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Westside Consolidated School District

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Westside Consolidated School District
Location
1630 AR 91 West
Jonesboro, Arkansas 72404
United States
District information
Mottoleading the Way in Educational Excellence
GradesPK–12
Established1966 (1966)
SuperintendentMr. Scott Gauntt
AccreditationArkansas Department of Education
Schools3[1]
NCES District ID0504020[1]
Students and staff
Students1,669[1]
Teachers128.42 (on FTE basis)[1]
Staff258.42 (on FTE basis)[1]
Student–teacher ratio13.00[1]
Athletic conference4A Region 3 (2012–14)
District mascotWarriors
Colors  Scarlet   White
Other information
Websitewww.westsideschools.org

Westside Consolidated School District #5 is a public school district headquartered in unincorporated Craighead County, Arkansas, near Jonesboro.[2][3]

The district encompasses 207.99 square miles (538.7 km2) of land,[citation needed] and serves several rural communities in the Craighead and Lawrence counties.[4][5] It principally serves Bono, Cash, and Egypt,[6][7] and it also serves portions of Jonesboro.[4] Of the three main communities, as of 2003 Bono is the largest.[8]

All schools and the district are accredited by the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) and AdvancED.

History

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The school district opened in 1966, a consolidation of the Bono, Cash, and Egypt School districts.[9]

In 1975, the Westside High School obtained accreditation from AdvancED (formerly North Central Association).[10]

In 1994, the Westside Elementary School obtained accreditation from AdvancED.[11]

In 1997, the Westside Middle School obtained accreditation from AdvancED.[12]

James Dunivan served as superintendent beginning in 2000,[13] and served as such until 2004, when he took that job at the Nettleton School District. James P. Best, previously the superintendent of the Heber Springs School District, replaced Dunivan.[14]

1998 Westside Middle School shooting

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Main article: 1998 Westside Middle School shooting

On March 24, 1998, Westside Middle School experienced a school shooting.[15] 13-year-old Mitchell Johnson and 11-year-old Andrew Golden opened fire on the school, shooting and killing five people with multiple weapons, and both were arrested when they attempted to flee the scene. Ten others were wounded. Golden and Johnson were convicted of five murders and ten assaults, and were imprisoned until each turned 21 years of age. After the 1992 Lindhurst High School shooting that killed four people in Olivehurst, California, the massacre was the deadliest non-college school shooting[16] in contemporary U.S. history until the April 1999 Columbine High School massacre. As of 2024, the incident is the deadliest mass shooting at a middle school in U.S. history. As of 2008, there was a perception that the schools were unsafe due to the attack.[17]

Schools

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The district's schools include:[3]

  • Westside Elementary School, serving more than 650 students in prekindergarten through grade 4 (PK–4).
  • Westside Middle School, serving more than 350 students in grades 5 through 7.
  • Westside High School, serving more than 550 students in grades 8 through 12.

Previously the district had a separate Westside Junior High School.[18]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Search for Public School Districts – District Detail for Westside CONS. School District". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  2. ^ "Jonesboro city, Arkansas[permanent dead link]." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on October 18, 2010.
  3. ^ a b "Contact Us Archived 2011-09-01 at the Wayback Machine." Westside Consolidated School District. Retrieved on October 18, 2010.
  4. ^ a b "SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP (2010 CENSUS): Craighead County, AR" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
  5. ^ "SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP (2010 CENSUS): Lawrence County, AR" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
  6. ^ Home. Westside Consolidated School District. May 2, 2004. Retrieved on October 18, 2010. "Westside Consolidated School District #5 was founded in 1966. Since its establishment, Westside has provided the areas of Cash, Egypt and Bono a country school with city amenities."
  7. ^ Deadly Lessons: Understanding Lethal School Violence. The National Academies, Committee on Law and Justice, Board on Children, Youth and Families. 2003. 102. Retrieved on October 18, 2010. "The Westside School District is one of five public school districts in the immediate area and serves the Bono, Cash, and Egypt communities, which lie adjacent to Jonesboro and are largely rural towns."
  8. ^ Deadly Lessons: Understanding Lethal School Violence. The National Academies, Committee on Law and Justice, Board on Children, Youth and Families. 2003. 102 Acknowledgements. Retrieved on October 18, 2010. "Bono is the largest of the three with a population just over 1,000 residents. Cash and Egypt count 280 and 112 residents, respectively."
  9. ^ Goatcher, Truett (January 1999). "School District Consolidation Will Save Millions of Dollars: Fact of Myth?" (PDF). Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators. p. 12 (PDF p. 15/27).
  10. ^ "Institution Summary, Westside High School". AdvancED. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  11. ^ "Institution Summary, Westside Elementary School". AdvancED. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  12. ^ "Institution Summary, Westside Middle School". AdvancED. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  13. ^ Askins, LeAnn (December 9, 2003). "Westside's Dunivan leaving to assume". Jonesboro Sun. Archived from the original on May 8, 2004. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
  14. ^ Askins, LeAnn (March 5, 2004). "New superintendent hired for Westside". Jonesboro Sun. Archived from the original on May 8, 2004. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
  15. ^ Census [permanent dead link]
  16. ^ Meghan Keneally (March 22, 2018). "March for Our Lives falls on 20th anniversary of deadly Jonesboro school shooting". ABC News. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
  17. ^ "Schools". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. April 22, 2008. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
  18. ^ "Home". Westside Consolidated School District. May 2, 2004. Archived from the original on May 20, 2004. Retrieved December 22, 2019.

Further reading

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