Two proposed conversion charter schools want to encourage students to look closer at the variety of career choices they have after high school.
Farmington and Siloam Springs school districts have filed letters of intent with the Arkansas Department of Education to apply for charter status for their high schools, starting in the 2015-16 school year.
At A Glance
Conversion Charter School
A conversion school is a public school converted to a public charter school by the State Board of Education. Conversion schools can only draw students from within the school district’s boundaries. Lincoln and Rogers are the only conversion charter schools in Northwest Arkansas. Eighteen conversion charter schools operate in Arkansas.
Haas Hall Academy in Fayetteville and the Arkansas Arts Academy in Rogers are open enrollment public charter schools. Both can draw students from across district boundaries and are run by tax exempt, non-sectarian organizations.
Source: Arkansas Department Of Education
Farmington wants to convert to wall-to-wall career academies built around the school's established agriculture, family and consumer science and business departments, said Clayton Williams, assistant principal.
"It's really a time of opportunity," Williams said. "This is not revolutionary. It's more a structuring and trying to give kids some choices."
If Farmington is successful in gaining a charter, it will be following in the footsteps of Springdale and Bentonville high schools that have established career academies. Springdale's were started more than a decade ago. Fayetteville tried career academies and then switched to small learning centers built around career choices.
Williams said Farmington officials visited Mountain Home High School which had established career academies more than 10 years ago and was one of the first high schools in Arkansas to do so. Students at the two schools communicated via Skype about the career academies last spring, he said.
Siloam Springs wants to provide manufacturing interests in the city with a skilled work force, something those companies have requested, said Jodie Wiggins, assistant superintendent. The city has a broad industrial base including poultry, furniture and wheel manufacturing plants.
The two districts have until Sept. 9 to submit completed applications to the Arkansas Department of Education. A panel of department employees will review the applications before making a recommendation to the State Board of Education, probably in time for its November meeting, Wiggins said.
"There's a huge amount of interest in our industrial and manufacturing base," Wiggins said. The district will have to build student interest starting at the middle school with surveys on career interests, Wiggins said. The campaign to entice students into the program hasn't been developed.
The Siloam Springs plan focuses on electrical, welding and mechanical skills needed in the industrial maintenance field. The district needs a separate space for a vocational laboratory, Wiggins said.
Superintendent Ken Ramey wants the charter to allow the district to use members of industry to provide up-to-date curricula, training and support in a real world setting, according to the letter of intent.
"The charter school will give students the opportunity to graduate from high school with a value-added diploma that demonstrates they have skills necessary to pursue immediate employment or future education and training," according to the letter.
One part of the plan is to have students seek certifications in the different fields. The program will be open to 11th- and 12th-graders, who spend a half day in class and a half day in vocational training.
"We're not talking about production line jobs," Wiggins said. "These would be entry level skilled jobs with decent wages and a future of advancement."
Wiggins envisions this type of programming extending to other career programs offered at the school, such as food science or medical professions.
The other conversion charter schools in Northwest Arkansas are in Lincoln and Rogers. They are both affiliated with a national program called New Tech that emphasizes project based learning in a technology-rich curriculum. The goal of the New Tech program is to teach students to problem solve and become lifelong learners.
Students in Farmington have several career choices tied to each of the school's departments, Williams said. For example, careers in medical professions, service and education could be included in the family and consumer sciences academy, he said. The Environmental and Spatial Technology program or science, technology engineering and mathematics careers could be included in the vocational agricultural academy.
Students in 10th through 12th grades will be able to select an academy based on their career interests, Williams said. The academy concept was included in the design of the new school, he said.
The purpose of a charter is to get waivers from state requirements for school operations.
Williams said they want a later start time to accommodate an hour of remediation. They also want to create mentor groups with professionals, create service projects tied to project based learning and get help from business partnerships to develop curriculum.
Jon Purifoy, Farmington High School principal, said the work force has become so specialized. He wants to see students get more on-the job training and have more professionals in the classroom.
"It's different, but not revolutionary," Williams said. "Fifty percent of our students may go to college, but 100 percent will go into a career. Their career starts here."
NW News on 08/11/2014