Van Dyke to be director of Co-op

— Pea Ridge Schools superintendent Mike Van Dyke hopes to remain involved withthe school district, despite taking the position of director at the Northwest Arkansas Education Service Cooperative in Farmington.

“I want to help any way I can.

My two grandsons will be going to school in Pea Ridge one of these days. I have an investment in the schools,” he said.

At NWAESC, Van Dyke said he will be directing professional development training for teachers and administrative staff in northwest Arkansas.

Through the local Co-op, teachers can get professional development without having to travel to places such as Little Rock, he said.

He will oversee 20 staff members to serve 75,000 students and 5,400 teachers in the region.

“(As superintendent), I focus on finance, facilities, personnel - an array of things ... (as director of the co-op) I will be ableto focus more on curriculum instruction,” he said.

“Some of the things we’ve done in Pea Ridge (include) implementing total instruction alignment, which aligns teaching standards. We do target tests periodically through the year to test kids on standards (to see if we need) interventions, re-teaching or to move students ahead. It maps out what we need to be doing with students throughout the year,” he said.

Van Dyke hopes to work on these standards on a more extensive level through the co-op.

By the end of his term as superintendent June 30, hesaid he hopes to finalize plans for the new intermediate school, work on salary increases and continue making plans for the next school year.

“Fortunately the schools’ principals and (curriculum director) Bonnie Fullmer are staying, the staff that remains ... will hopefully continue what we’ve beendoing,” he said.

Van Dyke is replacing NWAESC director Buddy Auman, who will be retiring after 42 years.

Discussion on the hiring of a new superintendent will continue at this month’s school board meeting, set for 6 p.m. on May 9 in the high school media center.

News, Pages 1 on 05/04/2011