Established in 1884, Springdale Public Schools is trying to make the American dream come alive for its students. Today, the district has around 18,600 K-12 students. Counting other student categories, such as Pre-K and alternative high school students, the district has more than 20,000 students and 27 school sites. The district serves approximately 8,000 English language learners and has been the fastest-growing district in Arkansas for the last decade.
The district’s goal is to advance a mission of teaching all students, providing learning opportunities for all students and ensuring that learning takes place in a collaborative environment. It is actively engaging families and corporations in the learning process as well as reaching out to adults in the community who need some additional education. This is because, as Superintendent Dr. Jim Rollins says, “Education works better when everyone is involved.”
Rigorous standards
District schools are organized to connect students to learning at the highest-possible level. In an effort to improve performance in a core area, the district has worked to raise standards and challenge its students in recent years. Since the 2009-2010 school year, all students in ninth grade and below have been required to take and pass a high-stakes end-of-course Algebra I assessment. Starting in 2013-2014, all students will be required to take and pass a high-stakes end-of-course assessment in English II.
Those students who don’t pass the tests will take part in an individualized academic improvement plan that offers remediation and retesting. Students with high enough scores on alternative assessments like the ACT, SAT or AP exam will receive credit for the courses. Students must pass the district or alternative assessment to receive academic credit and graduate.
Springdale Public Schools also established career academies at Springdale High School. The academies are in architecture and engineering, IT, law and public safety and healthcare. The high school has an international baccalaureate program, as well.
“Combining the core content with these specialties helped us increase attendance and graduation rates,” Rollins says.
From top to bottom, the district is looking for additional ways to improve and expand its academic offerings. At the Pre-K level, it currently has 600 students, and Rollins would like to see that grow to about 1,000. With its alternative high school, Springdale Public Schools is offering better instruction to children in need of greater assistance.
Enhanced environments
Since 2008, Springdale has also had a Partners in Education (PIE) program that pairs businesses with local schools to increase access to resources such as products, funding, talent and time. Partners engage in everything from sponsoring activities, field trips and teacher recognition programs to providing guest speakers, tutors and mentors. The idea of the program is to create partnerships between businesses and schools through a single source.
Improvements are taking place with facilities and technology, too. Rollins says the amount of technology in the district is enormous, and that it spent more than $4 million last year to expand its technological capabilities.
“It is a rich area for us, and we’re learning how to personalize teaching and learning using the technological tools of today,” he says. “Technology allows our students to pursue their interests, receive feedback and engage with the learning process.”
Some of the areas Rollins highlights include robotics and environmental and spatial technology (EAST). With robotics programs, students as young as first graders participate on robotics teams while the district’s high school robotics teams compete at the state and national level.
As for EAST programming, it began with Springdale Har-Ber High School and has expanded into Springdale High and Sonora Elementary. EAST uses state-of-the-art technology, teamwork and community service to help students to achieve academically and develop their interests.
“Our EAST program at Har-Ber was named the No. 1 EAST program in the nation, and that success is why we’ve expanded it into Springdale High and our newest elementary school, “ Rollins explains. “It is these kinds of models of excellence that we are working to spread across the entire district.”
Other district technology initiatives include continuing to invest in smart classrooms and moving toward the day when it has one computing device for every child. Rollins says it is at one device for every two students today.
As for facilities themselves, the district has opened 13 new buildings in the last eight years. Most of those have been elementary schools. Currently, Springdale Public Schools has a new middle school under construction and is planning for a new junior high school, as well.
Rollins believes the ultimate factor in the district’s long-term success will be its ability to build its human resource capacity. The district is working to ensure it is attracting and retaining the best teachers and administrators possible.
“Our students need personalization, so we must train ourselves to be learners,” Rollins says. “That is the prevailing attitude in the district, and it starts with our board of education.”
Although the budget situation is challenging, Rollins feels that Arkansas is doing everything it can to address issues such as quality and access to education. He says the state government is concerned that all school districts have the resources they need so students get access to advanced learning opportunities.
“To a great degree, the success of school districts like ours has come about because we know we have to invest in it,” Rollins says. “The government and corporations are trying to help in that regard.”
Overall, Springdale Public Schools is committed to elevating student engagement and improving academic performance. This is its supreme goal—to ensure that all students can reach their highest potential.
“Learning is achieved when what we do is meaningful and students see the relevance,” Rollins says. “We need to make sure our students see how our programming will benefit them when they leave the district and head out into the greater community.”
