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  • 1 month later...

More good news on jobs coming to Little Rock....KATV's website is reporting that AT&T is locating a call center that will employ 175 people at the AT&T Arkansas headquarters downtown. The story mentioned that LR beat out several other bigger cities in landing these jobs.

When it rains it pours.

I did hate to hear Acxiom is scaling back but they've been doing that for years. I think that these layoffs are usually just trimming the fat and getting rid of mediocre workers because year after year their employment goes up.

Of course with new leadership it could really be a trend this time...

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

E-STEM charter schools will be opening in August in downtown LR. They will be located in the old Arkansas Gazette building. E-STEM stands for economics of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Along with these subjects the three schools will offer Latin, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese. There will be three schools (elementary,middle and high) with a starting enrollment of 856. The high school will start with 100 students with plans to expand to 400. One of the programs used will be a program developed by LEGO for early engineering. All students will be offered bus tokens to take public transit to their school. If this school is a success will it promote downtown living for families with children who would attend this school?

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E-STEM charter schools will be opening in August in downtown LR. They will be located in the old Arkansas Gazette building. E-STEM stands for economics of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Along with these subjects the three schools will offer Latin, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese. There will be three schools (elementary,middle and high) with a starting enrollment of 856. The high school will start with 100 students with plans to expand to 400. One of the programs used will be a program developed by LEGO for early engineering. All students will be offered bus tokens to take public transit to their school. If this school is a success will it promote downtown living for families with children who would attend this school?

I for one would be more willing to move into the city with a school like that available.

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E-STEM charter schools will be opening in August in downtown LR. They will be located in the old Arkansas Gazette building. E-STEM stands for economics of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Along with these subjects the three schools will offer Latin, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese. There will be three schools (elementary,middle and high) with a starting enrollment of 856. The high school will start with 100 students with plans to expand to 400. One of the programs used will be a program developed by LEGO for early engineering. All students will be offered bus tokens to take public transit to their school. If this school is a success will it promote downtown living for families with children who would attend this school?

Good of you to post. Interesting. The Times has been saying this is going to happen. Who is the principal? Roy Brooks?

I'm a geek and that LEGO program looks cool. If you don't believe me, check it. Last month, I was looking into what it might take to start a First Lego League here. Harrison, AR is apparently the closest team.

This post is sure to draw our ASMSA alum / WashU student back to the board.

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With the E-STEM charter schools being located at Third and Louisiana I think the city should start thinking about turning Louisiana into a two way street. There is no need for this street to remain a southbound one way street. I'm sure the residents of the Lafayette Building, a few blocks south, would go along with this change. Right now kids visit the Museum of Discovery by bus but these students will be able to take the trolley. Also, the Main Library, the Clinton Presidential Center, Heifer International, Historic Arkansas Museum and the Old Statehouse are just a short trolley ride away.

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Good of you to post. Interesting. The Times has been saying this is going to happen. Who is the principal? Roy Brooks?

I'm a geek and that LEGO program looks cool. If you don't believe me, check it. Last month, I was looking into what it might take to start a First Lego League here. Harrison, AR is apparently the closest team.

This post is sure to draw our ASMSA alum / WashU student back to the board.

Was that my cue?

Where did this E-STEM school come from? It seems like it came out of nowhere--and I thought I read AR news decently regularly.

Anyways, I don't think it will make too much of an impact in the race for students (with respect to ASMSA). Probably only a handful of ASMSA students come from Little Rock anyways because most can still go to excellent schools like Central, PA, or whatever. This new school only solidifies that fact. Most ASMSA students come from podunk towns. I'm interested in knowing what classes the "Engineering" component of the name signifies. I'd say ASMSA covers the other three (Science, Technology, Math) pretty well, in addition to the humanities.

If anyone's interested, here is the course listing at ASMSA: http://asmsa.org/Academics/CourseCatalog.pdf . In its first few years, I doubt E-STEM will be able to recreate the breadth and depth of ASMSA, but that's fine b/c it serves a smaller population (LR Metro), not the whole state. Comparing my WashU course listing to the one at ASMSA: those kids are lucky as hell. Documentary Film Making? Studies in Genocide and Human Rights? Literature of the Contemporary South? That's just the humanities....

