Cookeville and surrounding area (Algood, Monterey: how much, home, job openings)

[TURFNSCAPE]

Does anyone know a contact point for teaching jobs in the Cookeville, Byrdstown, and other areas around Dale Hollow? Florida teacher with 14 years experience in middle school math. Eager to relocate to this area but will definetly need some work. I own a business that will come with us but my wife will need to work also. I am sure you know how much it costs to feed three kids.
Thanks
Steve

[mrradio]

The Putnam County school system has a website where, among other things, they maintain a listing of professional job openings. Google "Putnam County Schools" and you will see at the top a link to "employment".

Good luck in your move to our area!

[TURFNSCAPE]

Thanks mrradio, but for some reason I can't get anything with Putnam County to pull up. I'll try again in a few minutes. How would you rate P.C. schools compared to Overton or other counties in the area?I have also heard that it can be difficult for out-of-towners to land teaching jobs.can you verify that to be true or just a matter of opinion. I understand taking care of our own first, but can we expect a fair shake?
Thanks for the help,
Steve

[JMT]

Originally Posted by TURFNSCAPE

Thanks mrradio, but for some reason I can't get anything with Putnam County to pull up. I'll try again in a few minutes. How would you rate P.C. schools compared to Overton or other counties in the area?I have also heard that it can be difficult for out-of-towners to land teaching jobs.can you verify that to be true or just a matter of opinion. I understand taking care of our own first, but can we expect a fair shake?
Thanks for the help,
Steve

I went to Google and typed "Putnam County Schools" and the web site came up. Here it is:

Putnam County Schools - The schools of Cookeville, Baxter, Monterey, and Algood, Tennessee

It doesn't look like that web site is coming up, but that's probably just a temporary glitch. I've used their web site before, so give it another try tomorrow if it still doesn't work tonight.

Putnam County's school system receives much higher scores on state standardized tests than any of the surrounding school systems. But I have friends who were educated in Overton County and were well prepared for college, too. Don't forget that Cordell Hull, the "Father of the United Nations" was educated in that part of the state.

As far as getting a teaching job there if you're not from Tennessee, I'd have to say that your chances are better in Putnam County than surrounding counties mainly because Putnam County is growing faster and has a lot more people living there from elsewhere.

However, be warned that the university there (Tennessee Tech) has a large School of Education which churns our a bunch of new teachers every school year who are eager to start teaching, and at a low price because they're fresh out of college. If your wife is patient and has good credentials, I'm sure she'll be able to find something. But the key is to not give up hope. If she's not able to get something right away, she might consider volunteering at schools just to get her feet in the door.

Also, there's a lot of belt tightening going on around the state, and the school districts around there have had to make some serious budget cuts as I'm sure most school districts around the country have had to do.

Good luck! You've picked a beautiful part of the state, and I hope everything works out for you.

[TURFNSCAPE]

Thank you JMT, and yes things a really cinching up here in N.W. Florida also.

we have made a trip to TN and can not wait to revisit the area.We are soooooo ready to move but are alittle aprehensive simply because this will be all new to us. I mean, I was raised just across the road from where I live now. I could put all my worldly travels into a 200 mile square box. I have never flown, for that matter I have never even been to an airport. All I know is that my little home town has turned into something I have trouble recognizing. I absolutely love the rural living and those beautiful TN lakes(Dale Hollow).
I have a landscape and low voltage lighting business that I would like to start-up in TN when we move. How many landscapers/lighters are in the Cookeville area? I understand that the Cookeville area is growing, are there enough businesses in the area to support the growth?
Steve