BEEBE — Chris Nail, who was unanimously hired Monday as superintendent of the Beebe School District, said its positive reputation was one reason he applied for the position.
“It has a reputation of being a very good school; then when you drive up to Beebe schools, the facilities are unbelievable. I’ve always been told their staff is one of the best staffs in the state,” he said.
Nail, superintendent of the Rose Bud School District, will start July 1 in Beebe. He was given a 248-day contract at a starting salary of $140,000, plus a vehicle. His annual salary at Rose Bud is $109,300, plus the use of a school vehicle and a house with utilities paid.
Belinda Shook, who has been the Beebe superintendent for 13 years, will retire at the end of the school year. Assistant Superintendent Scott Embrey was a finalist for the position, along with Nail.
Beebe School Board President Harold Davis said Nail stood out.
“They were very strong candidates, both of them,” Davis said. “The board, after interviewing and praying about the situation, thought that Mr. Nail was the best one to come in and continue the fulfillment of the mission of our vision statement.”
Davis said the district’s mission is to prepare all students to become lifelong learners and to prepare them for success.
“We really hate to see Belinda go; she contributed so much to our district,” Davis said.
“Mr. Embrey has been a tremendous asset to our school district,” Davis said, adding that Embrey has been employed in the district for more than 25 years.
Nail, 42, grew up in Batesville, graduated from Hendrix College with a degree in physical education and earned his master’s degree in educational leadership, as well as an educational specialist’s degree, at Arkansas State University-Jonesboro.
He’s working toward his doctorate in educational leadership at Arkansas Tech University.
Nail said his upbringing was steeped in education. His parents, John and Sarah Nail, now of Greenwood, are retired educators. His mother taught special education for more than 30 years; his father coached and taught English.
“When you grow up in it, you see what an impact teachers have on kids’ lives; I always wanted to do that,” he said.
Nail’s wife, Caroline, is principal of Sidney Deener
Elementary School in Searcy, and they have two sons, Brooks, an eighth-grader, and Bo, a seventh-grader.
“They’re excited and nervous” about the move, Nail said of his sons.
The 3,200-student Beebe School District is four times larger than Rose Bud, which has 801 students.
The district’s size doesn’t intimidate Nail, who was assistant high school principal for eight years in Benton, as well as athletic director, teacher and boys basketball coach there. His career includes stints at Mount Vernon-Enola as high school principal, and at Caddo Hills, Yellville-Summit and Southside Batesville as a coach and teacher.
He’s been at the helm in Rose Bud since March 2016, when then-Superintendent Curtis Spann retired.
Nail said his strengths as an administrator include “communication, and when I say communication, I don’t mean just talking; I also have the ability to listen. I think I can see the big picture, what vision we’re trying to get to.”
He said bringing people together is another of his strengths.
Nail said he told the Beebe School Board that his goals for the district are to evaluate needs before making changes.
“I just don’t think good leadership is you come in and immediately set a vision. … I feel like good leaders set that vision with their staff members,” Nail said. He said the first year will be assessing the district and seeing what can be done to improve student learning.
“We’ve got to prepare students to success post high school, whether that’s career, college, military or the skilled workforce,” he said. “We have to make sure when our kiddos leave high school that they’re ready to contribute.
“That’s the thing about education. The two things we need to work on are to try to personalize education — what works for one doesn’t work for the other; No. 2, look for strong ways to integrate technology into instruction.”
Nail said the biggest challenge will be to gain the trust of all the stakeholders.
“The biggest challenge is, Beebe’s a great community, and I’m the new person there,” he said. “I have to get over there and build relationships with my staff members and the community so there’s a sense of trust. That’s always the challenge when you go to a new school district — trying to build that trust.”
But Nail said from what he’s heard about Beebe, he’ll be able to do that.
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.