Burks Elementary School

10/06/2026

3rd grade wrapped up their unit on Animal Classification with a true zoologist task! 🧑‍🔬 Students put their knowledge to the test as they classified a frog, pigeon, snake, bearded dragon, tree frog, bullfrog, fish, and wild hog. 🐠 🐸 🐦 🐍
Using the characteristics they’ve learned throughout our unit, students determined whether each animal was a reptile, amphibian, mammal, bird, or fish. They did an amazing job putting their learning into action! 👏

10/02/2026

Our 5th graders had a blast today visiting The American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. It is an interactive science museum that highlights the history of the Manhattan Project and advances in energy and nuclear technology. It’s evident they had fun and learned a lot!

10/02/2026

Dr. Buttrum is Burks Elementary's Teacher of the Year!

Dr. Buttrum goes above and beyond every single day to foster an inspiring, welcoming, and engaging learning environment. He has been absolutely instrumental in building our Monterey’s band program, giving our students an incredible creative outlet and teaching them the power of teamwork and dedication. Dr. Buttrum’s passion and commitment make him a true asset to our entire school family.

We are so proud to have you at Burks, Dr. Buttrum—thank you for making a difference in the lives of our students every day!

10/02/2026

We are thrilled to announce that Heather Tinch, principal of Burks Elementary School, has been named the 2026-27 Tennessee's Principal of the Year! Thank you, Heather, for your unwavering dedication to your students and staff.

09/28/2026

09/25/2026

Burks students and staff participated in a kindness challenge this week. We had so many kind acts completed, and it brought so much joy! We’re so proud of all our kiddos and staff for all the kind acts they regularly do! 💜

We want to give a special shout out to our wonderful PTO for sponsoring the prizes for our kindness challenge winners! Keeley won a Blizzard, and Ms. Tabitha won a Mad Dash Coffee!

09/19/2026

It was HOT, but that didn’t stop our Panthers from making our first-ever Panther Prowl an incredible day!

Our students ran, walked, cheered, laughed, and showed plenty of Panther spirit from start to finish. We are so proud of them—and so thankful for everyone who helped make this new tradition such a success.

A very special THANK YOU to our parents and volunteers who gave their time to lend a hand, keep things running smoothly, and cheer on our Panthers. Having you there made the day even more special, and we truly appreciate the way our families and community show up for our school. We are grateful for our Burks PTO for making this event happen!💜

What a great way to kick off a new Burks tradition!🐾

09/19/2026

Our Panthers brought the lights, camera, ACTION this week as we celebrated MHS Homecoming with a Hollywood-themed Spirit Week! From celebrities and movie-inspired looks to showing off our Panther pride, our students and staff went all in and made the week so much fun!

We love seeing our halls filled with creativity, laughter, and school spirit. There’s nothing quite like being a Panther! 💜🐾

09/18/2026

Tomorrow!!
We hope to see you at the Panther Prowl!

09/15/2026

We are celebrating great attendance again this year at Burks! The PreK - 3rd grade classes with the best attendance for the month of August were Mrs. Kayla and Mrs. Jessica’s PreK!! The 4th - 6th grade class with the best attendance for the month of August was Mrs. Key’s 5th grade homeroom!! PreK celebrated with popsicles, and the 5th graders had a candy salad party. Way to go!!