From The Superintendent’s Desk

Hello Buckaroo Nation,

As Superintendent I want to always communicate with you and be open and transparent about the great things happening in Smackover-Norphlet School District. The school year is moving smoothly at all three district campuses as we approach the end of September.

ENROLLMENT, ETC.

At Norphlet Preschool, enrollment is higher than it has been in several years. Restrictions have been lifted and parents are now being allowed to enter the preschool building for dropoff and pickup. This has opened the door – literally – to more opportunities for parent involvement and communication with teachers.

Total enrollment at our other three campuses is also up, with Smackover Elementary enjoying the largest individual increase of approximately 30 students. Teachers at each campus have been engaging in implementation meetings for Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). Through state grant funding, specialists from the Solution Tree Group will be implementing the PLC system district-wide for the next three years. We are excited to see student learning increase as this school improvement initiative is established.

SEPTEMBER BOARD NOTES

  • Many thanks to Chuck Bennett and the Mount Holly Community Church for hosting the September regular school board meeting on Monday, Sept. 19. Including our Mount Holly and Norphlet communities as sites for regular board meetings is a practice we look to continue annually. The next regular school board meeting is scheduled to be held at the SNSD Central Office on Oct. 17.
  • Kim Marsh was recognized at the September board meeting as our SNSD Employee of the Month! Mrs. Marsh works in the cafeteria serving both Smackover Elementary and Smackover High School. Mrs. Rita Davis, SNSD Food Service Director, introduced Mrs. Marsh to the board and described her as hard-working with a great attitude every day. Congratulations to Mrs. Marsh! We thank her for her service to our kids!
  • The SNSD School Board approved the 2022-2023 fiscal year budget with projected revenue totaling $14,542,139.39, and expenditures totaling $14,524,373.06. The board also approved contracting dyslexia interventions through the Eagle Founddation.
  • The updated ARP ESSER budget was another item approved by the board. The approved, updated budget provides two installments of extra pay to teachers for the purpose of retention and recruitment. These payments in the amounts of $4,000, $2,000 and $1,000 for Licensed, Classified and part-time employees respectively will be given in January and November of 2023.
  • It was decided to table the proposal for Commissioned School Security Officer (CSSO) training until the regular October meeting.  At this meeting, CSSO trainer David Mitchel of the Arkansas State Police has been scheduled to give a presentation regarding the proposed training.  If approved, select members of the SNSD staff would receive training at a level above and beyond the Arkansas State Police minimum standards.  Once completed, SNSD would have a team of 26 highly trained emergency response personnel, each with over 60 hours of intense preparation at a law enforcement level.  As always, district stakeholders are encouraged to attend this and all board meetings.
  • The SNSD welcomes Ralph Stanley to the Buckaroo team!  Mr. Stanley was approved for employment in the district and will work in the maintenance department.  Welcome aboard Mr. Stanley!

GYM FANS
I am happy to report that five overhead fans have been installed in Norphlet Gym, just in time for the final home volleyball game of the season.  Three more will eventually be installed but are currently on back order.  A big thank you to our maintenance department for their quick installment of these fans.  We will continue to look at ways to make our facilities more comfortable for our students and stakeholders.  

As always, thank you for your support of our students, our staff and our school district. Go Bucks!

Robby Frizzell
Superintendent of Schools, Smackover-Norphlet School District

Fair Winners

Smackover students competed with their animal projects at the Union County Fair and came home with some outstanding results!

Rikki Holloway
• Reserve champion market goat
• Reserve champion commercial doe
• Grand champion senior goat showman

Emily Bailey 
• Grand champion market lamb
• Grand champion senior lamb showman

Phillip Bailey
• Reserve champion market lamb
• Reserve campion senior lamb showman•

Madison Franklin
• Reserve champion senior poultry showman
• Reserve champion large breed hen

Congratulations to these students!

An Apple A Day

Mrs. Jessica Stone’s class at Smackover Preschool painted with apples as their Art, Science, and Fine Motor activity to go along with their apple theme. They used the apples to make designs and explore how to make different designs if they changed the position and size of the apple. 

A Bowl Full Of Jelly

Jade Center’s FACS (Family and Consumer Science) students at Smackover High School have been making jelly! Students got to eat their jelly the following day and either made biscuits with sausage and jelly or had peanut butter and jelly! They also taste-tested jelly from each class period to determine what they could have done differently to make the jelly better! Such a fun and TASTY exercise!

“When In The Course Of Human Events…”

Norphlet Middle School is celebrating Freedom Week! On Monday, students were encouraged to participate by wearing red. Students in Mr. Yates’ eighth-grade Honors class have been busy preparing for this week, decorating the hallways so that fellow students would be greeted by patriotic red, white and blue colors. The focus for the day is the Declaration of Independence, and students were reminded that the Declaration of Independence was an international statement to Great Britain and the world that the United States of America considered itself a free and sovereign nation.

Honing Their Craft

Smackover High School choir students were given the option of attending a choir workshop at Henderson State University.

The students who choose to participate were able to work with music professors, meet and sing with students from all over our region, and were treated to fabulous performance from select music majors at the college.

After the workshop, our students noted that the experience gave them more confidence, taught them that tension is the enemy when singing, and that they enjoyed singing with a large group of people.

“We all had a blast!” said Mrs. Langley, Choir teacher. “I am so proud of these students for furthering their music education and for doing their part to represent the SHS choir. Go Bucks!”