13 seniors chosen as semifinalists
Thirteen Arkansas high school seniors are among 1,600 students nationally to be selected as semifinalists in the 51st annual National Achievement Scholarship Program, which honors academically outstanding black students.
The semifinalists will now compete for approximately 800 Achievement Scholarships worth about $2.5 million that will be awarded in the spring.
The National Achievement program, conducted by the National Merit Scholarship Corp., was established in 1964 as a privately financed competition that operates without government assistance.
The Arkansas semifinalists and their high schools are: Matthew J. Campbell, Harmony Grove High in Camden; Damani R. Carter, Fayetteville High; Caleb T. Smith, Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts in Hot Springs; Mirah M. Dievernich, Hot Springs High; Jonah T. Rodgers, Jacksonville High in the Pulaski County Special School District; Malik J. Marshall, Matthew W. Perkins, Scott S. Robles and Chandler J. Smith, Little Rock Central High; Madison K. Waite, Mount St. Mary Academy in Little Rock; Sydnie N. Jones, Central Arkansas Christian School in North Little Rock; Taemora S. Williams, North Little Rock High; and Sydney A. Fontenot, Benton County School of Arts charter school in Rogers.
HSU prep program gets grant to grow
Henderson State University in Arkadelphia received a $771,000 grant this week from AT&T’s Aspire program to expand the Southwest Arkansas College Preparatory Academy to serve a greater number of students.
The academy was founded in 2009. It is a university and public school district collaboration to help high school students who are at risk of dropping out of school stay in school and be better prepared for college and lifelong learning.
Academy students attend classes at Henderson State, Ouachita Baptist University or one of three community colleges: the University of Arkansas Community College at Hope, National Park Community College at Hot Springs or the College of the Ouachitas at Malvern.
Students participate in the program for four years, receiving intensive academic instruction led by teams of high school teachers and college professors in classes of no more than 12 students.
The academy currently serves students from 16 school districts in six counties in southwest Arkansas.
LR board approves goals for 2014-15
The Little Rock School Board on Thursday approved five priorities, or goals, for the coming school year.
The board annually revises its goals, which are a guide for the board’s work during the course of a school year.
The first of the 2014-15 goals calls for the board and school district to make measurable progress toward removing schools that have been classified by the state as academically troubled from that designation.
Other goals call for the board and district to develop a budget plan that adjusts for the loss of state desegregation aid while protecting programs that benefit students.
Another goal is to establish a facilities expansion and improvement priority list and conduct a successful millage campaign to pay for the improvements.
Clear and timely communication with the public is another one of the goals, as is progress toward having all children reading on grade level and performing at proficient levels in math and writing by the end of their third-grade year.
LR schools’ 10-day count shows drop
On the 10th day of school this year, the Little Rock School District had a total of 24,572 students, a drop of 221 students compared to the 10-day count in the 2012-13 school year, according to a report released by the district last week.
The district’s official enrollment for the year will be recorded Wednesday, as it will be done in districts and charter schools across the state.
The 10-day count is typically used by the district to determine trends and overcrowding problems. According to the numbers, the district’s enrollment was down at the middle school level by 175 students and at the high school level by 163 students. The elementary student count was up by 183 pupils.
However, the count also showed that Dunbar Middle School was up by 80 students to 755 as compared to 675 the previous year. Parents have complained this school year about classrooms with too many students, as well as a lack of instructional materials and computers at the campus.
District leaders have taken some steps to relieve the problems, including the redistribution of students among classes so that no class has more than 30 students. Additional computers are targeted for Dunbar.