I'm a homer, I know.

Edited by johnnydr87
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How is acceptance/ enrolment supposed to work for this school?

Also, what a slap in the face to the LRSD, and all their efforts to get Roy Brooks out of LR. I guess other teachers/ administrators in the district don't have to deal with him any more. However, part of the reason they wanted to get rid of him so much is HE IS A TOTAL JACKA**, and everyone in the district hated working for him, so I say good luck to the kids and teachers at this new school.

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  • 1 month later...

Article in yesterday's ArkDemGaz discussed the development of a mixed use "village" on the east side of Shackelford Crossing.

How is acceptance/ enrolment supposed to work for this school?

Also, what a slap in the face to the LRSD, and all their efforts to get Roy Brooks out of LR. I guess other teachers/ administrators in the district don't have to deal with him any more. However, part of the reason they wanted to get rid of him so much is HE IS A TOTAL JACKA**, and everyone in the district hated working for him, so I say good luck to the kids and teachers at this new school.

The other part of the reason they wanted him out was because he wanted improvement and accountability and the unions did not like that and the current board is a shill for the union. The district lost in the battle last year. We can only hope that the board will do something unprecidented and actually take a step forward in 2008. Here's hoping...

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How is acceptance/ enrolment supposed to work for this school?

Also, what a slap in the face to the LRSD, and all their efforts to get Roy Brooks out of LR. I guess other teachers/ administrators in the district don't have to deal with him any more. However, part of the reason they wanted to get rid of him so much is HE IS A TOTAL JACKA**, and everyone in the district hated working for him, so I say good luck to the kids and teachers at this new school.

"Everyone in the district hated working for him?' I don't think so. So far the the chief financial officer of the LRSD , another administrator and one of the high school principals has joined Dr. Brooks. I wonder how many teachers will join Dr. Brooks?

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"Everyone in the district hated working for him?' I don't think so. So far the the chief financial officer of the LRSD , another administrator and one of the high school principals has joined Dr. Brooks. I wonder how many teachers will join Dr. Brooks?

OK, I'm pretty sure Brooks brought in at least one of those people, and of course they're going to be willing to leave their jobs for a higher-paying one.

Naturally, I was hyperbolizing when I said everyone hated him.

However, I went to school (recently) in the LRSD, my mom is a counselor at another school, my aunt teaches at yet another, and they/I don't know a SINGLE teacher who liked Dr. Brooks. Not a one.

I remember my teachers ranting about him when I was in school there. Black and white.

Also, I would say to anyone reading this that EJC's comments are highly biased, and that Dr. Brooks and the white WLR folks' "progress" is BS and is far from what the people who are actually doing the work to educate kids in our district want. Giving teachers tests to teach to may mean students do better on tests, but at the total loss of creativity or real classroom learning. Furthermore, paying some teachers for having high-performing students creates animosity at schools. I'm not saying there's a right side to this argument, I'm just saying only a fool would think that Dr. Brooks wanted progress.

Edited by abdintp
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OK, I'm pretty sure Brooks brought in at least one of those people, and of course they're going to be willing to leave their jobs for a higher-paying one.

Naturally, I was hyperbolizing when I said everyone hated him.

However, I went to school (recently) in the LRSD, my mom is a counselor at another school, my aunt teaches at yet another, and they/I don't know a SINGLE teacher who liked Dr. Brooks. Not a one.

I remember my teachers ranting about him when I was in school there. Black and white.

Also, I would say to anyone reading this that EJC's comments are highly biased, and that Dr. Brooks and the white WLR folks' "progress" is BS and is far from what the people who are actually doing the work to educate kids in our district want. Giving teachers tests to teach to may mean students do better on tests, but at the total loss of creativity or real classroom learning. Furthermore, paying some teachers for having high-performing students creates animosity at schools. I'm not saying there's a right side to this argument, I'm just saying only a fool would think that Dr. Brooks wanted progress.

