All student files in home directories and student share directories will be deleted on July 1 to free space on the district servers. We strongly encourage students to copy any and all files they need to keep (or would like to have) from those directories before July 1.

Faye Jones, who has served the Fayetteville Public Schools since 1970 and is currently the principal of Root Elementary School, will be honored at a reception on Sunday, May 31 from 2 to 4 pm in the Root Library.

Faye has served as a kindergarten aide, kindergarten teacher, coordinator of the district's kindergarten program, and principal at Bates Elementary School, in addition to her current duties at Root.

After her retirement, Faye will devote her boundless energies to fund raising for Children's House. Congratulations, Faye, on a job extraordinarily well done!!

The Fayetteville High School Class of 2009 officially graduated last night in the annual commencement ceremonies at Bud Walton Arena. Congratulations to all the graduates and their proud families!!

Click here to see a list of the graduates.

The Gallery of Excellence award is given to the top 1% of yearbooks published by Walsworth Publishing. The top 1% are selected from a total of 5,000 middle schools, junior highs, high schools and universities. Books are judged on theme, layout and design, use of color and photography.

According to David Walsworth, "Woodland is the only junior high school that has won two times. It is usually the really big high schools who have over 3,000 students, and the nationally known universities that win. Many junior high schools just don't have the leadership and dedication to task that this level of competition requires."

The 112-page, full-color publication is wholly created by the student staff. The student staff also determines the theme, takes all photos, designs pages, and sells and distributes the books. The WJHS yearbook is a non-profit, self-sustaining entity for which all funds for operating expenses must be raised by students and the sponsor Shay Hopper.

Staff members are 9th grade WJHS students who are enrolled in numerous Pre-AP courses, and also participate in Gifted and Talented, marching band/drum major, Service Learning, and many other extra-curricular activities, all while maintaining 3.5 grade averages or above. and dedicating hundreds of hours outside of the school day to create the yearbook.

Click here to see the staff photo
photo - standing, L to R Ashley Cunningham, Maddie Lang, Laura Jones, and Kaitlyn Hurlbut.
seated L to R - Wanting Helen Zhang, Erin Boss and Hannah Golden. 

All kids age 18 and younger can have lunch for free every weekday this summer at The Owl Creek School. No fee--it's free! No application, and no registration. Just come hungry!

Lunch is served Monday thru Friday from 11 am to 1 pm. The lunches will be available beginning Monday, June 8 and ending August 7. No meals will be served on Friday, July 3.

The Owl Creek School is located at 375 North Rupple Road, across the street from the Donald W. Reynolds Boys & Girls Club.

The program is made possible by a grant from the USDA.

For more information, contact the Fayetteville School District Food Service at 479-684-5091.

Vicki Thomas will assume the role of superintendent of the Fayetteville School District on July 1, 2009, following the retirement of Dr. Bobby New, who served in the position for thirteen years.

For more on Mrs. Thomas, click here.

FHS SPRING FOOTBALL SCRIMMAGE IS HERE!!!!!                
SEE YOUR 2009-2010 VARSITY AND SOPHOMORE BULLDOGS IN ACTION- THEN JOIN US FOR A BULLDOG COOKOUT !!!

ADMISSION IS FREE TO EVERYONE

*THERE WILL BE A PASSING COMPETITION AND A KICKING
COMPETITION FOR ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS!

SIGN UP AS YOU ENTER THE STADIUM-
PARTICIPANTS WILL BE DRAWN PRIOR TO THE START OF EACH COMPETITION

When: Friday, May 22nd 5:00 - 7:00
Where: Harmon Field
•    Passing Competition Begins at 5:25
•    Kicking Competition Begins at 5:50
*RAFFLE TICKETS- $1.00 FOR A BRAND NEW
ALL BLACK UNDER ARMOUR BULLDOG JERSEY!!!

Ramay Junior High School's Matt Saferite has been named Arkansas Secondary Principal of the Year by the Arkansas Association of Secondary School Principals (AASSP).

Saferite says the award, given annually to one secondary principal in each state, is not something that is his alone. "Recognition for one's work is wonderful," he said. "But, this award is due to a team effort by the staff and students at Ramay."

Following his nomination for the honor, Saferite spent many hours filling out the paperwork. "The questions were difficult to answer because they were directed toward what I did or what I accomplished," he said. "But, here at school it isn't all about me. It is about us."

"To work with a principal who not only leads by example but also encourages, guides, supports and celebrates teaching and learning is an educator's dream," said staff member Cindy Caudle. "To attend a school where the principal not only encourages but expects students, staff, family members and other stakeholders to identify and seek opportunities for personalizing one's educational experience is a student's dream. Our principal, Matt Saferite, is that type of leader."

Dr. Bobby New, Fayetteville School District superintendent, said, "This is a tremendous honor for Matt and something our entire district can take pride in. He is the example we all try to model."

Saferite, originally from Nevada, came to northwest Arkansas to attend John Brown University. It wasn't his original plan to stay in Arkansas, but after he met his wife Beth in his fist education class he couldn't think of a reason to leave. He followed up on his bachelor degree with a masters from the University of Arkansas and is currently working on attaining a doctorate.

"Principals like Matt shine a positive light on education in Arkansas," said Ed Love,
AASSP executive director.

Saferite will now serve as the state's nominee for the National Secondary School Principal of the Year program sponsored by MetLife and the Association of Secondary School Principals.
Launched in 1993, the MetLife/NASSP Principal of the Year program recognizes outstanding secondary school principals. Those honored have demonstrated extraordinary leadership, commitment to students and staff, service to their communities and contributions to the overall profession of educational leadership.

