Sally Bennett takes over as superintendent at Armorel

Sally Bennett is the new superintendent of the Armorel School District. Bennett took over July 1 after former Superintendent Bruce Young retired after two years.

Bennett is a graduate of Rivercrest High School and received her undergraduate degree at the University of Mississippi and has pursued graduate work at Arkansas State University. She comes to Armorel after serving as curriculum coordinator in the East Poinsett County school district. Prior to her time at EPC, she served as assistant superintendent as well as a principal in the Osceola School District. She also was a classroom teacher in the South Mississippi County school district. Bennett also has experience with gifted and talented and in technology as well as teaching classes at Arkansas Northeastern College.

Armorel is trying to turn the page after two years of battling through fiscal distress. Bennett's experience wish school curriculum should be a plus, as the district continues to implement changes associated with the Common Core State Standards. The Common Core State Standards is a nationwide initiative with the goal of having students in every part of the nation receive the same quality and level of education. It has been adopted in some form by nearly every state in the union.

Bennett feels that the way students are taught is one of the biggest changes she's seen over the course of her career in education, and the Common Core State Standards may be one of the biggest changes. Currently, Arkansas has required the standards for kindergarten through second grade but is now adding third through eighth grades this year. Bennett is very aware of the new challenge in front of district and is ready to move the district from a focus on its fiscal health to its academic health.

"It's nice to come into a district where things are working well," said Bennett. "We're out of fiscal distress. The academic standing is good, but we're also on the cusp of a new day in education. With Common Core (State) Standards, we have a new charge in front of us for what we need to do to get students ready for college and career."

Bennett said the full district support will be critical to achieve the new standards.

"We have some things that we have to get in place and help teachers and help parents understand that this is raising the bar a little bit," she said. "It's going to be a little more rigorous and challenging for the student, particularly in math and literacy. I want to help scaffold that learning so that it's not such a burden and it's something that we can meet the challenge of."

Achieving these standards will go along toward some of the longterm goals that Bennett has set for herself and the district.

"Everyone I talked to when I told them I was going to Armorel said, 'That's the best kept secret in Arkansas,'" she said. "A small school district like this has so many benefits because of the personalized learning environment, the supportive community and parents and the genuine desire to do well. In a larger district, sometimes that gets lost and it's hard to marshal those resources together. "We can serve as a model, that if taken to scale, can be replicated somewhere else."

Bennett is more than aware of the recent history of the Armorel School District and the turnover at the superintendent's position.

She is technically the fourth person to hold the position in the last two and a half years. When asked where she saw herself in five years, she was very clear.

"I plan to be right here in five years," she said. "I've made a commitment to this district. I know there's been a lot of turnover in this position and I'd like to provide some stability so that we can see these efforts through."

afitzpatrick@blythevillecourier.com