Jacqueline Vergason, principal at Hurricane Creek Elementary, was named the Arkansas Association of Instructional Media (AAIM) Administrator of the Year. The award is given to recognize and honor a school administrator for his/her outstanding service, support, and worthy contributions to the operation of effective school library media and/or technology services. Congratulations Mrs. Vergason!
The Bryant School Board meets monthly. Following each regular meeting, Bryant Public Schools will post a School Board Recap. We hope this short summary will provide our parents and community members with user-friendly information about decisions being made at school board meetings.
Links to the April 2023 meeting recap:
https://5il.co/1t4c5
https://5il.co/1t4c4 (Spanish)
April is the Month of the Military Child. As we wear 💜 today to show military children they are supported and celebrated, we also want to honor the Cavanagh family, who have three children in our district. Read their story ⇉ https://bit.ly/3AfmGnD
#ArMilKids
The Bryant School Board is pleased to announce the hiring of Jill Henley as the incoming Assistant Principal at Hurricane Creek Elementary. Mrs. Henley will begin her new position on July 1, 2023.
Jill Henley is a graduate of Bryant High School, UALR, and ASU. She has a Master of Science in Gifted & Talented Education and a Specialist in Educational Leadership. She currently serves as the K-12 Gifted & Talented Facilitator/Coordinator, AP Coordinator, and School Improvement Chair for the Harmony Grove School District. Jill is also the middle school Beta Club sponsor and districtwide Quiz Bowl coach. In the past she has also served as a district testing coordinator and elementary teacher. Prior to public education, she was the Program Director for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Saline County.
Jill is a board member of AGATE (Arkansans for Gifted & Talented Education) and is the Arkansas National Beta Club State Sponsor-Elect. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends, reading, and traveling.
Mrs. Henley said, “I am honored to have the opportunity to work alongside the faculty, staff, students, and families of Hurricane Creek Elementary. There are so many exciting things happening at HCES and I am blessed to get to be a part of it. It’s a great day to be a Patriot!”
The Bryant School Board is pleased to announce the hiring of Leslie Penfield as the incoming Salem Elementary principal. Mrs. Penfield will begin her new role on July 1, 2023.
Mrs. Penfield has been principal of Hill Farm Elementary for the past three years and assistant principal for one year prior. She was assistant principal at Salem Elementary for six years. Mrs. Penfield spent ten years as a classroom teacher.
She says, “I am so excited to be returning to Salem, where I started my administrative career years ago. Salem is known for academic excellence and I cannot wait to work with the staff, students and families to continue that tradition. One thing about Salem is that it has always felt like home and the best journeys always take you home.”
Bryant Public Schools is partnering with Arkansas Foodbank to offer food boxes to low-income families with children in the Bryant School District. Families must have at least one student approved for Free & Reduced meals. Register at https://bit.ly/FoodBox2023.
UPDATE: Traffic is now moving on Hwy 5. Expect minimal delays.
Due to a structure fire on Hwy 5, the following bus routes will have delays in pickup this morning:
PES (Route 10)
BeMS (Route 72)
BJH (Route 119)
BHS (Route 31)
Due to flooding, the City of Alexander has closed Brookwood. If your child’s normal bus stop is at Brookwood and Lindsey, TODAY the students will be picked up at Don Parker and Brookwood.
On Saturday, April 22, Bryant High School will host the inaugural Arkansas Jazz Education State Jazz Festival in Love Auditorium. Jazz ensembles from around the state will be performing for a panel of judges for ratings and other recognitions. Concerts are free to the public.
Bryant High School instructor Brenda Qualls has been named one of five finalists for the Arkansas Computer Science Educator of the Year. Mrs. Qualls has worked to create an outstanding computer science program for our Hornets! #BryantProud
SURVEY CLOSES SOON
The district needs your input to help us draft a Strategic Plan 2.0 that reflects the goals and priorities of the majority of our students, parents, staff, and community members. Please take a few minutes to complete the Stakeholder Survey. Survey closes at 4pm on Friday, April 21.
