Pea Ridge High School

13 PEA RIDGE HIGH SCHOOL | 12.30.2020 479 South CurtiS Ave • PeA ridge Ar 479-451-1551 A variety of Fitness classes and personal training options available! D Y E H A R D S 24 HOUR ACCESS GYM We Are hAPPy to CelebrAte the oPening of the Pea Ridge HigH ScHool! 467 Lee Town Rd • (479) 488-6014 Mon.-Sat. 7 am-8 pm Sun. 7 am-3 pm Serving breakfaSt all day Congratulations Pea Ridge High! 198 Slack St. • Pea Ridge 479-451-4000 • www.equitybank.com Celebrating a Bright Future With All of Our Pea ridge high School Family! Jackie Crabtree, Mayor of Pea Ridge, is proud of his community and the partnership he has with the school district. "We're unique," Crabtree begins. "To start with, the city and the school district offices are actually housed within the same building. So every opportunity, every issue, is addressed together. Our approach is 'how can we both, the school district and the city, make this better?' This is the only city in the state that works this way and, as far as we know, the only one in the country." It is this union, along with a very engaged public, that has helped forge the exceptional educational programs at Pea Ridge High School as well as the primary and intermediate schools in Pea Ridge. "We have individuals who really care about what's going on in the schools," Mayor Crabtree continued. "One of our community engagement programs is called Bright Futures. The program provides a unique connection between the kids and people in the community." The way it works is if a child needs something, be it clothes or shoes, the Bright Futures all volunteer board has a network that can get the child what they need. In the past it was up to the individual teacher to try to provide for these things but now the Bright Futures board oversees everything. "The teacher sends a request to the board and they get the word out on Facebook, etc.," Crabtree explained. "This frees the teacher to just teach and, for the child, it takes a burden off their mind so they are free to concentrate on their studies." The mayor himself also personally gets involved in the education of the students. "There is a logistics and marketing class where the students actually plan out a business and they come to me and our building inspector upfront to ask questions like what kind of zoning, what kind of setbacks or kind of restrictions are there on businesses," he said. "After meeting with us they go and put together the business plan. Then they come back and actually present that business plan to myself and other members of the community and we get to critique them. It really brings that connection between the real world and what it is they are doing." So what makes Pea Ridge so engaged as a community? "I think it all starts with our sense of history," Crabtree said. "My family started moving here in the mid 1800's and a lot of Pea Ridge families are like that with deep, deep roots." Pea Ridge is known as the site of Arkansas' only major Civil War battle. And they honor those who fought in the conflict on both sides in a very visible way. Every street in Pea Ridge is named after a participant who fought in the battle of Pea Ridge. East/West streets are named after confederate soldiers and north/south streets are named after union soldiers. "So every time you come to a stop light you can look at the name on the street sign and remember someone who fought for our country, whether for the North or South." Like much of Northwest Arkansas, Pea Ridge has experienced expansive growth over the past 30 years. During the decade 1990 to 2000, Pea Ridge grew 52%. From 2000 to 2010 it grew 104%. And the town is still growing. The population estimate for July 2019 was around 6,200 and with over 1000 building lots in in the system right now either in the planning or preparation stage, and there is no slowdown in sight. "Ours schools are a big part of why people are moving here," Crabtree said. And he believes the new high school facility is already a real game-changer. "It's an amazing building and they really did put a lot of thought into it," he continued. "A lot of foresight into planning for the future and planning for what kind of education we're going to need to be giving our children." Mayor Jackie Crabtree A school district and community that work together

• Cover