No hot breakfast will be served next week in the cafeteria at Louise Durham Elementary. One of the ovens is out. Breakfast will be cereal & a muffin on Monday.
Congratulations Mrs. Kathy Smallwood who won the Vyve Teacher of the Month! This is voted online by parents and students.
Assistant Superintendent Paulette Sherrer presented the Mena School Board with a proposed school calendar for the next two years that had the approval of 92% of the staff. The board Unanimously approved that calendar for 20/21 and 21/22.
The Mena School Board conducted their February meeting Tuesday night at the administration building.
Superintendent Benny Weston began the meeting by thanking the board for allowing him to attend the AASA National Conference in San Diego CA recently. Weston represented the state as the Arkansas Superintendent of the Year & described it as a once in a lifetime experience.
Assistant Superintendent Paulette Sherrer them presented the board with a proposed school calendar for the next two years that had the approval of 92% of the staff. The board Unanimously approved that calendar for 20/21 and 21/22.
Maintenance Supervisor, Danny Minton, addressed the board on facilities. Repairs continue on various systems that were damaged by a lightning strike at the baseball field. Including the removal of the damaged light pole. Delivery of Other material for the baseball facility has been postponed due to wet weather. Also the recent heavy rains have exposed a few leaks at Louise Durham Elementary & they are being dealt with.
At this point in the meeting there was discussion about limiting the number of foreign exchange students. No action was taken & it was decided that it would be left to the administrations discretion.
The board accepted the resignation of Molly Lindsey & Freda Moore. They also unanimously approved extending all administrative contracts before adjourning.
Beginning Tuesday, February 18, at Louise Durham Elementary all Preschool students and older siblings will be dropped off and picked up at the gym. Please remember the parents picking up older siblings in the afternoon will need to arrive after 3:00 PM. Parents that arrive earlier will be asked to go around to the end of the line. For safety reasons, cars will not be allowed to pass around other vehicles. Thank you for your cooperation in keeping our students safe.
Mena Superintendent Benny Weston is representing Arkansas in San Diego at the National AASA Conference.
Mrs. Vega's Class at LDE bundled up and enjoyed the snow!
Thank you Mena Mayor, Seth Smith for the signing of a proclamation for Feb. 3-7,2020 as National School Counseling Week. The Mena School Counselors were recognized at the HHE Bearcat Eyes Are Watching Pep Assembly on Friday, Jan. 31st. for the extraordinary difference they make in our schools
Our district AMI Assignment Completion Day percentage was 98.55%.
Our required goal was 90% completion.
Since our district learners exceeded the required percentage, we will be able to use our AMI Day 1 as a school day.
Our last day of school is still Friday, May 22nd.
Thank you to students, parents, teachers, and administration for your successful use of our 1st AMI Day.
LDE & HHE February breakfast & lunch menu!
Louise Durham Librarian Tiffany Williams HAs an article featured in the most recent publication by The Arkansas Association of Instructional Media.
https://indd.adobe.com/…/d37c406b-1bc3-412b-be47-30e3330ead…
The Mena School District is working with the Division of Elementary & Secondary Education to implement a framework developed by Marzano Research called High Reliability Schools. As part of this process we are collecting feedback from parents, staff, and administrators through an online survey administered by the Hanover Research firm. Survey responses will be anonymous and data will only be reported as a group. Surveys are available starting Tuesday, January 28th and closing Friday, February 14th.
You will see two questions in this survey that ask whether you are a European Union citizen or are currently located in the European Union (EU). Hanover Research is required to ask these questions to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation, a new EU policy that gives citizens and others traveling in the EU greater control over their personal data.
The survey should take less than 10 minutes to complete. To begin, please click the following link:
https://bit.ly/2TPnfjN
We appreciate your participation and thank you for your time.
Paulette Sherrer, ED.S
Assistant Superintendent
Congratulations to the LDE Staff Member of the Month, Mrs. Tawana Ricker! She is our Keyboarding and Coding teacher and we are so lucky to have her!
The Mena Preschool Teacher's are celebrating 100 Days of LOVING their jobs and their Student's!
HEADS UP!!!
Mena Public Schools will be closed on Friday, February 14th. Classes will resume on Monday the 17th. We hope you enjoy the break.
Due to inclement weather, Mena Public Schools will be closed Wednesday, January 22nd.
The district will use the 1st Alternative Method of Instruction (AMI) Day approved by the State.
Please follow the AMI Day procedures for your child’s building and grade level.
Students will have the opportunity to complete their assignments on the day missed or when school resumes.
Attendance will be calculated by the successful completion of the assignments.
If 90% or more of the students complete their required learning expectations for the AMI Day, the day will not have to be made up at the end of the year.
The Mena School Board held their January meeting on Tuesday Night at the Administration Building .
The board went into executive session immediately to discuss the renewal of Benny Weston's contract as Superintendent. When the executive session ended the board voted unanimously to add an additional year to Weston's contract.
Danny Minton addressed the board on the HVAC Scheduled Maintenance Agreement. The board renewed the agreement for Mena High School, including the addition of the safe room systems, at a cost of $14,850.00. The board also approved the addition of an agreement for Louise Durham Elementary at a cost of $4,292.00.
Minton also gave an update on the district facilities which included information on damage caused by a recent lightning strike. The strike took place on a light pole at the baseball field & not only caused damage there but also to phones, cameras, HVAC & more. A complete damage assessment is underway & may continue for some time before all damage is discovered.
Attention then turned to the Mid Year Review in which Weston was pleased to report that the district had exhausted 47% of the budget for the year.
Weston then updated each member of the board on the requirements of Act 589 the School Board Member Training Report in which all board members had met or exceeded the required number of hours.
The Board moved on to the financial report which was approved.
The Annual School Board Liability Insurance & General Liability Coverage premium was briefly discussed before the being approved at a cost of $8783.00.
Finally there were a pair of personnel issues. The board accepted the resignation of Hope Cannon who is a para pro at MMS & also they also approved the move of bus driver Gwen Andrews from a "C" to a "B" route.
School Board Appreciation Month!
Mena’s Benny Weston was recently recognized as Superintendent of the year and gave his acceptance speech and charge to the audience at the recent AAEA 2020 Superintendent Symposium. Closing the event was Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson who spoke to the state superintendents.
The Polk County Spelling Bee is underway in the Ouachita Center at UA Rich Mountain & Mena students are in the thick of it.. Check back later for more pictures!
