GENTRY — Danielle Freeman of Bentonville was offered the post of Gentry Middle School principal at a special session of the School Board last week.
Following interviews of Freeman and Kristen Smartt of Gentry and a lengthy executive session, the board returned and voted 5-1 to offer the post to Freeman. John Skaggs opposed the measure. Randall Bolinger, David Williamson, Jon Holt, Jim Barnes and Melissa Holland voted in favor of offering the post to Freeman.
Freeman is originally from Harrison. She graduated from the University of Arkansas with a degree in broadcast journalism and worked for a time for the Springdale Chamber of Commerce. She went back to school to become a teacher and has taught in Prairie Grove and Bentonville school districts.
For the past eight years, she has been a math teacher at Fulbright Junior High School in Bentonville. She obtained administrator’s licensure and has been involved in leadership at Fulbright for the last five to six years, developing and implementing programs to help students who have fallen behind in their studies and to improve parent-student participation in reaching educational goals for students.
Freeman said she has a “vision to create a building of leaders by allowing teachers to find their passions and plug in with that passion so students see that and plug in with their passions.” She said she “wants learning to be fun for students” and “wants students engaged and learning.”
She said she “believes being present in classrooms is really important. That way I know what is going on in the classrooms.” She wants teachers to know she is there to help if needed. And she wants to “recognize teachers for their work.”
Freeman said having relationships with her teachers and students is foundational and creates trust. It makes a difference in whether “you want to come to work or not.”
She said “little acts of kindness” can make “people want to grow.”
When she begins in her new post, she hopes to “call everyone on staff to get to know them and create a relationship and trust.”
Kristen Smartt, associate principal at the middle school on special assignment of the superintendent, was also interviewed for the post.
Smartt has worked in education for 20 years in the School District, teaching science at the junior high and high school levels. Last year, she served as associate principal in the middle school, an experience which, she said, was an “amazing but time-consuming endeavor.”
She said she is passionate about Gentry and Gentry students and wants to establish programs to “give kids rigor and support for the real world.”
She said the School District is “only as strong as the weakest link” — that every teacher needs to be a part of the goal and growth.
Smartt said the Gentry area is growing and she is excited about the opportunity for the School District to be a leader in education.
“We need academic excellence, good and knowledgeable teachers, good classroom management, and the ability to work with all students, [including] those who do not wish to learn,” Smartt said.
She listed numerous accomplishments in her teaching and administration career and said she believed she was ready to hit the ground running in the new school year.
Smartt has been hired and will continue to serve as an associate principal for the School District, though it might not be on the same campus, said Terrie Metz, superintenden, following the meeting.
In other personnel matters, the board approved:
• Resignation of Alyssa Little as a paraprofessional; Damon Hummingbird as a custodian;
• Hired Angie Newsom as in-school suspension instructor;
• Resignation of Daniel Ramsey as science and health teacher and coach;
• Hired Jaci Smith as a first-grade teacher; Thomas Clement as a middle and high school English teacher;
• Hired Sarah Horne as a sports medicine instructor and athletic trainer; Jacob Haynes as VA/learning loss/ coach; and
• Transferred Ethan Pendergraft from middle school science to middle school math teacher.
Randy Moll may be reached by email at [email protected] .