Shook School Traffic Control

Shook School Traffic Control. . This overhead stop and go light was mounted over Main Street in Tracy City at 14th Street to control the traffic to and from James K. Shook School located on the hill between 12th Street and 14th Street., Shook School was the stateliest landmark in Grundy County. The building was brick elaborately trimmed with Kentucky sandstone. There were eight large recitation rooms, each with the capacity to seat fifty students. There was an auditorium, seated with four hundred opera chairs. The floor of the auditorium sloped into a Shakesperian style stage. There were also two small rooms used for a music room and library., The school opened for the fall term 1890. The students were prompted from grade to grade on reaching an average of 75% as disclosed by two written examinations, one at the end of each five months. The object of the school was to fit the students for the practical affairs of life and to train them to think and reason for themselves. Neatness, promptness, accuracy, faithfulness to duty, and development of a high sense of honor in the habits of the students was the goal of the curriculum., The first 8th grade class was graduated in 1892; the first 10th grade class in 1895; the first 11th grade class in 1915, and the first 12th grade class in 1920. The last high school class to graduate was the class of 1928; thereafter the school reverted to an 8th grade curriculum that continued until May 22, 1976 when the building was razed by fire of an arsonist, a major loss to the community and its citizens.