Fayetteville Freshman Transition In High Gear

FAYETTEVILLE -- Some 40 parents and students at Fayetteville High School are being asked to join in the transition planning for 2015 when freshman are moved from the the junior high schools to the high school.

Jon Gheen, an assistant high school principal, said the committees should be organized in the next few weeks as plans move forward.

At A Glance

Honors

The Fayetteville School Board honored several students and teachers Thursday, among them:

• The 10 National Merit Scholarship semi-finalists at Fayetteville High School.

• Rachel Pohl

• Elizabeth Williams, a speech pathologist at Root Elementary School, for being named by Gov. Mike Beebe to the State Speech Language Pathology and Audiology Board.

• Randy Paxton and Steve Jones for their roles in putting together 520 bicycles and transporting them to schools for the district’s new bicycle education program.

• Librarians Sarah Jewell at Holt Middle School and Karen Harmon at Holcomb Elementary School for operating a summer bookmobile program throughout the district last summer.

Source: Staff Report

At Thursday's School Board meeting, Gheen and Kim Garrett, associate superintendent for secondary education, outlined steps of the ongoing work by a committee of teachers and the committees of parents and students to provide input on ideas and to get more people on board.

The School Board decided nearly two years ago to move freshmen to the high school and organize the junior high schools for seventh and eighth grades; the middle schools for fifth and sixth grades; and the elementary schools for kindergarten to fourth grade.

When those moves are implemented in August 2015 the students at five schools will be new to that school, said Jim Halsell, School Board member.

At Ramay and Woodland junior high schools, the students in those schools this year will be moved to the high school -- the current freshmen as sophomores and the current eight-graders will be the new freshmen.

All new students will also be moving to the three middle schools -- Holt, McNair and Owl Creek -- in the transition, Halsell said.

Gheen said planning for the transition is about where it should be with teachers divided into committees to examine such issues as parking, traffic transportation, the bell schedule, lunch and athletics. The transition will bring an estimated 1,500 new students to the high school next year.

"This is the year for transition specifics" Garrett said. She also noted teachers have expressed some concern over where they will be next school year. Some teachers have been transferred to the high school this year and others will be moved year.

She said the plan is to get information on their assignments to the teachers soon. Susan Heil, School Board member, suggested a committee of employees focused on the transition may ease some concerns.

Garrett said a group of teachers will meet in mid-October to consider moving the career and academic planning meetings to an earlier date to get class schedules out to students earlier. The conferences usually are held in early April, which means in some years, the schedules haven't been distributed until early summer.

John L Colbert, associate superintendent for elementary grades, said moving fifth-graders out of the elementary school will free space in those schools to address growth the district might experience.

Superintendent Paul Hewitt said, "We're pushing the limits now." Some elementary schools, such as Vandergriff, Holcomb and Root, historically have experienced crowding situations, causing some students to be transferred to schools outside their attendance zones.

Following annual school elections Sept. 16, Tim Hudson was re-elected president; Halsell, vice president; and Bryn Bagwell, secretary.

NW News on 09/26/2014

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