Umm...WOW. We'll have to take this elsewhere, but I can tell you that it is definitively NOT b.s. to expect accountable results. Those of us in the workforce are measured by it, daily, monthly, bi-annually, annually. There are many means to measure achievement, but it MUST be measured and people MUST be accountable for that. This is a basic tenet of any successful operation. How on earth taking tests and measuring the progress stunts creativity and real learning is absolutely beyond me. It's hogwash.

White WLR folks??? Oh my....

And merit pay...if it's so misguided, should the bonuses my company offers to me be abolished? I have several people who work for me and their productivity or lack thereof, impacts me greatly. Is school impossibly different. The answer is no.

It would seem that only a fool would say that someone else (not themselves) did not want progress in their initiatives and the areas of their responsibility. Well done.

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Umm...WOW. We'll have to take this elsewhere, but I can tell you that it is definitively NOT b.s. to expect accountable results. Those of us in the workforce are measured by it, daily, monthly, bi-annually, annually. There are many means to measure achievement, but it MUST be measured and people MUST be accountable for that. This is a basic tenet of any successful operation. How on earth taking tests and measuring the progress stunts creativity and real learning is absolutely beyond me. It's hogwash.

White WLR folks??? Oh my....

And merit pay...if it's so misguided, should the bonuses my company offers to me be abolished? I have several people who work for me and their productivity or lack thereof, impacts me greatly. Is school impossibly different. The answer is no.

It would seem that only a fool would say that someone else (not themselves) did not want progress in their initiatives and the areas of their responsibility. Well done.

We should stop this. It's quite off topic. All I was trying to demonstrate is that this isn't as simple an issue as EJC makes it to be.

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We should stop this. It's quite off topic. All I was trying to demonstrate is that this isn't as simple an issue as EJC makes it to be.

No one said this was a simple issue, and it was you that made the initial remarks about someone being a donkey. I merely rebuffed that statement with something of merit. To bring it back on topic, I think we'll all find that the school that Dr Brooks is now associated with will flourish if it can prove financial viable.

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On the topic ...

Little Rock Projects List

What's being built in Little Rock?

I believe Little Rock needs a research and technology park. It needs to be somewhere close to the Lamda Rail and it needs to be able to be secured. Anyone work in or live in a community where one exists?

I believe NWA has something like this, but I haven't heard of anything like this proposed for LR. Is something like that in the works? I would assume NWA has it because of the University being there.

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I believe NWA has something like this, but I haven't heard of anything like this proposed for LR. Is something like that in the works? I would assume NWA has it because of the University being there.

Yep, Fayetteville has one. It was initially planned to be on the west side of 540 north of Wedington but environmentalists killed the effort. Now it'll probably wind up eventually being a housing development and worse to the tiny bit of wetlands they were trying to protect by dumping a lot of lawn fertilizer into it. But I digress..

The research and tech park is now in South Fayetteville on that same grounds as HiDEC and the Genesis Technology Incubator. The city has a beautiful master plan for developing both sides of South College but there's only one building as of now and I think it only has one tenant who may eventually need the entire space. Most of the companies this is currently aimed at are locally grown and receiving excellent financial support from ASTA but most all are still in very developmental stages with their technologies. There has been some effort to get other companies to relocate to the area (most being partner firms of the startups in Genesis) but thus far none have bit at it. It's a start...but I'm not sure how well it will ever play out.

Edit add: Just looked at the ARTP website (http://www.uark.edu/ua/artp/index.html). Looks like they've scaled back the master plan from the last time I saw it which was about 2 years ago. There is no longer anything on east side of College.

Edited by Stormcrow
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This week's Arkansas Business has an article about the record amount of construction in Central Arkansas. 2007 tops $254 Million in LR-NLR (may only be those cities proper), which was stated was the highest in the past 5 years. If I were a betting man, I'd say that's the highest ever - I can't imagine a period any earlier that would have totaled more....though you would have thought they mentioned it....

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