Saferite will be officially honored at the AASSP fall conference in November. He will also be recognized at a formal dinner as the state's representative in the 2010 national award program hosted by NASSP and MetLife later this year in Washington, DC.

Congratulations, Matt!!

The results of a second public opinion poll of Fayetteville voters again showed strong support for a new Fayetteville High School. 80% of those polled said they favored new facilities for FHS. The poll also showed that 58% would either definitely or probably vote for a 5 mil property tax increase for a new FHS. 35% said they would oppose it, and 7% had no opinion.

To view the poll results, click here.

The poll was conducted by Ernest and Zoe Oakleaf of Opinion Research Associates of Little Rock and drew responses from 400 registered voters in the Fayetteville School District who have voted in recent elections.

PLEASE NOTE: Depending on your connectivity, the poll results might take a few minutes to download.

The 1st annual Fayetteville High School Parade of Champions will be held on Tuesday, May 12 at 3:45 pm. The parade will begin at Harmon Field and proceed via Center Street to the Fayetteville Square. KNWA-TV's Tom Yazwinski will be the master of ceremonies and will introduce the honorees at the Square.

All teams, clubs and individuals who have received state or national honors this year will be featured in the parade. This includes academics, athletics, clubs and fine arts.

In the event of rain, the champions will be recognized at an assembly at FHS at 4 pm.

AETN,  the Arkansas Educational Television Network, has announced the films which will be included in this year's AETN Student Selects.  Films were selected in three different areas:  FHS films that were selected are listed below:

Selected for screening in the Little Rock Film Festival:

"Sight"
Produced by Landry Harlan, James Couch, and Colewyn Dehner
Starring Baker Cinq-Mars, Taylor Wilbourn, and guest actor Howard Taylor.

"Amour"
Produced by John Couch and Nathan Trucks
Starring Tessa Harbaugh and Brandon Townsend

"Take Me Home"
Produced by John Couch, Nathan Trucks, Berkley Greene, and Lexy Hancock
Starring Nathan Trucks and Berkely Greene

Selected for broadcast by AETN on Channel 13 on Sunday, May 31st at 2:00 p.m.:
"Sight" and "Take Me Home."

Selected for viewing on the AETN website:

"Counting Hours"
Produced by Rebekah Garrett, Carmen Cheadle, John Couch, Nathan Trucks, Kyle Erf, Josh Bonnell & Chris Wood
Starring Tessa Harbaugh, Brandon Townsend, Baker Cinq-Mars, Tina Andrews and Aricka Lewis

"The Campout"
Produced by Andrew Burton, Taran Hutchens and Christian Duncan
Starring Peter Willis, Taylor Blake, Andrew Lea, and Eli Bishop

The following students will be attending the AETN Workshops and screenings at the Little Rock Film Festival:
Landry Harlan, John Couch, James Couch, Rebekah Garrett, Rainy Rues, Bailey Wise and Hayden Pearce.

The long-awaited traffic lights at Martin Luther King Jr. Drive & Garland Avenue are operation as of 11:45 am today (Friday, May 8). A dedication ceremony led by Mayor Lioneld Jordan and other dignitaries commemorated the occasion.

Please be careful driving through this intersection as we all become acquainted with the new circumstances. Also, watch for kiddos crossing the street!

Click here for a photo from the ceremony.

The FHS Baseball team will seek their fourth consecutive state championship on Friday at 4:30 pm at Baum Stadium. A fourth consecutive state championship for FHS in baseball would tie Pine Bluff High School for most consecutive state championships. The game will be broadcast on The Hog, 105.3 FM.

The FHS Girls Soccer team will seek their fifth state championship, on Friday at 6 pm at Lady Back Field. If they are able to win their fifth state championship, they will have won more state championships than any other girls soccer program in Arkansas.

Tickets for all state championship events are $7 per person, regardless of age.

Let's get out and support the Bulldogs tomorrow!!

A Fayetteville community panel will be meeting with the 21c Committee during their meeting on May 13th.  We're all looking forward to collaboration on our next steps.

If you are interested in raising your ACT scores, then come and join CPEP this summer.  CPEP is an intense program of study that covers English, reading, and math and how to take the ACT.  This program is available to juniors and seniors who have taken the ACT and want to raise their scores, or are wanting to get ready for college and prepare for the ACT.   The program will be held June 8-July 11 from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM  Monday through Thursday at Fayetteville High School. At the end of the program an official ACT test will be administered.  This results of this test can be used for college admission and scholarship.  Please sign up in the counseling office or call Dawn Norman at 445-1173 for more information.

A helicopter helped dry the field this morning at Bulldog Field in preparation for the resumption of the 7A state baseball playoffs. Gary Combs hovered over the field for several minutes to help dry the field from the soaking rains over the weekend. First game is at 11:30 am, Rogers vs. Cabot

Click here for the photo.

Thanks to Gary and all the grounds crew who worked furiously this morning to ready the field!!

Fayetteville Board of Education member Jim Halsell was honored by Arkansas Reading Association during a ceremony in the Capitol rotunda on April 28 in Little Rock Halsell received the 2009 Community Volunteer Award for his work with the Northwest Arkansas Reading Council.

Halsell and the two other award winners were also honored at a reception at Heifer Project International that afternoon.

Click here for photo from the ceremony.