Dear Pea Ridge Faculty, Staff, and Community;
As we close the school year today, Pea Ridge is recognized as one of the best school districts in Arkansas.
We accomplished this distinction together! Congratulations! I am grateful to each of you -- our students, teachers, staff, parents and community -- for your relentless commitment to excellence.
Pea Ridge students and our staff continue to garner accolades at the state level in academics, athletics and extracurricular activities. In everything from Bright Futures community engagement, establishing on-site Boys and Girls Club, to creating a successful Mountain Bike Club, our teachers and community provide unbelievable support so our students can achieve. The hard work required of our students and staff to continue to make achievement gains despite the rapid growth of Pea Ridge is amazing to me. Our teachers continue to step up and respond positively to the continuous changes placed upon them. With growth comes change and this week's vote will change our district's future. I encourage our community to vote. I am indebted to our School Board for its leadership allowing our teachers and staff to stay focused on instruction.
But it is you, our parents, I am most grateful to for this successful school year. Each of you owns this success just as much as our students, faculty and staff. I appreciate you! Thank you for all of the sacrifices you have made for our students. Thank you for putting in a full day at work only to come home to play with your little one who missed you so much all day long. Thank you for attending or trying to attend all of your child's school events. Thank you for listening to your child read even when you wanted a little time for yourself after a busy day. Thank you, Lunch Buddies, for taking the time to sit at a school lunch table and just talk with a student. Thank you for rearranging your busy schedule to hear your child recite, perform and model "Leader in Me" seven habits at a school assembly. Thank you for welcoming new parents into our schools. Thank you for the notes of encouragement you sent to faculty.
Together, we have made history in our Pea Ridge Schools. Well done! Please enjoy your family and friends over the summer. Take time to recharge your battery as we prepare to make more Pea Ridge history next year!
Respectfully,
Rick Neal, superintendent
Pea Ridge Schools
Editorial on 05/17/2017