Holly Harshman Elementary is kicking off Red Ribbon Week with students showing their SWAG (Students Who Achieve Goals) wearing favorite hats and their HHE RISE shirts! "Keeping Our Paws Off Drugs" red ribbons have been passed out with SWAG theme stickers for all students. Raffle prizes will be passed out daily with the important message to Just Say NO to Drugs and Bullies!
The Mena School Board held their October meeting Tuesday evening at the district administration building. The lack of a quorum prevented the board from voting on items on the agenda & those were postponed until the November meeting.
Mr. Benny Weston began the meeting with the superintendent's report. He mentioned that several district leaders, including himself, recently had a meeting with the state regarding minimum wage & new teacher pay requirements. The district now has specific guidelines to follow & Weston felt positive the district is in good shape regarding those changes.
Weston also stated that the district has met with two phone companies & has a third scheduled to discuss a new phone system on each campus.
Investigation also continues into the viability of a solar energy system & two solar companies have weighed in so far.
The bulk of the meeting was taken up by the ESSA Report which was recently released by the Arkansas Department of Education. The Principal from each campus gave a report on their score & where they thought improvements could be made.
Mr. Danny Minton gave an update on projects. The district recently completed an environmental safety & also the 3 year asbestos inspection. The district passed both & met state regulations. The floors at Jim Rackley & the Union Bank Center are scheduled to be resurfaced before the end of October. Construction on a visitors side press box at Bearcat Stadium should begin in two weeks. Menton gave an update on repair to a damaged section of the floor in the high school safe room & a quote of $7995.00 has been received on the addition of more handrails at the Union Bank Center.
Finally the board was told of the resignation of Carol Sproles from the MMS Staff.
Parent Teacher Conference will be on Tuesday, October 15th at Holly Harshman Elementary from 3:30-9:00pm..
Parent Teacher Conference will be on Thursday, October 17th at Louise Durham Elementary. The time will be 3:30-8:30pm with a supper break for staff from 5:30-6:10pm. See you there!!!
Parents: Your input is important to us!
Please take the time to complete the survey at the link provided.
High Reliability School Survey https://bit.ly/2pqsfyn
The High Reliability Survey results will help our district formulate goals.
The survey window opened Tuesday, October 8th and will close Friday, October 25th.
Please give us your input.
Your students will also be giving the opportunity to give us their input through a student survey.
Arkansas Rural Education Association is spotlighting the Mena School District! With an enrollment of 1737 students, Mena is in the DeQueen-Mena Coop area in Polk County and employs 229 people. Mena is proud to announce that Mr. Benny Weston, Superintendent of Mena School District, was recently presented with the 2020 Arkansas Superintendent of the Year Award. The district offers educational options to meet the needs of the individual learner. Their students may choose a traditional education or an alternative learning pathway offered to students through their K-12 Alternative Education classrooms, Mena High School HUB option, or K-12 Polk County Virtual Academy (PCVA). They will support the personal growth of each student by providing integrated opportunities for students to develop effective personal, social, and technology skills. Many opportunities are offered for students to extend learning beyond academics through participation in school organizations/clubs, fine arts, and athletics. The mission is to Engage Community, Inspire Students, and Prepare Graduates. Find more at www.menaschools.org or visit their Facebook Page, https://www.facebook.com/MenaPublicSchools/.
We LOVE our HHE parent volunteers! Thank you to Mrs. Shelby Garcia and Phoenix for doing an awesome job on our new Conference Room bulletin boards. WE appreciate YOU!
HHE’s Ambassadors enjoyed “Backing the Bearcats” in the Homecoming Parade🐾
2019 Mena High School Homecoming Parade!
https://www.facebook.com/MenaPublicSchools/videos/644325359429001/
The start time for the Homecoming Dinner has been changed to 4:30pm. Spread the word!
National School Custodian Day!
