Mena School District is proud to recognize Mrs. Katie Thomas and Mrs. Tiffany Williams in being selected by the Arkansas Leadership Academy for the Instructional Leader Empowerment Program. The Instructional Leader Empowerment program offers an opportunity for growth through a focus on improving instruction in the classroom through professional learning and opportunities from both national and state educators. They will work to develop a plan and process to impact and support classroom teachers and their instruction in the classroom. Mrs. Thomas is the Elementary Interventionist for the district and Mrs. Williams is the Library Media Specialist at Louise Durham. Congratulations Katie and Tiffany! We are proud of you.
Mena School District would like to recognize Mrs. Tisha White in completing the Arkansas Leadership Academy Teacher Leadership Program. The Teacher Leadership Program prepares participants for leadership roles in their school, district, region, state, and nation, without having to leave the classroom. Participants who complete the program have the opportunity to add the designation of Lead Professional Educator to their Arkansas Educator License. Mrs. White is a third grade teacher at Holly Harshman Elementary school. Congratulations Mrs. White! We are proud of you!
Mena School District is proud to recognize Mrs. Lauren Frost in being selected by the Arkansas Leadership Academy for the Teacher Leadership Program. The Teacher Leadership Program prepares participants for leadership roles in their school, district, region, state, and nation, without having to leave the classroom. Participants who complete the program have the opportunity to add the designation of Lead Professional Educator to their Arkansas Educator License. Mrs. Frost is the Family and Consumer Science teacher at Mena Middle School and a part of the new Project Lead the Way initiative that will begin in the 2024 school year. Congratulations Lauren! We are proud of you!
Mena Public Schools counselors attended the ArSCA Conference this week! You don’t have to wear a cape to be a hero…you just have to care!
Mena Counselors brought a HUGE amount of pop-tops to the ArSCA Conference that will be donated to Arkansas Children’s Hospital! Thank you to all of our families who sent pop-tops to the schools! WE all can make a difference together!
Mena Middle School teachers Sarah Billings and Lauren Frost attended Project Lead The Way’s summer training in Indianapolis recently. They are excited to offer a variety of STEM classes for MMS students this school year.
Local teacher, Rachel Dover of Mena School District, recently attended Southwest ESOL Institute, a partnership of Henderson State University and Dawson Education Service Cooperative. Attendance at the Southwest ESOL Institute signifies a teacher’s commitment to best classroom practices for helping students acquire knowledge while developing their academic English. The Institute is a 10-day, intense training in the field of English to Speakers of Other Languages. Six days were completed this summer, while the other four will be completed on Saturdays throughout the 2023 - 2024 school year. The Institute is funded by a grant from the Arkansas Department of Education.
Teachers heard from nationally recognized speakers such as Lynda Franco, Mark Vasquez, and Keith Folse. Local teachers who are experts in their field provided real-world scenarios through demonstrations and panel discussions. Through the Institute, teachers will earn 12 hours of graduate credit and take the ESL Praxis test. Upon receiving passing scores, English as a Second Language will be added to a teacher’s license.
Congratulation to MADI LYLE on her performance in the Arkansas High School Coaches Association All Star Volleyball Game. The game was played in the Farris Center at the University of Central Arkansas.
Thank you to the Spotlight Singers and Mrs.Tilley for packing our food bags this week!
The Mena Public Schools would like to welcome new staff for 2023/2024. Including JESSICA BRADLEY at Louise Durham Elementary. The first day of the new school year is Wednesday, August 16th.
If Mena Public Schools Radio is not number one on your radio's preset then you're missing out!
Mena teachers are attending the 2023 summer conference "All In For All Learners" at the DeQueen Mena education Service Cooperative. Today they heard a presentation from Dr. Paula Kluth and another on trauma informed teaching. The conference continues on Thursday with sessions on trauma informed schools, literacy inclusion, math inclusion, science inclusion, CTE and tech inclusion as well as behavior.
The Mena Public Schools would like to welcome new staff for 2023/2024. Including ROBERT SWEERE at Mena Middle School. The first day of the new school year is Wednesday, August 16th.
The JR Ladycats have competed at the Morrilton Basketball Teamcamp Monday and Tuesday. They have improved tremendously over the past two weeks at their team camps.
Alicia Farringer, Dyslexia Interventionist, finished year two of CALT training the last two weeks at the Southwest Education Cooperative in Hope. The curriculum learned is called Take Flight. Take Flight, A Comprehensive Intervention for Students with Dyslexia, was implemented in our school last year and will be continued in the years to come. The design of this curriculum was to enable students with dyslexia to achieve and maintain better word recognition, reading fluency, reading comprehension and aid in the transition from a therapy setting to ‘real world’ learning. Our school district is extremely excited to offer this high quality instructional program to our students that was designed by the staff of the Luke Waites Center for Dyslexia and Learning Disorder at Scottish Rite for Children.
Mena football hosted DeQueen and Horatio for a team camp at Bob Carver Bearcat Stadium on Tuesday.
The Bearcats will play a scrimmage at Mansfield on August 15th and the season opener is August 25th against DeQueen.
The Mena High School performing arts center hosted Dr. Luis Cruz on Friday. He discussed transforming school culture with Mena teachers & others from around the area.
Junior and Senior boys finished this week playing over 24 games between the two teams at the Northwest Arkansas Shootout in Fayetteville! Thank you Jimmy Jester for your hospitality and Smitty’s Garage of Fayetteville and Rogers for sponsoring a meal for both teams!
We’ve all made it back home but would like to share the last leg of our journey with you!
After arriving in London and dropping our things off with our new bus driver, we took a short walking tour around the city before dinner. We got to see Big Ben, the London eye, do a little bit of shopping and see Picadilly Circus! 

Our second day in London we had a mixed bus and walking tour with our local tour guide. We got to see Buckingham Palace, one of the former Royal Gardens, Big Ben, Parliament and Westminster Abby. In the afternoon, we spent time exploring the tower of London, which is home to the Crown Jewels of the U.K. and several exhibits that tell the story of the fortresses history and the history of England.
Our third and final day, we toured the globe and learned a little bit about the history of theater and Shakespeare, visited a vibrant London market for lunch and caught a saw the production, Wicked, on the west end! 
Before we left, we snagged some pictures with our wonderful Tour Director Elena, our bus driver Jay, and our travel partners from Atlanta, Georgia!
If you are interested in learning how your student could participate in a similar experience in the future, follow the MHS Global page! For the 23/24 school year we are hoping to go on an adventurous trip to the Dominican Republic and for the 24/25 school year. We are hoping to do a tour of Scotland and Ireland!
The resurfacing of the floor in Jim Rackley Gymnasium at Mena Middle School is complete!
