Entering the second year of the first conversion charter school in the state, Pea Ridge Manufacturing and Business Academy will have more students than the first year. There were 87 students in PRMBA the first year. There are 141 enrolled for the 2015-2016 year.
"We brought over a few new teachers as our population increased," Charley Clark, director, said.
"We've hired Denise Burnett. She has 20 to 25 years in healthcare field. We've added Antronette Brown in a math position. She's a good fit for us because she has experience as a teacher and spent time in computer labs.
Clark explained that the iSchool position is not traditional teaching. "You have to be solid, an expert in your content... math expert first and foremost, and great computer knowledge and be able to navigate different software to aid with 21st Century learner issues."
Cherie Fisher, who has worked in the school district for more than 10 years as science teacher, will fill multiple different roles, Clark said. "We had a need for a science teacher, that was first on our minds -- she's an expert and is someone our kids have known."
"It was nice to have a much better understanding of what we needed to do in year two," Clark said. "To be able to have that small atmosphere/environment the first year to work through different issues that arose, was good. The first year, you find things you want to change, to improve.
"Now, we have a much larger population; we're better organized and we've streamlined the process," Clark said.
The new flex mod schedule being implemented at Pea Ridge High School does impact PRMBA a little bit, Clark said, explaining that all it does is change the times.
"About 75 percent of our population changes the time they go over to the high school," he said. "We will need to be a little more proactive at going over on times, pullouts and going over to pathways. It will allow the kids to grow up a little bit, it's like work or a college schedule. They don't have mom or dad waking them up. They will have to take responsibility -- sink or swim, they'll get to class."
Clark said pathways have been restructured with broadcasting now in a pathway by itself called multi-media productions. Logistics is now with marketing and logistics instead of in sales and broadcasting.
"During the course of all of our planning, we realized that the marketer is driven by the idea of business. The multi-media is driven by creating and editing a product," Clark explained.
The five pathways and numbers of students in each are:
• Marketing/logistics: 33
• Health care: 59
• Multi-media: 7
• Industrial tech: 33
• Plastic metal fabrication: 9
"We are very proactive about talking with students about life choices, thinking about their future, evaluating their futures, so they are much more aware of what consequences, including the pay scale, are," Clark said. "That's the challenge of having a two-year school."
"We would love for our seniors to come to school half a day and work for half a day. That job, that work they're doing, that is their education," Clark said, adding that a class in personal finance has been added. "If you get a kid a job and don't teach them to manage money, they're probably not going to be successful."
Students entering PRMBA this year will find physical changes. A new building between PRHS and PRMBA will house the shop for Pea Ridge High School freeing space shared last year with the technical fabrication shop. The Health Care pathway is nearly double in size.
"We are excited about the new year," Clark said.
"We're very excited to have an opportunity in year 2 to have improved some of our areas. We've made some small tweaks to our system, to go above and beyond.
"We're excited for associates who've come back for year 2. This was designed to be a two-year program. This will be the first time to get students through the complete pathway," he said. "PRMBA is a school for just about anybody; we place some importance in becoming career or college ready."
General News on 08/12/2015