, South Caldwell and West Caldwell, now served students from Baton.

The building continues to grow to serve more students, as well as upgrade facilities to meet additional educational opportunites.

Principals that have served at Baton Elementary are: