SPRINGDALE — One new school is complete and officially named. Another has a new roof, courtesy of storms earlier in the month. Renovations are complete at other schools and athletic facilities, and a track should be done within weeks.
“We’re ready to kick off another school year,” said Jim Rollins, superintendent of Springdale schools.
The biggest changes of interest to parents, teachers and students takes place in southeast Springdale, where the new Sonora Middle School opens the first time. The recently completed complex, officially named Tuesday by the School Board, sits next to Sonora Elementary School, which opened last year.
At A Glance
Trading Faces
Several Springdale school administrators have changed duties.
Nichole Davis is a assistant principal at Har-Ber High School. She comes to the area from Texas.
Paul Griep, a former assistant principal at Southwest Junior High School, is the Instructional Administrator for the Alternative Learning Environment programs.
Jacob Hayward is an assistant principal at Southwest, replacing Griep.
Source: Staff Report
Road improvement, including a new traffic light at Sonora Road and U.S. 412, could cause some confusion in the first days of the school year, but police will be on hand to direct traffic, said Gary Compton, assistant superintendent for special services.
The traffic light has been installed and will be operational Thursday. Other school signs have been ordered and will be installed later this week.
“We had to wait for the board to actually name the school before we put up the signs calling it Sonora Middle School,” Compton said.
Students at Jones Elementary School shouldn’t notice any ill effects from an early August storm that tore off part of the roof and drenched six classrooms at the rear of the building. Renovation will be complete by the time classes start, and the district’s insurance company will cover the estimated $250,000 in damage.
The new track at Har-Ber High School won’t be complete until mid-September, but is used mostly by sports teams that play in the spring, said Rick Schaeffer, a district spokesman. The indoor practice complex at Har-Ber is complete and being used by several teams, he said.
Springdale High School might also seem a bit more crowded this year. District enrollment figures stood at 19,880 Tuesday morning, up about 600 students from last year. About half the new students will attend Springdale High School, with the rest spread fairly evenly throughout the other schools in the district, Schaeffer said.
Enrollment jumped again Tuesday night, as the board approved two transfer requests from Huntsville. By the start of school, enrollment could break 20,000, Schaeffer said.
By those numbers, the district expects to serve 4 million meals this school year, Compton said.
The district also employs more than 2,100 people this year, 1,300 in teaching positions and 800 support staff.
Other changes include a new health clinic at Jones Elementary School and an EAST lab at Westwood Elementary School and an agricultural lab at Springdale High School.
Once in school, students and parents will also see changes to curriculum and testing as the school transitions from older state standards to a new, national model for learning, said Marsha Jones, associate superintendent.