East Hamilton School, a combined middle/high school located in Ooltewah, TN, was selected to take top honors in both middle and high school divisions for 2009. Hamilton County Board of Education submitted the nomination.

The Tennessee School Board Association (TSBA) gathers school board members from across the state to its annual convention every November. Board members meet to share best practices, discuss trends in public education, and to discuss ways to improve their schools/systems. School boards and board members are also honored for their achievements over the past year.

During its convention, TSBA also recognizes architectural firms for their excellence in design through the TSBA School of the Year Awards. Awards are granted in five categories including new school construction of elementary, middle, and high schools, renovation and the People's Choice Award, which is selected by convention attendees.

East Hamilton School is sited on an eighty-acre tract of farmland in the eastern portion of Hamilton County and is the largest school in the county's 90+ school system. This high growth area now has a community school holding 1650 students in grades 6-12 under one roof. The facility is organized around a 2-story, day-lit spine. This spine runs east to west the length of the building and is flanked by individual wings, or "houses", for each grade. Each wing is color coded to enhance way-finding and security with the high school wings on the north side and the middle school wings on the south side. The shared "community" spaces such as the Cafeteria, 300-seat Little Theater, Music Suite and Media Center are also accessed from this central spine. Two gymnasiums are at the western end of the spine.

"Artech is pleased to be affiliated with the Tennessee School Boards Association and to receive this recognition for our work with the Hamilton County Board of Education," says Project Manager Justin Dumsday, AIA.