22 Mar 2016 ‘The Bridge Builder’

by Carolyn Ishee

The Bridge Builder. This is what Ronnie Simmons, principal of the new Vilonia Freshman Academy, sees as his job.

This is the first year for the Academy, an attempt to ensure that Vilonia ninth-grade students will be successful in high school and hopefully, further. According to Simmons, the one overarching goal of the academy is to “get every ninth-grade student through the academy with all their credits intact.”

In grades kindergarten through eighth grade, if a student fails a subject, it’s not held against their progression through school. However, starting in the ninth grade, for every credit that is not completed, it must be repeated. And the further behind a student falls, data shows that they most likely won’t complete high school, much less attempt higher education.

Simmons and the faculty of the academy are using research-based practices. They are constantly evaluating, adapting and revising the approaches they use. According to Simmons, ninth grade is the most pivotal grade in determining whether a student graduates. For every credit a student doesn’t receive, the chance of graduating goes down. And the approaches are working. Statistics show that the Academy has cut the number of credits failed by 46 percent in the first semester over the same time period last year.

Some of the practices being implemented include increasing communication between parents, teachers and students by using social media, including Facebook, Twitter, SchoolWay App, phone software, letters, etc. Last October, the Academy held its first student-led conferences where the students, in meetings with their parents and teachers, reported on their grades, their successes, their challenges and goals for improvement.

Students also have an advisory class, held during third period throughout the school year. According to Simmons, research indicates that students need at least one adult connection at school, so advisory meets 42 minutes per day all year. Initially, the class covered 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, financial literacy and digital citizenship. Currently, the class is covering study skills and organization.

The Academy also wants to expose the students to college and careers. In January, all 275 students and advisory teachers visited ASU-Beebe and following the visit discussed two-year and four-year colleges and what it takes to attend college. Plans include visits to a four-year institution and also trade/technical schools.

Dr. David Stephens, district superintendent, explored the idea of an academy with Simmons who was previously serving as vice principal at Vilonia High School. They went to the Cabot School District, where the only other Freshman Academy in Arkansas was established two years ago.

Simmons said that Tanya Spillane at Cabot has been a great resource and the Cabot district has been very supportive and provided them with any information and resources to help Vilonia get its academy up and running. He is highly complimentary of the staff and faculty of the Freshman Academy and is proud of the way they have all pulled together when necessary to do whatever is needed to help the students.

But back to the Bridge Builder. Simmons is a Vilonia native, a graduate of Vilonia High School, the University of Central Arkansas and received a master’s degree from Arkansas State University. All three diplomas are framed and hang in his office to show the Academy students what is possible. He and his wife, Kim, a Vilonia Middle School science teacher, are parents of Samuel, a fourth-grader at the new Frank Mitchell Intermediate School, and the family resides in Vilonia. Prior to administrative jobs, Simmons was a high school science teacher at Vilonia, and initially at Cabot, which makes the connection with the Cabot academy even more meaningful to him.

While the inaugural year has been challenging, Simmons feels confident that the purpose and goal of the Academy will ultimately aid in ensuring that more students will complete high school. And he thoroughly enjoys his role in bridging the distance between middle school and high school.