New School's Name Choice Back To Bentonville Students

— Students will get a second chance to vote on a name and mascot for the second high school.

The School Board made that decision following a presentation on the subject at Monday's board meeting by Mary Ley, district communications director.

At A Glance

Next Meeting

The Bentonville School Board’s next meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Monday at the Administration Building, 500 Tiger Blvd.

Source: Staff Report

The district polled eighth-graders and freshmen last month for their preferences. Centerton High was their top name choice, followed closely by Bentonville West High, Benton County High and Fuqua High. Their top mascot choices were Wolverines, Jaguars and Diamond Cutters.

Ley, however, recommended the board choose "Alliance High," a variation of "Bentonville Alliance High," which had been suggested by Bentonville High freshman Hunter Simmons. Bentonville Alliance High was the 14th most popular choice among the 1,685 students who voted. It was the second most popular choice among the 16 principals polled.

Ley recommended Alliance High because the district believes the community is hungry for everyone to be unified.

"I don't want to read anything in the paper anymore about us not getting along," Ley said. "I think the biggest thing we can do is name this school Alliance. Alliance is a pact."

Michael Poore, superintendent, said he also likes Alliance High because it symbolizes the community-wide effort made last year to pass the millage for the school, which will be built on Gamble Road in Centerton.

Some board members, however, felt students should have an opportunity to vote again, because Alliance High wasn't one of their choices. They agreed each board member would submit their three favorite name and mascot suggestions to Ley by this morning. Once the board's top three choices are compiled, junior high students will get to vote on them. The board will give strong consideration to the students' choice, but the choice won't automatically be used.

Correction

A previous version of this misstated how the board would use the students' choice of a name. The error has been corrected.

That decision is expected to become official at the board's meeting Monday.

Though the school won't open until August 2016, the name and mascot are being chosen so they can be incorporated into the building's design, Ley said.

In other business related to the second high school, the board decided to delay a decision on the school's initial grade configuration.

District administrators studied the issue and unanimously recommended opening with freshmen through juniors and no option for seniors to attend during the school's first year. Administrators agreed the more options provided, the greater the cost and the greater the chance of families being disappointed with program delivery during that first year.

"Our high school right now can be looked at as this huge box of opportunities people can dive into," Poore said. "If we go with the senior option, the box shrinks dramatically in terms of what we can do."

Poore added the number of seniors who take the option to attend the new school would probably be "very minimal." He added the satisfaction rate among students at Bentonville High is "extremely high right now."

Grant Lightle, board vice president, said though the new school might not be able to offer those seniors a full suite of Advanced Placement classes, it could offer them a chance to be involved in a school play or the football team, a chance they might not get at the more crowded Bentonville High School.

Lightle also pointed out denying seniors the option to attend the new school also will split some families with multiple children at the high school level in the 2016-17 school year. Lightle said the option to attend the new school could be opened up to all seniors that year, regardless of where they live.

Scott Passmore, athletic director, urged the board to approach that idea with caution.

"If you give your seniors an option, you're going to create a recruiting war among your coaches," Passmore said.

The board tentatively agreed to wait until fall 2015 to poll the class of 2017 to find out how many want to attend the new high school, with the idea being those students will be starting their junior year then and will have a firmer idea of what they want to do.

"If we go to freshmen right now, I think it would be challenging for them to grasp what their options and choices are," Poore said. "Their mindset will change by the time they're juniors."

NW News on 03/12/2014

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