APSD Campuses Selected For Participation In ADE Support Programs
May 1, 2023
The Arkadelphia Public School District is proud to announce that each of our four school campuses has been selected to participate during the 2023-24 School Year in one of two dedicated support service projects through the Arkansas Department of Education(ADE). Perritt Primary School and Arkadelphia High School have been accepted as part of the Arkansas Behavior Support Specialist BX3 Project Cohort 4. Peake Elementary School and Goza Middle School have been chosen by the ADE Office of Special Projects to participate in the 2023-24 Professional Learning Communities (PLC) Project.
Perritt Primary School and Arkadelphia High School Chosen for BX3 Cohort 4
Arkansas Behavior Support Specialists (BSS) in affiliation with the Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education will be working with the staff of Perritt Primary School and Arkadelphia High School through the BX3 Cohort 4. BX3 is a capacity-building project that provides coaching to school behavior teams working to develop tiered positive behavior support systems for all students.
As a prerequisite to acceptance in the BX3 Project Cohort 4, Perritt and AHS assembled School Behavior Teams that attended the Arkansas BSS “Five Essential Components of Schoolwide Positive Behavior Supports” training. As part of the BX3 Project, these schools will participate in the regional kickoff meeting in September. Teams will schedule monthly coaching sessions as well as independent behavior team meetings. On-campus monthly coaching sessions will begin in October 2023.
BX3 will train, coach, and empower school staff to reinforce positive behavior supports for students which can lead to more instructional time for teachers and academic achievement for students, as well as administrators spending less time on disciplinary issues. We look forward to working with two BX3 coaches from Arkansas Behavior Support Specialists, Sandy Crawley with the Dawson Education Service Cooperative and Kelly Davis with the Arch Ford Education Service Cooperative.
Peake Elementary School and Goza Middle School Selected by ADE for PLC Project
Through the PLC Project, Peake Elementary School and Goza Middle School will partner with the Arkansas Department of Education to receive additional support to initiate and sustain PLC practices. Arkadelphia Public Schools are not new to the PLC process. PLC teams have been meeting for the past few years to improve teaching and learning. The focus of this new partnership is to embed the PLC process into everyday operations. The support aims to transform a district's culture to focus on student learning through a collaborative culture using timely results.
The ADE Office of Special Projects began offering the PLC Project to Arkansas schools in 2017. This experience brings a deep level of understanding and application to the PLC process while still acknowledging that each district and even school campus has its own set of unique challenges to address.
The Arkadelphia Public School District will be working closely with a network of partner schools as well as Solution Tree experts throughout the project. During the 2023-24 school year, each campus will receive leadership, math, English Language Arts (ELA), and singletons (stand-alone courses) coaching in the support and monitoring of student learning through the PLC process.
Nikki Thomas, Arkadelphia Public School District Superintendent, states “I am extremely proud of the work that our staff has already done and the continued work that they are committing to undertake to move our students forward. This dedicated support will enhance and build upon the great things that are already happening and will help us in our efforts as we strategically and thoughtfully align our work in order to address the unique academic needs of all of our students.”
Congratulations to Perritt Primary School, Peake Elementary School, Goza Middle School, and Arkadelphia High School. The Arkadelphia School District is committed to providing every student with a high-quality education to become a successful adult and contributing community member. It’s always a great day to be a Badger!