Teachers and school officials will be busy during the coming weeks preparing students for the shift from the junior high to middle school configuration, White Hall School Board members were reminded Tuesday during the monthly board meeting.
For the schools, the numbers have changed for the annual spring orientation sessions, officials said.
With the start of the 2012-13 school year, the junior high schools at White Hall and Redfield will become middle schools and the high school will expand by one grade level to include ninth through 12th grades.
Current fifth and sixth grade students at the elementary schools are undergoing orientation to attend middle school in August, while eighth and ninth grade junior high students are scheduling orientation for high school.
It’s a bit easier at the elementary schools, said Superintendent Larry Smith explained, with classes in the fall including kindergarten through fifth grade.
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Orientation will continue through May with school tours and again in early August. Notices have been sent to parents and guardians listing orientation and tour schedules, officials said.
The changes are not limited to orientation and tours.
Board members were expected to review two bids Tuesday to change signage at White Hall Junior High to reflect the name change to White Hall Middle School. The lowest bid received was $14,025. Signage at Redfield Junior High will be addressed later.
Other items up for consideration on Tuesday’s meeting agenda:
– Otis Elevator submitted a quote of $31,000 to replace a ruptured cylinder on the elevator at White Hall High School. Smith said repairs are projected to take three weeks.
— Approval of a plan to complete paving projects at the elementary schools in White Hall and Redfield, in addition an agreement with an engineering firm for design and supervision;
– A minor change in wording on School Choice transfer policy is required because of the grade reconfiguration;
– Directors will be asked to formalize a sponsorship agreement for the new video scoreboard at Bulldog Stadium, with Simmons First National Bank pledging $90,000 toward the cost of the scoreboard; and
– Recognitions, including Patience Walker, WHHS senior selected All-State and All-Star nominee in basketball; Redfield Junior High boys won the 5A North Conference basketball title and girls team was runner-up in the conference tournament; WHHS girls basketball team finished third in the 5A Southeast Conference and were in the state basketball playoffs; Dorothy Pollett, sixth grade reading teacher at Taylor Elementary, received the White Hall Chamber of Commerce’s Clara Burton Award in recognition of being an outstanding educator; and Briana Fleming, a Gandy Elementary student, was recently crowned Miss Arkansas Preteen and will compete for the national title of Preteen USA Ambassador in Tampa, Fla., in July.