Survey: http://bit.ly/43xnK3G
Spanish: http://bit.ly/3A1oGzq
In a surprise announcement this morning, Kass Seidenschnur was named 2022-23 Bryant Teacher of the Year. Mrs. Seidenschnur is the Library Media Specialist at Hurricane Creek Elementary. Congratulations!
Learn more about Mrs. Seidenschnur's passion for growing student readers: https://bit.ly/3rDCYma
Thirty BHS art students shared their talents at the Arkansas Young Artist Association competition on Thursday. At total of 12 awards were won by our talented artists:
Sophia Neely (12th) - 3rd place photography color
Ashley Green (12th) - honorable mention watercolor expressive
Jae Jae Langley (12th) - 2nd place tempra abstract and 1st place mixed media 2D realism
Ashleigh Byles (12th) - 4th place pencil abstract
Allison Overton (12th) - 4th place colored pencil expressive
Hunter Hight (12th) - honorable mention colored pencil abstract and honorable mention charcoal expressive
Jacia Gilbert (12th) - 1st place scratchboard expressive and 3rd pencil expressive
Cynthia Murphy (12th) - 1st place sculpture realistic
Delayni Carroll (12th) - 3rd scratchboard expressive
Bryant Public Schools is partnering with Arkansas Foodbank to offer food boxes to low-income families with children in the Bryant School District. Families must have at least one student approved for Free & Reduced meals. Register at bit.ly/FoodBox2023.
The district needs your input to help us draft a Strategic Plan 2.0 that reflects the goals and priorities of the majority of our students, parents, staff, and community members. Please take a few minutes to complete the Stakeholder Survey. Survey closes at 4pm on Friday, April 21.
Survey: http://bit.ly/43xnK3G
Spanish: http://bit.ly/3A1oGzq
Bryant High School graphic design students competed at the 2022-2023 Arkansas SkillsUSA State Leadership Conference in the areas of advertising design, t-shirt design, and pin design. SkillsUSA is a national career and technical student organization serving more than 395,000 high school, college and middle school students and professional members enrolled in training programs in trade, technical and skilled occupations.
Congratulations to Anna Rogers and Hayden Knowlton for placing second and third place in their individual competitions! Lindsay Fell is the graphic design instructor.
Bryant Public Schools operates a school-based health center to provide care for our students. The Hornet Health Center is currently taking applications for a new medical provider. All the details are available at https://5il.co/1s605. Applications are due by May 5 at 4pm.
Bryant & Bauxite FBLA chapters are hosting a yard sale to benefit Civitan Services on Saturday, April 22, 8am-2pm, at the Civitan Shoppe located on Reynolds Road.
Donations for the yard sale may be dropped off at Bryant High School from 2-6pm on Sunday, April 16 and from 4:30-8pm the week of April 17-21. All items donated will be sold at the yard sale, and all proceeds will benefit Civitan Services.
The Bryant School Board is pleased to announce the hiring of Jana Catlett as the incoming ESL Coordinator. Mrs. Catlett will begin her new position with Bryant on July 1, 2023.
Jana Catlett is currently with Dawson Education Cooperative as the Southwest Regional English Learner Specialist, serving 53 school districts and three other education cooperatives for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Before this role, she worked in the Pulaski County Special School District as a 4th, 5th, and 6th grade teacher. Most recently she taught 5th grade and served her district as the building ESL Facilitator and Little Rockers Little Rock Marathon Runnin’ Wolves Coach at Lake Hamilton.
Jana is a board member of the Live Like Bryce Foundation and enjoys volunteering with local charitable organizations. She graduated from ASU and received her Master’s Degree from HSU. Jana grew up a proud Fordyce Redbug and is very excited to, once again, be a pesky little creature full of BIG FIGHT as a Bryant Hornet.
The Bryant School Board is pleased to announce the hiring of Clint Hoover as the new Assistant Maintenance Director beginning July 1, 2023.
Mr. Hoover began his employment with Bryant Schools as a Journeyman Plumber in 2012 before attaining his Master Plumber certification in 2017. He also has extensive experience in project management, inventory, budgeting and facilities.
We are thankful to have a team member with his leadership skills and experience helping to lead our Maintenance Department.
