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Officials expecting record enrollement for 2008-09 District cites growth |
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Tuesday, 12 August 2008 |
District cites growth in area, school choice for boost in students
Bauxite School District hasn’t seen enrollment exceed 1,300 students since the 1940s, when the Alcoa and Reynolds plants were in full operation and the small town was booming.
That is expected to change this school year.
District officials said they expect a record enrollment of more than 1,400 students when classes begin Monday.
Officials cite residential development in rural areas surrounding Bauxite and a state law that allows a student to attend the school of his choice for the increase in enrollment.
The growth in students is evident at Pine Haven Elementary School. For years, the school has had five kindergarten classes, and district officials were planning to add a sixth class.
However, so many kindergartners have enrolled that a seventh class had to be added, said Kimbraly Greer, curriculum director, who quickly added: “But remember that with that growth comes growing pains.”
“The first week of school is always the hardest as we all figure out where we’re going,” Superintendent Mickey Billingsley said, adding: “We’re happy about the growth, but with that also comes concern.”
In addition to two new kindergarten classes, a portable building will be in use at Pine Haven to accommodate more students. But the largest project in the district is construction of a middle school.
Currently, Bauxite students go straight from Pine Haven to the high school, which houses grades 7-12. That will change when the middle school opens in January 2010, Billingsley said.
Construction materials are in place and organized and crews are preparing the dirt for construction. Billingsley, in his fourth year, said the district is working with Entergy to determine how the school can be as energy-efficient as possible.
The district hasn’t decided which grades will attend the middle school, but that will be determined this year. “Student growth at the time will play a factor,” Greer said.
Despite the logistical headaches associated with growth, the administration and staff said they are pleased to reap the benefits. More students means more parents, and officials said that translates into increased involvement with school activities other than just athletics.
“We almost offer as much as the bigger schools,” Billingsley said. “Our students have a chance to excel more at a smaller school than they would at a larger school.”
Noting that the school always has had strong athletic support from the community, he said the district is seeing more involvement in activities such as band and drama.
Greer added, “We have high academic expectations. If you come to Bauxite, you have to work.”
Following are details concerning changes, additions, improvements and goals at each campus:
Bauxite High School
Principal Keith Baker said he feels “like the high school will have another great year. ... We want to continue making positive strides. We have a great group of teachers, who are committed. It’s a matter of everyone working together. You can’t have one without the other.
“My motto this year is: ‘It’s about learning.’ Teaching is one thing, but I want kids to understand it’s all about them. Learning is the thing.”
He said Bauxite has more than 200 school choice students, “and a large number are coming to the high school.”
To enhance the experience for new and existing students, Baker said new faculty members “will be a tremendous addition to our staff.”
New high school staff members include Claudia Brown in the science department, Janice Wilson in special education, Micah Brown for seventh grade English, Amanda Huey as junior high counselor and Joyce Watson to work in the high school cafeteria and as a bus driver.
Baker also commended the band program, noting, “We now have more than 60 kids in the band. For us that’s a record number. Ms. (Michelle) Smith is doing a good job with the program.”
Community support for Bauxite schools has gone beyond athletics, “which everyone has always supported, but with the drama program continuing to grow, we’ve had great parent/community support,” Baker said. “Deborah Catton, drama teacher, has done a fine job and she’s gotten the kids very active state drama invitational tournaments.”
Baker said improvements in extracurricular activities show that more students are involved in more activities, Baker said.
“If they’re involved, studies have shown that they are less likely to get in to trouble,” he said. “They have better GPAs and attendance rates and less discipline problems.”
Baker praised the Bauxite Quiz Bowl team, which won the Class 3A state championship last school year.
“I’m very proud of them,” he said. “What piggybacked off that is we ended up having a senior high quiz bowl versus faculty quiz bowl for a friendly competition. The kids won barely beating the teachers in the end, but we’ll try to do that on an annual basis because it really got the kids involved and aware of quiz bowl.”
The high school is not immune from the so-called growing pains, Baker said.
“We’ve had to create two new classrooms this year and have brought in portable classrooms,” he said. “We had to take a storage room and maintenance office and creatively construct classrooms out of them.”
