Educational Services

By The Madison Eagle Staff
Published: February 29, 2008

Public Education
The Madison County public school system operates four schools with a total enrollment of 1,844 students.

Madison County High School, grades 9-12, has 641 students and its principal is Mike Sisler.

Wetsel Middle School, grades 6-8, has 412 students, and its principal is David Covington.

Waverly Yowell Elementary, grades 4 and 5, has 386 students, and its principal is Karen Allen.

Madison Primary, grades kindergarten through third, has 452 students (plus 40 Head Start students) and its principal is Dr. James Mathieson.

All schools are in or near the town of Madison.

School division policy is developed by the five-person school board led by Chairman Jeff Early.

The board meets on the second Monday of the month at 7 p.m. and on the fourth Wednesday as needed. The meetings are in the school system’s headquarters at 60 School Board Court (the former Madison Elementary School off Fairground Road.)

Overall administration and supervision of the public school system rests with the division superintendent, Dr. Brenda Tanner, who with the central office personnel and school principals, provides leadership in carrying out school board policies for the day-to-day operation of the system.

Private Education
Cornerstone Christian School, formerly called Madison Christian School, provides Christian education in a wholesome, nurturing environment for 4-year-old, pre-school age through fourth grade students in the 2008-2009 school year. Its headmaster is John Higginbotham. The school has 50-plus students that meet in a temporary location at Good Hope Baptist Church in Radiant, but is expected to relocate as it grows, adding a grade a year until it reaches the eighth grade. Tuition in 2007 had ranged from $125 to $250 per month. Cornerstone admits students of any race, color and national or ethnic origin.

Woodberry Forest School is an all-boys boarding school for students in ninth-12th grades. The headmaster is Dennis Campbell. The rigorous college-preparatory school has a total enrollment of 400 students, and costs $36,200 per year. Financial aid, in the form of scholarships, is available to pay full or partial tuition costs. Woodberry Forest School is located on 1,200 acres of land at the intersection of Routes 15 and 622 on the southern edge of Madison County.