Sell vacant school, district leaders say
Leaders of the Pulaski County Special School District have recommended that the vacant Oak Grove High School be sold to a church organization for use as a community center.
Superintendent Jerry Guess said he will recommend the district accept an offer of $99,000 for the land, contingent on the district retaining school bus parking rights on the property as well as access to the sewer treatment system that is on the high school land but also serves the still operating Oak Grove Elementary School.
The offer is from ThatChurch.com and its senior pastor Scott Harness, who attended Oak Grove area schools, Guess said.
The recommendation is subject to approval from Arkansas Education Commissioner Tom Kimbrell, who has served as the district’s school board ever since the district was taken over by the state in 2011 for financial mismanagement and overspending.
Cleveland to take school-district job
Jared Cleveland, assistant commissioner for fiscal and administrative services in the Arkansas Department of Education for the past year, is leaving the state agency for a job in the Springdale School District.
Cleveland will become the deputy superintendent for personnel in the Northwest Arkansas school system in July. He is a former superintendent in the Lavaca and Magazine districts.
His replacement at the Education Department has not been selected, said Phyllis Stewart, the department’s chief of staff.
PE intructor wins
top eSTEM honor
Johnecia Howard, a physical education teacher at eSTEMPublic Charter Middle School for three years, was named the recipient of the 2013 Vicki Saviers eSTEM Educator of the Year award at the school’s third annual eSTEM Soiree fundraising event.
Howard played a large role in building the school’s athletics and physical activity departments. And in her first year as coach, the high school girls basketball team made it to the final four in the competition for the state 3A championship.
Alyson Shilling was named the eSTEM Elementary School Teacher of the Year. Denies Matlock, a seventh-grade English teacher was named Middle School Teacher of the Year, and La-Trecia Smith, a 10th-grade English teacher, was named the school’s High School Teacher of the Year for 2013.
Glenview teacher
wins NLR award
Natalie Rhodes-Warren, a kindergarten teacher at Glenview Elementary School and a graduate of North Little Rock High School, was recently named the 2013-2014 North Little Rock Teacher of the Year.
A teacher in the system for nine years, Rhodes-Warren earned a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and has two master’s degrees, one in teaching and one in educational leadership, from Harding University.
“I am living my dream as a teacher in the North Little Rock School District,” said Rhodes-Warren. She said that her philosophy of education is, “Never let it rest until your good is better and your better is best.”$7.4 million raised
for Catholic High
Catholic High School for Boys in Little Rock has raised $7.4 million toward its capital campaign goal of $15 million.
The 83-year-old school is in the midst of the renovations financed by the funds. The school renovated its cafeteria, gymnasium and athletic field in the past year. The next round of renovations - to be done this summer - include the replacement of all the windows, the reconfiguration of the lobby and the completion of the track around the new football field. Future plans include renovating the library, the auditorium and all classrooms.
Of the money raised to date, $3.87 million is from alumni contributions and, of that amount, $2.6 million comes from just five classes. The Class of 1986 has donated the most, $1,512,500, followed by the Class of 1980, which has donated $451,500, followed by the Class of 1991, with total donations of $227,150. The classes of 1973 and 1987 round out the top five.
“We are truly humbled by the generosity our alumni have shown,” said Monsignor Lawrence Frederick, rector at the 700-student Catholic High School. “Through their financial support, these men are giving future generations a true Catholic High experience; ensuring they will get the same quality education that has been instilled in men over the last 80 years.”
More information about the capital campaign is available from Anne Carter at [email protected] or by calling 664-4625.
Arkansas, Pages 17 on 05/26/2013