A Brief History

With only forty-eight years of existence, the history of Charlotte Park School is brief compared to other schools in Metro Nashville Davidson County. Constructed in 1960, its roots date back to James Robertson, one of the founders of Nashville. When Robertson left the Fort Nashboro settlement to move west he first settled on what is now James Avenue and built a log, dogtrot house. He later built a large brick home formerly at 5904 Robertson Road. It was known as Traveler's Rest and he eventually changed the name to The Richland because of its rich soil.

James Robertson married Charlotte Reeves. They had eleven children and many of those descendants reside in the west Nashville area to this day. The Charlotte Park subdivision, Charlotte Park School and Charlotte Pike were all named after Mrs. Robertson. Robertson Road and James Avenue were named for Mr. Robertson, and it was he who named the nearby creek Richland Creek.

The school is built on land that was part of the 33,000 acres that comprised the Richland farm owned by the Robertsons. Anecdotally, it is said the Robertsons lived in the log house while the brick mansion was being built. At the same cabin, a panther sprang lightly through the door one night as Charlotte watched in despair without moving a muscle. It left as quietly as it came. When her husband returned that winter night, he tracked the animal in the snow and killed it. Coincidental though it may be, the Panther was chosen as the mascot for Charlotte Park School.

Charlotte Park School, located in the Charlotte Park subdivision, opened serving grades 1-6 under the direction of Mr. Eugene Mangrum as principal. As the area grew, six additional classrooms were added in 1963 and again in 1970 a new annex/open space concept building was constructed to accommodate seven more classrooms. It was this new concept that attracted visitors from New York to Washington State. Mr. Mangrum encouraged active parental involvement from the PTA. Charlotte Park's PTA was the first in Metro Nashville Davidson County to air condition all classrooms in a school.

During his twenty-four year tenure, Charlotte Park was chosen as the pilot school for the middle Tennessee area for the Right to Read Program. It was Charlotte Park that helped set the standard for the program that would later be implemented in nearby counties. Mr. Mangrum retired in 1984.

Under the leadership of the new principal, Dr. Ray Scott, the school saw a major change in the student population. The school was integrated in the 1970’s adding the Preston Taylor Homes students to the Charlotte Park family. The grade structure was changed to K-4 and the number of black students significantly increased. Many additions would support the recognition received by the school from the State of Tennessee as an “Exemplary School - Basic Skills First Programs” in 1986 and again in 1989. Charlotte Park participated very closely with Vanderbilt University's PROACT and FAST TRACK projects. Numerous grants used for a variety of program enhancements brought enrichment to the curriculum.

Dr. Rob Sasser became the next principal. Charlotte Park was certified as a Title I school bringing a variety of improvements and program enhancements. The open-space annex was partioned into classrooms and a computer lab was installed. The Brick Layers Union constructed the outdoor marquee. The kindergarten dismissal area received a protective cover.

Dr. Sasser moved to Donelson Middle School in 2000, and Mrs. Juanita Lockert became Charlotte Park's fourth principal. The Preston Taylor Homes were demolished moving those students to other zoned schools. Charlotte Park and H.G. Hill Elementary School were merged. This once again changed the socio-economic and racial make-up of the Charlotte Park family so that by 2001, the school was serving students from eighteen different countries. Ten new classrooms, a gymnasium and the complete remodeling of the office area were completed in 2002. Mrs. Lockert retired in 2003.

Mrs. Janet Murphy served as the Principal of Charlotte Park for four years. Mrs. Murphy was responsible for the introduction of Charlotte Park’s Closed Circuit Television (CPTV), for improving the child-centered physical appearance of the campus and for increasing resource materials and applicable classroom teaching supplies.

Mrs. Angela Vaughn was appointed as the sixth principal of Charlotte Park Elementary School in 2007. Charlotte Park School continues to serve a diverse student body, racially, socio-economically, and culturally. The student body consists of several different nationalities. Some of these include American, Mexican, Honduran, Guatemalan, Salvadorian, Vietnamese, Korean, Kurdish, Iraqi, Chinese, Somalian, and Swiss.