Higher Education Construction Projects in NWA

[mcheiss]

I read in the Gazette today that the Diocese of Little Rock will be putting a third Catholic Elementary School in NWA. The school will be in Springdale at St. Rapheal's Catholic Church.

As well, enrollment at NWACC was released for this year. The numbers increased 6% this year to a record enrollment of 5,908.

Enrollment Numbers, past years at NWACC.

2000---------------4,058

2001---------------4,292

2002---------------4,731

2003---------------4,915

2004---------------5,266

2005---------------5,565

2006---------------5,908

[Aporkalypse]

I read in the Gazette today that the Diocese of Little Rock will be putting a third Catholic Elementary School in NWA. The school will be in Springdale at St. Rapheal's Catholic Church.

I read that as well. You'd like to see 4-5 Catholic elementaries up there before a high school would be built. Kids that go to school together prefer to stay together and go to high school. Otherwise, it's tough to convince kids to leave public schools for private high schools. I would bet this is more the Diocese's concern about building a high school than the population, which is adequate to support it.

[mcheiss]

^

Probably. They have land at Arkansas 264 and I-540 in Lowell, and have already expressed plans for a Catholic High School in the future. St. Rapheals is also the largest Catholic Church in the state, with well over 13,000 members.

Also, a Catholic Elementary School is needed in Bentonville.

[slyder1]

Updated high school enrollment projections by 2012 (based on these numbers reported above, not allowing for further growth save for the Springdale projections cited elsewhere):

Bentonville high (1,700 students)

Bentonville high #2 (1,700 students)

Rogers high (2,050 students)

Rogers high #2 (2,050 students)

Springdale high (2,600 students)

Har-ber high (2,300 students)

Springdale high #3 (2,000 students)

Fayetteville high (2,300 students)

Siloam Springs high (1,110 students)

McDonald County, MO high (1,000 students)

Matt,

I remember growing up in Springfield, MO in the late 60s-early 80s when the outlying suburbs of Ozark, Nixa, Republic, Willard and (even) Branson had high schools in the 300-600 (in later years) enrollment range. Now every one of those communities has well over 1,000 kids in their high school. (And I think the biggest school Springfield ever saw has been Kickapoo High with maybe 1,800-1,900 kids at its highest...I don't think there's ever been a 2,000 student high school in the Springfield area, at least not in most of our lifetimes.)

NWA area educators are deluded, I believe, if they think there won't be massive "spill" and "sprawl" into districts as Pea Ridge, Gravette, Farmington, Prairie Grove, West Fork, Elkins or elsewhere some day as a result of these numbers above.

The reason Springfield has no schools over the 2000 mark is because the school board does not want them to be. The Springfield Rt. 12 school district has been praised as one of the best school districts in the Mid-West for that reason. Smaller class sizes, more school choices and the best music programs in the nation (Willard, Kickapoo and Glendale). Nixa, Ozark and Republic on the other hand are sitting on the sidelines as all three of the schools reach the 2,000 mark. The five Springfield public high schools are all at 1,800-1,900 with the exception of Central high with the IB (International Baccalaureate) program that has sent hundreds of students over the years to many Ivy League College's.

I personnaly would want my child to go to a smaller school for learning purposes.

[mcheiss]

^

Not to mention in smaller schools, kids have more options and better chances of making student organizations like football, cheerleading, etc.

[Aporkalypse]

I personnaly would want my child to go to a smaller school for learning purposes.

Interesting. Most of the really good public schools in Texas are very large and I've always had the "bigger is better" attitude with public schools. The better public schools in Arkansas (in no order) - LR Central, FS Southside, Springdale, Fayetteville, Bentonville, Bryant, Rogers, etc are all in the ten largest schools in the state.

Probably. They have land at Arkansas 264 and I-540 in Lowell, and have already expressed plans for a Catholic High School in the future. St. Rapheals is also the largest Catholic Church in the state, with well over 13,000 members.

Also, a Catholic Elementary School is needed in Bentonville.

This parish should've had one a long time ago. Really I would think that one in each of the "big 4" NWA cities would make sense.

[JJL]

The Fayetteville school district boundaries are very odd. There was an article in the NWA times a couple of months ago that explained some of the history.

