For the third consecutive year, Folsom and Williams elementary schools in Farmington have been named top performing schools in the state and will receive cash awards for their performances, based on academic achievement and/or academic gains on 2015 state tests.
Folsom and Williams Elementary School in Farmington were named to the top 10 percent of high performing schools for 2015.
Farmington High School also has been named in the top 10 percent of high performing schools in the state for 2015, based on academic growth and graduation rate. This is the second year Farmington High School has made the list.
In all, 194 schools are on the list as recipients of the cash awards, according to Arkansas Department of Education. The money comes from the Arkansas School Recognition and Reward Program, established by state law to provide performance-based incentives for outstanding schools.
Schools named in the top 5 percent of achievement or achievement growth will receive $96.99 per student. Schools in the next tier, the top 6-10 percent, will receive $48.50 per student.
Williams is named a high performing school in two areas, academic achievement and academic gains. It will receive a total of $36,132 ($18,066 for each category). Folsom is receiving $15,526 for high performance and the high school will be awarded $33,777.
The financial awards totaled more than $7 million statewide, with Bentonville School District receiving the largest share of reward money, about $1.2 million.
The money can be spent on employee bonuses, equipment purchases that will support student performance or the hiring of temporary employees to help maintain and improve student performance.
Kara Gardenhire, Williams' principal, attributes the school's success to "hard-working, dedicated teachers and great parents involved with their students and involved with our school."
She also pointed to good attendance rates and staff eager to learn and to individualize for their students.
Reward schools are required to appoint a special committee to discuss how to use the money, with the state approving a school's proposal.
This year, different groups in the school are proposing ways to spend the money, Gardenhire said. Ideas include education resources, such as technology and books for the library, and equipment or programs to assist art, music and phys ed classes.
Williams Elementary has received about $100,000 in reward money since the program started in 2014.
"This money has provided a lot of resources for us," Gardenhire said.
Shannon Cantrell, who is in her first year as Folsom principal, last week said the school is excited to be named once again as a high performing school in the state.
"We have great teachers and great parents," Cantrell said. "We're excited and blessed to be in a community where this happens."
Cantrell said Folsom in the past has spent its money on equipment or programs to help instruction and she expects that will continue this year.
Some of her ideas for purchases include science kits and science materials to support the state's new science standards and math intervention programs to help students struggling in math.
General News on 04/27/2016