Looking for information about school events, closings, sports scores, or more? Check out the FPS Community Blog. Alan Wilbourn, our district’s Public Information Officer, does a tremendous job keeping us all up to date on the latest news and information. If you’re on Twitter, you can follow the district there, too, at twitter.com/fayar.

To everyone who traveled to Fayetteville for this week’s NSBA site visit: thank you. We hop you enjoyed your visit.

To everyone who helped plan, organize, and execute the event: we couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you.

And special thanks to our tremendous sponsors whose generous contributions helped make this wonderful event possible. Thank you.

On Tour E today? You’re visiting Root Elementary.

Root Elementary’s mission: to serve as a community of learners comprised of dedicated staff, parents, and students, will maintain high levels of achievement by challenging all students to attain their maximum learning potential in a safe, nurturing environment through innovative teaching strategies, open lines of communication, and community support.

You can learn more about Root on its official school Web site.

Those traveling with Tour E today are slated to visit McNair Middle School.

McNair Middle School received its namesake from Mrs. Feriba McNair. A 1938 graduate of Fayetteville High School, Feriba McNair received her degree in education from the University of Arkansas in 1942. She established the first girls' physical education program at Fayetteville High School. She also taught science and was cheerleader and pep squad sponsor from 1943-46 and 1953-56. She was appointed to complete a retiring school board member's term in 1967, becoming the first woman to ever serve on the board.

You can learn more about McNair and its history on its official school Web site.

If you’re part of Tour D today, your second stop is Washington Elementary.

You can learn more about Washington Elementary on its official school Web site.

Have comments about the tour so far? Feel free to post them below.

If you’re slated to participate in Tour D this morning, your first scheduled stop is Fayetteville High School.

Fayetteville High School’s first classes were taught in a building completed in 1908. The school had eleven classrooms and sat on what is currently School Street. (The city had named the street after the first school in Washington County, first built on the original FHS grounds in 1833.)

As the school grew, crowded conditions resulted in the addition of several more rooms and a gymnasium. Enrollment at the school reached 668 by 1926, resulting in a six room addition to the school at a cost of $22,000.

Learn more about the school and its history on its official school Web site.

Taking Tour D this morning? Your first stop is Vandergriff Elementary.

Did you know Vandergriff is a Blue Ribbon school? Secretary of Education Arne Duncan recently announced 314 schools—including Vandergriff Elementary here in Fayetteville—as 2009 National Blue Ribbon Schools. Congratulations to the Vandergriff Bears!

Good morning! If you’re scheduled to take Tour D this morning, your first stop is Happy Hollow Elementary.

Located on a wooded knoll at the end of Ray Avenue just north of Highway 16 East, the land on which Happy Hollow sits is a part of the Happy Hollow Farm made famous in many stories published in national magazines and books written by William R. Lighton during the early 1900's. In 1908, William Lighton bought the land and turned it into a productive organic farm. A writer and novelist, Lighton, published an article about the farm in the Saturday Evening Post that later led to a book, Happy Hollow Farm (1914), describing the trials and successes on the farm.

Learn more about Happy Hollow and its rich history on its official school Web site.

After this afternoon’s NSBA Site Visit breakout session at Owl Creek Elementary (sponsored by the good people at Dell), you’ll get to take part in Pearl’s Sixth Wedding, a play produced by Ceramic Cow Productions (and sponsored by the wonderful Wireless Generation).

We hope you’re enjoying your experience so far. Enjoy the show tonight. Then settle in for a post-wedding dinner at St. Paul’s sponsored by Cox.

Thanks to the good people at SMART Technologies, those participating in our NSBA Site Tour get to experience Ella’s Restaurant for lunch today. You’re in for a treat.

Ella’s is housed in The Inn at Carnall Hall. First built in 1906 as the first woman’s dorm on the University of Arkansas campus, the building is named for Ella Howison Carnall, a distinguished Associate Professor of English and Modern Languages from 1881 to 1884. The structure faced the prospect of demolition in the late 1990s until a vigorous campaign to save the facility resulted in a $6.9 million renovation.

You can learn more about our wonderful event sponsors on our official NSBA Site Visit pages.

Bon appétite!