FAYETTEVILLE -- The students who have stayed with Prism Education Center over the years have grown and so has the school.
That's why the school is asking the Planning Commission for a permit to expand classroom and program space. The private, nondenominational Christian school has about 160 students in pre-K through 12th grade and operates at a 2-acre property at 2855 E. Joyce Blvd., near the intersection with Crossover Road.
The school consolidated its three campuses on the south side of town into one northeast site in 2017. It was established in 2012.
Misty Newcomb, executive director, said extra space is needed for the older students, advanced placement classes and new programs. The school had its first graduating class of four last year and is set to have six this coming school year, she said. Altogether there are about 20 high schoolers in ninth to 12th grades.
"As we've gotten older, our kids are staying with us, and they've gotten older as well," Newcomb said. "We need more space to accommodate a high school that has different classes and class types. They can't just stay in the same classroom all day long."
The school wants to lease about 2,000 square feet in a strip mall immediately east of its building. Prism has been using most of the 100 parking spaces at the strip mall as part of the 2017 agreement, according to city documents. About 30 to 40 middle- and high-school students would be overseen by two to four staff members at a time at the overflow space.
Planning staff is recommending the commission approve the request for a permit to operate a school in a commercial zone. The development details of the new space are not part of the request and will be reviewed later to ensure compliance with city code.
Josh Spielmaker of Springdale has three children who have attended Prism since it opened. His oldest, Mallorie, 19, was one of the four graduates and just wrapped up her first year at the University of Arkansas studying special education.
His son, David, 17, and youngest daughter, Eva, 13, will go to classes in the new space next year.
Mallorie Spielmaker said she felt academically prepared to go to the university after attending Prism, but also learned how to be a person of integrity and character.
"I absolutely loved that part of it," she said. "I felt like I would come to school every day and be really comfortable because I felt like I knew my values and my standards."
The emphasis at Prism is putting others ahead of oneself and having students, teachers and parents work together strategically, Josh Spielmaker said. He compared his time growing up in a small Christian school in Mountain Home, which was similar in size, but had a much more rigid environment.
"If I could do school over again, I would absolutely dream of being a part of something like Prism," he said.
Newcomb said momentum is growing for the school. Three of the graduates went to college, with one student to George Washington University and two to the University of Arkansas. A fourth went through a tech program and got a job offer, she said.
The school emphasizes not just academics, but community work and extracurricular activity as well, Newcomb said.
"They really are complex students, really character-focused and value-focused," she said. "They're just good kids."
NW News on 07/22/2019