Magnolia Schools Ready for Back to School

(from: Scott Nipper, Special Programs Coordinator, Magnolia Public Schools)

The Magnolia School District will welcome students back for the first day of school on Monday, August 20.  All schools will run on regular schedules and lunches will be provided at each campus.  Leading up to the first day of school, district faculty and staff will be involved in several days of professional development and other campus activities.   On Monday, August 13, district employees will meet at the Donald W. Reynolds Center on the campus of Southern Arkansas University to be welcomed back by Superintendent, John Ward.  During the day, the staff will hear from authorities speaking on many of local, state, and national educational issues.

Some of the topics to be presented are:

  • Recognizing the Signs and Symptoms of Human Trafficking by Genevie Strickland, Director of Education at the Morgan Nick Foundation
  • One Year, One Teacher by Randi House, 2018 Arkansas Teacher of the Year
  • What’s Going on in Arkansas? by Johnny Key, Commissioner of the Arkansas Department of Education
  • Economic Diversity by Jim Littlejohn, Consultant aha! Process, Inc.
  • Social Media, Cyberbullying, and Intellectual Property Law by Jennifer Wells, Staff Attorney for the Arkansas Public School Resource Center

 The keynote speaker for the day will be one of the original Freedom Writers, Manny Scott.  Mr. Scott’s story is told in part in the 2007 hit movie, Freedom Writers. Manny has been on the road up to 300 days per year for the last two decades energizing almost two million leaders, educators, volunteers, and students worldwide with his authentic, inspiring messages of hope.  In 2007, he founded Ink International, Inc., an education consulting firm that has empowered nearly two million people to improve the quality of not only their own lives, but also the lives of those around them.  Manny has helped hundreds of organizations raise student achievement and leader effectiveness in 49 states and five continents; and, helped prevent thousands of dropouts and suicides. He is now happily married, a doting father of three, a pilot, a Ph.D. student, and one of the nation’s most sought-after speakers.

On Friday, August 17, the district will sponsor a Meet the Teacher Visitation Day from 9:00 am – 12:00 noon.  Teachers and staff members from each campus will be available and all parents are encouraged to visit each of their child’s teachers and establish a positive working relationship for the academic year.