Pea Ridge, Rogers Charter Schools Offer Choices

PEA RIDGE -- High school students are choosing schools with a specialized focus in some Northwest Arkansas districts this spring.

Sophomore Lexi Losey was the first to hand in her application for the Pea Ridge Manufacturing and Business Academy at the school's recruitment meeting Thursday night.

The charter school will be a part of Pea Ridge School District, even sharing some classrooms during the first year. However, students in the academy will take college classwork and work through self-paced core classes online.

Losey, 16, who has been manager for the football, softball and basketball teams at Pea Ridge High School, wants to go into sports medicine. She needs a nursing license to reach her goal and that requires college. If she can get certified as a nursing assistant, she can work through college, Losey said.

"If you wanna go to college, you've gotta pay for it," she said.

Pea Ridge isn't the only district adding a choice in schools. At New Technology High School, which opened last fall in Rogers, students are issued a laptop computer and work on team projects. The Springdale School District will open a technology-focused School of Innovation starting with eighth-graders this fall.

Pea Ridge may draw students from other school districts through the Public School Choice Act if they apply by the March 21 lottery deadline, said Charley Clark, academy director.

Choice is a good option, said Gary Ritter, director of the University of Arkansas' Office for Education Policy.

More options -- smaller arts, science or technology-focused schools within a school district -- means a child will have the best possible match to his or her interests, Ritter said.

Students need to draw a connection between what they learn in school and the future, he said. The "because I said so" approach to learning isn't cutting it, Ritter said.

Offering choices is a risk for school administrators who have to juggle schedules and find money to run the programs without knowing if parents will join in. School districts, especially successful ones, aren't required to make that effort.

"This is a non-safe, gutsy move," Ritter said.

Parents might hesitate to commit to a new idea the first year, Ritter said. Students might jump on an idea at first, then decide it isn't for them, he said. The good ideas will stick if there are choices.

Charter schools not affiliated with a school district face difficulties in recruiting, Ritter said. Because Northwest Arkansas doesn't have a lot of diversity in charter schools, parents sometimes pick them simply because they are small.

Size is part of the appeal for Hope Lindner, a freshman at New Technology.

"You get to know everybody, and everybody is your friend," she said.

The school opened with about 280 freshman and sophomores. Teachers know every student's name, Hope said. New Tech is smaller than her elementary school.

Students end up networking together as project teams change, and that helps reduce cliques, Hope said. The size and the projects spur accountability.

"There isn't really an option for you to be lazy or fall back on your group members. That affects everyone's grade," she said.

It's the second year Lance Arbuckle, director, has toured middle schools in Rogers to recruit freshmen. His goal was 150 students with room for 175 this year, but applications came in for 135. Snow canceled some of the parent meetings required for students who turned in an application before the deadline of Feb. 27.

Now he's meeting with parents individually, and next week he'll take current students to recruit eighth-graders at Rogers' middle schools.

He tells parents and students New Tech does school differently. There are no bells. Students use laptop computers instead of books. The school will require students to document volunteer hours and get college credit or take Advanced Placement classes to graduate. Students have a degree of independence, but it comes with responsibility as they put their ideas to the test.

Students routinely come into his office and talk about their ideas to make school a better place, Arbuckle said. That's something he didn't experience during his years at a traditional high school.

"They've really taken to heart that this is their school," Arbuckle said.

A remodel and expansion of the school is in the works so it can accommodate 600 students allowed by its charter. Contractors were scheduled to pour a slab this week before snow fell. The project is on schedule, said Jim White, chief operations officer.

Springdale will open its School of Innovation in The Jones Center for the first two years, said Rick Schaffer, district spokesman. Students will take concurrent credit, have self-paced online classes and school hours will be flexible. Schools of innovation in Arkansas are structured much like a charter school.

"It's not necessarily for the elite student," Schaffer said. "Some kids just aren't made to sit in the classroom eight hours a day."

Pea Ridge students will take core classes through a program called iSchool, but that will only be half their day, said Clark. Half their day will be spent in the school's five career pathways: logistics management, health care management, sales and broadcasting, plastic and metal fabrication and industrial technology. During pathway hours, they'll take college classes as concurrent credit, and have a hands-on lab time. The school's eight community partners will guide teachers on what students need to learn to have jobs when they graduate.

The academy has commitments from Walmart, Bekaert, Mercy Health Systems, KHBS/KHOG, Nunnally Chevrolet, Bentonville Plastics, Wil-Shar Steel Erectors and Bentonville Mold & Die to serve as partners, Clark said. Representatives from those businesses will help interview teachers for the positions, have input into what's taught and host student internships.

Parent Derek Harrington said technical training is important. A trade can be a good fall-back plan for people who get a liberal arts degree, Harrington said.

"We're still a working country, and people still need to build things," he said.

The charter school will benefit students who want skills they'll use straight out of school, and those who want college credit to transfer, Clark said. It's for students in their final two years of high school.

The iSchool classes at Pea Ridge will be offered online through Responsive Education Solutions. College credit will be offered through NorthWest Arkansas Community College for three programs and Arkansas Tech University-Ozark for the industrial technology and plastic and metal fabrication tracks. The school will have Advanced Placement classes.

The academy has openings for 125 students and is to add 125 slots the next year. There will be about 280 juniors and seniors at Pea Ridge High School next fall. Clark said he's talking to students and parents and open to transfer students.

"I don't know that we'll fill up," he said.

Jo Losey, Lexi's mother, said she's happy her daughter will be that many classes closer to a college degree without having to drive somewhere or pay tuition. She's most enthusiastic about the idea of an internship. Experience in the work world will help her daughter better decide where she will fit, she said.

Lexi Losey might stick with her dream of being a trainer or decide to be a nurse or a doctor, her mother said.

"The possibilities are endless," she said.