Aramark Client Appreciation Day! Mr Weston, Mena Superintendent, and Susan Bodey, Aramark Director pictured. Aramark prepared and provided lunch in appreciation to the Mena School District. We are proud of our partnership with Aramark. Thank you for your excellence, commitment, and positive food service climate.
AIr Evac will be practicing a landing at Bearcat Stadium on Tuesday at 10:00am... Please share this post & spread the word in order to eliminate any confusion... There is no emergency this is just a drill...
The quarterly meeting of the Mena Public Schools Health and Wellness Committee will take place on Tuesday, September 24th, 3:30 pm. The meeting will be held in the Mena Middle School Library
3rd grade Math /science teachers at HHE are doing unusual strategies to help kids understand decompose/distributive properties in math. Mrs. Woodral is "fishing" Mrs. Parsons is "cooking" and Mrs. White is doing surgery! All 120ish students will rotate through all 3 teachers.
HHE Family Night is still on GO!!!!
Lets here it for the 3rd grade !!!!! They won the spirit award at the Holly Harshman Peace Day Pep Rally!!! GO 3rd GRADE BEARCATS!!!!
Holly Harshman Elementary students & staff capped off peace day with a pep rally. A big thanks to Mr. Vacca for bringing his therapy dog to meet everyone. "Say No to Violence and Yes to Peace!"
Mark your calendars for the “Pack the Back” event with Southwest EMS! Let’s pack the ambulance with items for our Comfort Closet on Monday, September 23 from 5-6 at Holly Harshman Elementary!
HIPPIE DAY on Friday at Holly Harshman Elementary to celebrate saying "No to Violence and Yes to Peace" for PEACE Day on Friday.
The Mena School Board conducted their annual Report to the Public meeting on Tuesday night. The evening began with a Facilities Meeting which included a one hour update on facilities, improvements & the five year plan. In total the district buildings include 430,000 square feet with a replacement cost of 71 million dollars. Improvements over the past year were reviewed as well as those on the horizon & additions to the five year plan.
That was followed by the annual Report the the Public Meeting. Mr. Benny Weston began on the district financial status. The end of year balance was $4,185,544.06 which is set aside for emergencies & potential shortfalls. Weston went on to state that the district currently employs 229 people & that 67% of the districts students qualify for free or reduced meals.
Paulette Sherrer spoke briefly on curriculum & testing. She shared a graph with those in attendance which show the students in the district are meeting or exceeding the national average.
Louise Durham Principal Jimma Holder says that enrollment in kindergarten has increased to 170 students & that the number of students testing proficient & exceeding have increased.
Principal Tamara Smart from Holly Harshman Elementary noted a gain in ACT Aspire scores in each grade.
Mena Middle School Principal Cliff Sherrer reported a total of 400 students over the three grades. He is excited about the upcoming student council elections as MMS has not had a student council for a number of years. Sherrer also added that many improvements have been added to the science curriculum.
526 students are currently enrolled at Mena High School & Principal David Maxwell told the board that is an increase of 32 students. In addition he reported that students performed well above the state average on the Aspire testing & that he is planning to improve those scores even more. Maxwell also ran down a long list of concurrent courses which have been added at Mena High School.
It was at this point in the meeting that a number of VIP's interrupted the meeting to award Superintendent Benny Weston with an award as the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators. (see photos & details on our social media & website)
Mrs. Bridget Buckley, MHS Assistant Principal & PCVA Director, reported an enrollment of twenty nine in the Polk County Virtual Academy & a positive response to a change in curriculum.
Finally Mrs. Paulette Sherrer announced an increase in federal funding & an increase of fifteen students to the schools gifted & talented program.
After a short break the September School Board meeting was conducted. It was a very brief meeting that included an executive session. Afterwards the board approved a one time bonus of $1,000.00 for Mr. Weston in recognition of his well-deserved accomplishment of Arkansas 2020 Superintendent of the Year. The School Board meets on the 3rd Tuesday of the month at the Administration Building.