For example the large chunk of North Fayetteville that is in the Springdale school district was once Shady Grove School District and was consolidated with Springdale in the 50's.

Large amounts of West Fayetteville are in Farmington. It may not have been an issue a few years ago but with all the new neighborhoods especially in that area the issue is becoming more obvious. There are some neighborhoods where you may go to Holcomb Elementary in Fayetteville, the neighbor directly living behind you would go to Farmington and the kid a block or two further out Mt Comfort Rd would go to Prarie Grove. It is pretty bizarre. Someday soon Farmington may have more kids in its district from Fayetteville than from Farmington.

Some of Fayetteville is also in Greenland school district and I'm not sure if any is in Elkins or not. And even in Goshen some areas just to the north of Hwy 45 are in Springdale school district. So it does boil down to Fayetteville only drawing from central locations while a lot of the newer neighborhoods go to other districts.

[Mith242]

The Fayetteville school district boundaries are very odd. There was an article in the NWA times a couple of months ago that explained some of the history.

For example the large chunk of North Fayetteville that is in the Springdale school district was once Shady Grove School District and was consolidated with Springdale in the 50's.

Large amounts of West Fayetteville are in Farmington. It may not have been an issue a few years ago but with all the new neighborhoods especially in that area the issue is becoming more obvious. There are some neighborhoods where you may go to Holcomb Elementary in Fayetteville, the neighbor directly living behind you would go to Farmington and the kid a block or two further out Mt Comfort Rd would go to Prarie Grove. It is pretty bizarre. Someday soon Farmington may have more kids in its district from Fayetteville than from Farmington.

Some of Fayetteville is also in Greenland school district and I'm not sure if any is in Elkins or not. And even in Goshen some areas just to the north of Hwy 45 are in Springdale school district. So it does boil down to Fayetteville only drawing from central locations while a lot of the newer neighborhoods go to other districts.

Hey welcome to the forum JJL. Yeah I believe I saw that article with that map. It looked like the school boundaries really went pretty far east of the current Fayetteville city limits. At the last City Council meeting someone talked to the council,and was mentioning that the city should keep in mind where the school district boundaries lie and to allow developments in other areas that will help the Fayetteville school district. One of the hotspots in the city is up by the mall and some of that falls into other school districts.

[mcheiss]

Welcome to the NWA forum JJL!!!

Please feel free to post in any topic that you wish.

On another note, enrollment numbers were released for the University.

17,938 students on the 11th day, a 0.7% increase from last years 17,821. Hispanic enrollment increased 20% to 447 students, Black enrollment decreased 3.6% 947, and the International student population is around 950 students.

It's not much of an increase but it's growth. I mainly attribute the slow growth to the lack of facilities. Hopefully when the UofA completes projects like the new Walton College of Business, Maple Hill Dorms, etc, more room will be allowed for more students. Plus there's the hopeful African American Studies Major and the University's new diversity advertising aimed at Black and Hispanic students that was just recently started. I'm anticipating something over 18,700 in emrollment next year.

[Mith242]

Welcome to the NWA forum JJL!!!

Please feel free to post in any topic that you wish.

On another note, enrollment numbers were released for the University.

17,938 students on the 11th day, a 0.7% increase from last years 17,821. Hispanic enrollment increased 20% to 447 students, Black enrollment decreased 3.6% 947, and the International student population is around 950 students.

It's not much of an increase but it's growth. I mainly attribute the slow growth to the lack of facilities. Hopefully when the UofA completes projects like the new Walton College of Business, Maple Hill Dorms, etc, more room will be allowed for more students. Plus there's the hopeful African American Studies Major and the University's new diversity advertising aimed at Black and Hispanic students that was just recently started. I'm anticipating something over 18,700 in emrollment next year.

Yeah hopefully the African American studies will help, the university still seems to have a hard time reaching out to the Afro-American community. In part I think there's still that stigma about NWA being just a 'white' community.

[mcheiss]

Yeah hopefully the African American studies will help, the university still seems to have a hard time reaching out to the Afro-American community. In part I think there's still that stigma about NWA being just a 'white' community.

