Louise Durham Elementary School

Louise Durham Elementary is so grateful for the generous donation of tissue and hygiene products from Mena Area Realtors! 🐾🖤❤️ Your support helps keep our students healthy, comfortable, and ready to learn. Thank you for investing in our kids and our school community!

First day of Kindergarten was amazing!

We had a great 1st day back!

On August 4th, the Mena Public Schools Special Education Department set sail into the new school year with their annual update, themed Inclusion Island. Staff gathered to focus on strategies that foster inclusive practices across all settings. Special guest presenter, Karen Grady, led an engaging session on Differentiation in the Classroom, providing tools and insights to support diverse learners.

The Back to School Bash was this past weekend and was open to every family in Polk County. The event included free school supplies, a No Sale Yard Sale, and a free lunch. Several school personnel served at this event and over 800 kids and adults attended. This is the third year that Mena Public Schools with the leadership of Shanda Craig has served our community with this event.

A crew from Heritage Signs and Awnings were installing a new awning at the bus rider entrance/exit at Louise Durham Elementary on Monday.
Preparations continue for the 2025-2026 school year. The first day of school for K-12 in Mena is Wednesday, August ,13th.

This week, members of the Mena Public Schools administrative team are attending the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators conference to gear up for a great school year ahead!



🎉 Congratulations to Mrs. Ashcraft for winning a door prize!



🤖 Dr. Smith also took the stage to present innovative ways AI can support school administrators in streamlining daily tasks and improving efficiency.



We are proud to represent Mena and continue learning new strategies to better serve our students, staff, and community! #MenaProud #LeadershipInLearning #AIinEducation

A group of Mena faculty are attending the Arkansas School Behavior Conference in Benton today.

Hello everyone, I am Jessica Johnson. I am very excited to be joining the Mena School family as a Kindergarten teacher at Louise Durham. I am coming with 15 years of experience teaching in early childhood, 5 of those in Kindergarten. I am a proud mom of 5 amazing kids, 3 of which will be joining me at Mena. We are all excited to see what this new journey brings this school year.

New employee orientation was held on Wednesday in the Mena High School Library. The district wide open house is Thursday, August 7th. The first day of school is Wednesday, August 13th.

Hey everyone! I’m Jennifer Philpot. My husband, Clay, and I have lived here our whole lives and together we have five kids. I’ve been with the Mena School District for four years now as part of the Louise Durham family. I’m looking forward to another fantastic year as I continue my journey as a 1st grade teacher, and I’m very excited to meet my next class of students!

Hi everyone! I am thrilled to begin my 4th year of teaching as part of the 2nd grade team at Louise Durham Elementary! My husband, Chet, and I are proud Mena natives, and we love calling this beautiful community home. We have a sweet 10-month-old daughter, Lynlee, and enjoy spending time outdoors—especially riding horses or gathering with family. I’m so excited to be joining the Mena Public Schools team and can’t wait for a fantastic year ahead!

Hello, everyone! My husband Adam and I are Mena natives and we have four kids - Macy, Maddox, Makenzie and Myles. I have a degree in Early Childhood Education from SAU and this will be my first year teaching kindergarten. I’m so excited to meet my students and see how they learn and grow this year!!

Mena School Counselors are attending the Arkansas School Counselors Association Conference this week at the Hot Springs Convention Center.

Welcome Kloey Eakin to the team at Louise Durham Elementary. This will be my second year teaching Kindergarten, and I am excited to be a part of the Mena School District. I look forward to starting this year!

We’re gearing up to Stuff the Bus for all area schools, and we need your help! 🎉 📍 This Friday, June 20th 🕗 8 AM – 6 PM 📍 Mena Walmart Parking Lot We’ll be collecting school supplies for students across Polk County to help them start the school year prepared and confident. Let’s make a big impact together! 📝 Most needed items include: #2 Pencils ✏️ Crayons 🖍️ Glue & Glue Sticks Pencil Boxes & Zipper Bags Colored Pencils Plastic & Paper Folders Composition Notebooks 📓 Loose Leaf Paper (Wide & College Ruled) 📅 Can’t make it this Friday? Mark your calendar for our next Stuff the Bus date: July 18th! Let’s pack the bus and set our students up for success!

Welcome Lindsey Sawyer to the team at Louise Durham Elementary. My little family and I moved back to Mena to be closer to family after 3 years in Siloam Springs. This will be my fourth year teaching 1st grade! I am so excited to pour into Mena students as my teachers once did for me.

Mena Public School Administrators have been attending the Leadership Institute hosted by the DeQueen Mena Education Service Cooperative at Degray Lake State Park this week. Mena staff continues preparations for the 2025-2026 school year which begins on August 13th. See the complete school calendar at the link below. https://www.menaschools.org/page/school-calendars

Mena coaches & players helped area youngsters improve their basketball skills this week at the Little Cats Camp in the Union Bank Center. A busy week is ahead for the Bearcat basketball team beginning at the Southeast Oklahoma State Team Camp and followed by the NWA Shootout.

The Little Ladycats Basketball Camp came to close on Wednesday. Thanks to all who attended and the parents for bringing them to the camp. We had a great time and learned a lot from each other.