Education highlights
1948
• St. Joseph Catholic School opens in Fayetteville with 39 students. It now serves almost 300 in preschool through eighth grade.
1957
• St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School opens in Rogers with 50 students in grades one through eight. It now serves more than 300.
1971
• The New School, a private school, opens in Fayetteville with 24 students ages 3 to 6. It now serves about 420 students in preschool through ninth grades.
1976
• Shiloh Christian School is founded as a ministry of the First Baptist Church of Springdale, now called Cross Church. The school opens with 180 students in grades kindergarten through six. It now serves more than 1,000 from preschool through 12th grade.
1978
• Fayetteville Christian School opens. Typical yearly enrollment is now around 250 in preschool through 12th grade.
1992
• The nation's first charter school opens in St. Paul, Minn.
1995
• The Arkansas Legislature passes a law allowing charter schools, but no charter schools open under this law.
1996
• Ambassadors for Christ Academy opens in Bentonville with 120 students. Current enrollment is about 95 students in grades kindergarten through 12.
1999
• Gov. Mike Huckabee signs a new, less restrictive charter school law allowing both school districts and nonprofit groups to start charter schools.
2000
• Life Way Christian School, a ministry of First Baptist Church Centerton, opens with 54 students. It now has more than 500 in preschool through 12th grade.
• Arkansas' first four charter schools open. Each, including one in Rogers, is operated by either a public school district or an educational cooperative made up of several districts.
2001
• Benton County School of the Arts, the first open enrollment charter school in Northwest Arkansas, opens in Rogers with 300 students in kindergarten through seventh grade.
2002
• The number of home-schooled students in Northwest Arkansas surpasses 2,000.
2004
• Public school enrollment in Northwest Arkansas surpasses 60,000.
• Haas Hall Academy, the region's second open enrollment charter school and the state's first high school-level charter, opens in Farmington. It ends the school year with 13 students. Haas Hall now operates campuses in Bentonville and Fayetteville with a combined enrollment of 645.
• Providence Academy, a private school, opens in Rogers with 39 students in grades kindergarten through six. It now has 460 in kindergarten through grade 12.
• Benton County School of the Arts moves into a facility at 2005 S. 12th St., where its elementary and middle grades remain today. The facility formerly housed Benton County Christian School.
2005
• Legislators amend the charter school law to double the maximum number of open enrollment charter schools from 12 to 24. There are nine open enrollment charter schools in the state.
2007
• The Northwest Arkansas Academy of Fine Arts, a charter school for grades nine through 12, opens in Rogers with about 170 students.
2008
• Public school enrollment in Northwest Arkansas surpasses 70,000.
2009
• Haas Hall Academy, now with 120 students in grades nine through 12, moves to Fayetteville.
• Benton County School of the Arts and Northwest Arkansas Academy of Fine Arts merge to form one charter school for grades kindergarten through 12. The combined enrollment is about 700.
2011
• Legislators allow the state's limit on open enrollment charter schools to increase by five every time the number of schools reaches within two of the new limit. There are 17 open enrollment charter schools in the state; the maximum is 24.
2012
• The number of home-schooled students in Northwest Arkansas surpasses 3,000.
• Haas Hall Academy receives a 10-year renewal of its charter, the longest renewal granted by the state.
2013
• Northwest Arkansas Classical Academy opens in Bentonville as the region's third open enrollment charter school. Initial enrollment is about 400 students in kindergarten through eighth grade. It now has 556 students in grades kindergarten through 11.
• The Rogers School District opens its own charter school, New Technology High School, starting with about 290 students.
• Legislators allow school districts to establish schools of innovation that may receive some of the same types of exemptions from state standards that charter schools get.
• Legislators require traditional public schools to offer home-schooled students the chance to participate in any of their interscholastic activities, such as an athletic team, band, choir or debate.
2014
• Public school enrollment in Northwest Arkansas surpasses 80,000.
• Benton County School of the Arts changes its name to Arkansas Arts Academy. Fall enrollment for kindergarten through grade 12 is 758.
• The Pea Ridge School District opens a charter school, the Pea Ridge Manufacturing and Business Academy, starting with 87 students.
• The Springdale School District opens its School of Innovation at The Jones Center to 200 eighth-graders. The school received a waiver allowing students to earn credit for a class based on their competency in a subject and not how long they are in class.
2015
• Legislators establish the state's first voucher system with the Succeed Scholarship, which allows students with special needs to apply thousands of dollars in state money per year toward tuition and fees at approved private schools.
• The Walton Family Foundation announces plans to open a private school in Bentonville in fall of 2017. The Thaden School is expected to start with grades seven and nine and expand to grades six through 12.
• Haas Hall Academy moves into new space in Fayetteville and opens a second campus in Bentonville, serving more than 600 students combined.
• Farmington and Siloam Springs high schools make their debuts as charter schools. The Career Academy of Siloam Springs, a charter school within the high school, also opens.
• Ozark Montessori Academy, an open enrollment charter school, opens in Springdale with 136 students in kindergarten through grade six.
2016
• Providence Academy officials announce plans to build a new campus on 66 acres off Spring Creek Road in Lowell.
• Haas Hall Academy receives approval to open additional campuses in Springdale and Rogers.
• John Rocha, development director of an all-boys Catholic school in Houston, is hired to be the first head of Ozark Catholic Academy, which officials plan to open in 2018 as the first Catholic high school in Northwest Arkansas.
• The New School in Fayetteville, which serves more than 400 students in preschool through ninth grade, announces plans to add a high school to its campus. Construction of three buildings begins, all of which are scheduled to open for the 2017-18 school year.
• The Fayetteville School District launches an online charter school for grades four through eight.
• Gentry High School becomes a conversion charter school, allowing the school to shift its focus from preparing students for college to preparing students for careers.
• Arkansas Connections Academy, based in Bentonville, becomes the state's second online charter school. It serves more than 300 students statewide.
NW News on 12/25/2016