Charter School A Possibility

SILOAM SPRINGS -- The Siloam Springs High School may have a manufacturing-focused charter school in its future.

The district is considering applying to the Arkansas Department of Education for a conversion charter school that would teach manufacturing trade skills, assistant superintendent Jody Wiggins reported at Thursday's school board meeting.

The proposed school would be a vocational school that would operate inside the high school and would teach topics such as industrial maintenance, welding, hydraulics and electronics.

Two other districts, Pea Ridge and West Memphis, have approval for charter schools that have components similar to what Siloam Springs proposes, said Kimberly Friedman, director of the Department of Education. Both are set to open this fall.

The district has reached out to multiple manufacturers in the area and there has been a lot of interest in the proposed school, Wiggins said. A group of approximately 10 manufacturers in Siloam Springs and the surrounding area have come on board with the idea, he said. The school would meet with manufacturers to get a list of their needs.

"The manufacturers are pretty excited," he said.

NW News on 07/20/2014

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