Hendersonville High School is one of three public high schools located in Hendersonville, Sumner County, Tennessee. The Hendersonville High School is part of the Sumner County Schools district. Two middle schools feed into Hendersonville High: Ellis Middle School and Hawkins Middle School.
Hendersonville participates in 6A level sports as a part of the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association, and maintains athletic programs including track, swimming, softball, bowling, baseball, wrestling, golf, hockey, soccer, football, cross country, marching band, and basketball. The school has rivalries with Gallatin High School, Beech High School and Station Camp High School.
Family Circle magazine gave Hendersonville High School a gold star for 315 seniors who logged around 20,000 hours of community service. As of 2026, Hendersonville has an "above average" 7/10 rating on greatschools.net.
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History
The school was founded in Hendersonville, Tennessee in 1941. The school's colors have been black and gold ever since the first Commando football team was established right after its founding, when the Vanderbilt University football program provided the first Commando football team with older, used jerseys. The black and gold colors have remained ever since. Hendersonville is known as the Commandos because 54 men were sent to fight in World War II.
Taylor Swift attended the school until she left to begin homeschooling. After Swift donated funds to refurbish the auditorium's lighting and sound equipment, the auditorium was renamed "Taylor Swift Auditorium" in her honor.
Demographics
As of 2026, Hendersonville High School has a student population of 1,410 that is 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.6% Native American, 2.3% Asian, 2.9% multiracial, 10.9% black, 11.8% Hispanic, and 71.3% white.
Athletics
Sports and state titles:
Baseball
Boys' Basketball
Girls' Basketball
Boys' Bowling 2002, 2003, 2004
Girls' Bowling 2008, 2009
Cheerleading 1997, 1998, 2001, 2008, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2019
Boys' Cross Country
Girls' Cross Country
Football
Golden Girls Dance Team
Boys' Golf 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014
Girls' Golf
Boys' Soccer 1989, 1998, 2010
Girls' Soccer
Softball
Boys' Tennis
Girls' Tennis
Boys' Track 1974, 1975, 1976, 1989, 1990
Girls' Track 1985, 1993, 2004, 2005
Wrestling 1993, 2004, 2006
Dual Wrestling
Girls' Wrestling
Volleyball
Football
Hendersonville's home football games are held at Paul Decker Field. The on-campus stadium is named after retired principal Paul Decker, and has a capacity of 5,500 spectators. Before home games, players walk around the field in what is known as the "Commando Walk". In inclement weather, the Commandos practice in the Steven Chaussey field house, a 60 by 40 yard (55 m by 37 m) practice facility. They also work out in their workout facility called the "Iron Bunker".
Cheerleading
For the first time ever, Hendersonville High School won the National cheerleading champions in 2021.
Soccer
The Hendersonville High School boys' soccer team has won five Tennessee State Championships: 1983, 1986, 1989, 1998, and 2010. Hendersonville Soccer also has a soccer-specific facility, called "The Field of Dreams", located in Drakes Creek Park.
Swimming
Hendersonville High School swimming has had over 37 swimming All-American performances over the past decade. Swimming has produced more All-Americans than all other sports combined at Hendersonville High School.
Ice hockey
The HHS Ice Hockey team was established in 2000. The first coach was Chris Morris, who was followed by the current coach Tim Rathert. The HHS Commandos have qualified for the state tournament, the Predator's Cup, for the past five years. They play in the Greater Nashville Area Scholastic Hockey league. In 2011, they represented GNASH and state of Tennessee at the USA Hockey High School national tournament, held in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Notable alumni
Josh Berry, NASCAR driver
Zac Curtis, professional baseball pitcher
DeWayne Dotson, retired football player
Steven Fox, golfer, 2012 U.S. Amateur champion
Rachael Price, lead singer of band Lake Street Dive
Thomas Richardson aka, Tommy "Wildfire" Rich, professional wrestler
Taylor Swift, Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, attended Hendersonville High School for two years
James Wilhoit, professional football kicker
Joejuan Williams, professional football defensive back