History / Fair Garden's History

Fair Garden's History

Fair Garden Elementary School, a Knoxville City School, was built in 1916 to serve children grades K-8 in the East Knoxville Burlington Community. In its later years, Fair Garden became a K-5 school and continued as an elementary school. In 1987, Knoxville City and Knox County Schools Systems merged to become a single school district. It is now known as Knox County School System. With this merging, many changes followed, including the closing of Fair Garden Elementary School in 1990.

The building sat idle for a year before a Chapter 1 Visionary Committee was formed to help determine how best to utilize the facility. The group, composed of business and community leaders, parents, and educators, decided to develop a Family Community Resource Center. It was to be a "one stop shopping center" to meet the needs of the community. In 1993, renovations were made to bring the building into compliance with ADA standards and Department of Health Services licensing requirements. Fair Garden is presently licensed through the Tennessee Department of Education. Fair Garden Family and Community Service Center facility, a Title 1 Program, located at 400 Fern Street in East Knoxville, was designed to broaden the scope of services to accommodate the total family.

The program offers educational and supportive services for Title 1 eligible preschoolers, ages three through five. Parents, senior citizens, and the community are vital to the school's mission to SERVE CHILDREN, EMPOWER PARENTS, STRENGTHEN FAMILIES, and SUPPORT COMMUNITIES.