Students began using the new physical education building last year, but this year students will be able to use it “full-time,” Baker said. “It’s nice that they now have a place to go during inclement weather. We have much more room to do more activities and there’s also a health classroom in the facility.”
Baker said a goal at the high school is to continue improving test scores.
“We want to continue improving in all areas but especially math,” he said. “We want to continue working on literacy, and now there’s the biology end-of-course exam as well as algebra II testing.”
Another testing area to improve are ACT scores, Baker said. New this year will be establishing an ACT preparatory course that will count as an elective to help students improve their scores and encourage others to take the college entrance exam.
Overall, Baker said he believes “people realize we have a good product with great community support. I’ve never seen any more than in this district. It’s been a tremendous blessing.”
Before coming to Bauxite, Baker was at Lake Hamilton School District in Hot Springs.
The high school open house will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 21.
PINE HAVEN ELEMENTARY
Michael Driggers, Pine Have principal, said much time has spent this summer preparing for the school’s growth.
Preparation has entailed hiring additional faculty/staff, ordering additional textbooks, supplies and materials. He said, in addition, the summer maintenance staff has bee preparing the buildings with “minor face lift procedures to enhance the learning environment at Pine Haven.”
“We are very excited that Pine Haven Elementary will be receiving seven SMART Boards incorporated within grades kindergarten through sixth,” he said.
“This technological ad-vancement will greatly enhance our learning environment and provide an interactive tool for our children to utilize daily in their classes.”
This year marks the first for Pine Have to work in conjunction with the Ralph Bunche Community Action Committee and various local sponsors to offer back-to-school assistance, Driggers noted. The event and was held last week at the Pine Haven gymnasium. The program helped families in need obtain the needed school supplies for their children.
In addition, information regarding a healthy and safe start to a new school year was provided, Driggers said. “We hope to see this program continue and grow in years to come at Pine Haven,” he said.
Because of what Driggers described as “massive growth,” all grade levels have increased in size. Additional temporary portable buildings have been added to the campus to accommodate the growth.
In addition to more kindergarten classrooms, all other grade levels have had a fifth class added or they’re “nearing that point quickly,” Driggers said.
This school year is the second that Pine Haven has offered a prekindergarten program in cooperation with Dawson Educational Cooperative. “This class has been filled with 20 students placed through the pre-k registration held last spring,” he said. “We are very excited to see this program grow in the future on our campus,” Driggers said.
This year also will be the second for Pine Haven to participate in the Watch DOGS (Dads of Great Students) program. A kickoff date will be announced later.
“Last school year, we saw much success through this program as our school had dads on campus every day of the school year taking part in our children’s daily routine,” Driggers noted.
Goals for the 2008-09 year will focus on student learning and achievement, Driggers said.
“The entire faculty/staff are geared up from a summer of professional development,” he said. “New ideas and tactics are ready to be utilized in ensuring that all educational standards and objectives are effectively taught so that achievement will be meet on the test that will be approaching this spring.”
Diggers said improvements are ahead for “the dreaded traffic flow during student arrival and departure” at Pine Haven. The district is looking for ways this area can be improved while also maintaining Pine Haven’s standard of orderly and safe arrival and departure of students every day.
“We ask that our parents plan ahead by providing extra time in their schedules as the drop off and pick up their children,” Driggers said. “We ask that they also bring a little extra patience for the first few weeks; the traffic will slowly decrease.
Greer suggested that drivers access Tom Road to exit the campus to ease traffic flow.
Pine Haven’s open house will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday.
“We want families to come out and meet their child’s teacher and to bring all their school supplies,” Driggers said. “If families have not received a postcard naming their teacher, please call the office at 557-5361,” he added.
New hires at Pine Haven include Heather Duncan, fourth-grade science; Deidra Cain, third- through sixth-grade counselor; Angela Parsons, fourth grade; Teresa Warner, part-time speech therapist; Amber Baker, kindergarten; Matt Newcomb, in-school suspension/physical education paraprofessional; paraprofessionals Shannon Sledd and Shelly Page; and Barbara Ammons, Pine Haven cafeteria/bus driver.
Meal prices have changed. Elementary students will pay $1.15 for breakfast and $1.75 for lunch. Secondary students will pay $1.75 for breakfast and $2 for lunch.
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Razorbacks