I don't understand. So many minorities think of Harrison and the white supremacist groups that were there decades ago, and automatically think NWA is like Harrison. I guess it's just going to take time for this stigma to go away.

[masons_dad1]

I don't understand. So many minorities think of Harrison and the white supremacist groups that were there decades ago, and automatically think NWA is like Harrison. I guess it's just going to take time for this stigma to go away.

It's going to take more and more minorities moving here until whites feel out of place here. Then the Arkansas stigma will fade a little. I mean this is still Arkansas isn't it?

[KJW]

It's going to take more and more minorities moving here until whites feel out of place here. Then the Arkansas stigma will fade a little. I mean this is still Arkansas isn't it?

Indeed...but you could look at places like Little Rock, Pine Bluff, West Memphis and Texarkana and almost conclude: "Blacks should be WELCOME in Arkansas".*

I talked with a lady who's a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority...she said in the late 80s it was rough for black people in NWA, then it started getting better in the mid-90s and is much better now.

*Sadly, I know black people could be treated like dirt in those areas several decades ago even though they made up a large part of the populace.

[Aporkalypse]

I don't understand. So many minorities think of Harrison and the white supremacist groups that were there decades ago, and automatically think NWA is like Harrison. I guess it's just going to take time for this stigma to go away.

The current KKK HQs is in Zinc, AR outside of Harrison. It moved there several years ago from somewhere deeper in the South. I hate it, it's embarassing.

NWA is a completely different animal, though, as is Little Rock. Nobody should extrapolate any relationship between the organization and the rest of the state which really frowns on them. When they try to march at the State Capitol they're outnumbered a 100 to 1 by counterprotestors.

[mcheiss]

I've managed to find some NWACC photos that show the future Student Center and a detailed master plan.

[masons_dad1]

Thanks Matt! The new Student Center is nearing completion isn't it? It looks like it from just driving by at least.

[mzweig]

I've managed to find some NWACC photos that show the future Student Center and a detailed master plan.

Wow--that's really great. NWACC has done a tremendous job. They have grown so quickly and provide an amazing educational value for the dollar. FYI, you can now get a 4-year Bachelor's degree in Business from the Walton College at NWACC. We are sending professors up there and classes are running this semester for the first time.

[masons_dad1]

Wow--that's really great. NWACC has done a tremendous job. They have grown so quickly and provide an amazing educational value for the dollar. FYI, you can now get a 4-year Bachelor's degree in Business from the Walton College at NWACC. We are sending professors up there and classes are running this semester for the first time.

It would be nice if they moved their vo-tech courses back to NWACC. My wife is interested in getting the Dental Assistant Diploma, but most of the traditional vo-tech courses are now at the UofA.

[mcheiss]

Thanks Matt! The new Student Center is nearing completion isn't it? It looks like it from just driving by at least.

Yeah, it should be completed by the beginning of the next school year. The parking garage opened up this year with 1,000 spaces as well.

[Mith242]

Apparently Bentonville High School was picked by Newsweek as one of the top 1,000 schools in the country. It sounds like it was the only school picked in the area, not sure if any others in the state made the list.

[nwa_479]

Apparently Bentonville High School was picked by Newsweek as one of the top 1,000 schools in the country. It sounds like it was the only school picked in the area, not sure if any others in the state made the list.

Is this list from this year or last year?

[Mith242]

Is this list from this year or last year?

I got the impression it was recent but I admit I don't have a lot on the details.

[mcheiss]

Apparently Bentonville High School was picked by Newsweek as one of the top 1,000 schools in the country. It sounds like it was the only school picked in the area, not sure if any others in the state made the list.

I think it was around 500 in the list. I wasn't too impressed with the rankings. Little Rock Mills and ASMS always rank in the top 100 in the nation.

[Aporkalypse]

I think it was around 500 in the list. I wasn't too impressed with the rankings. Little Rock Mills and ASMS always rank in the top 100 in the nation.

Central usually is as well, generally in the top 20 or so. Remember, though, that they are based on AP credits, etc and they favor schools that educated a few very well over schools that educate the entire enrollment.

[mcheiss]

Here's some photos of NWACC and the new Parking Garage:

Here's the new student center, which is suppose to include a Barnes & Noble.

Here's the parking garage.