Education

Higher Education

Higher EducationAs home to two four-year universities, Henderson State University and Ouachita Baptist University, and known as the "Athens of Arkansas," Arkadelphia offers outstanding educational opportunities, including two accredited business schools. The presence of two universities also affords residents a vibrant college-town atmosphere with a multitude of sporting and cultural events and provides employers with a young and educated workforce.

Founded in 1886, Ouachita Baptist University has repeatedly been ranked as the number one Baccalaureate College in the South by U.S. News and World Report and has a student to teacher ration of 13:1. 

Henderson State University, founded in 1890, is Arkansas's only public liberal-arts school and the second-oldest publicly funded university in the state and operates the only aviation degree program in Arkansas.

Clark County has the highest number of college graduates per capita in Southwest Arkansas.

Clark County Public Schools

Clark County has three public school districts, each offering unique educational opportunities for students. 

Arkadelphia Public Schools operates five schools including three elementary schools, one junior high school and one high school.  Arkadelphia Public Schools also offers an outstanding pre-K program for students as young as three years old. 

Gurdon Public Schools operates an elementary school, middle school, and high school.  Gurdon Public Schools recently invested $8 million dollars constructing a new high school and gym, a new middle school, football stadium, industrial arts building, and softball fields.  In the spring of 2009 Gurdon Public Schools opened a $3.5 million dollar, state of the art, school auditorium. 

Centerpoint Public Schools, located in Amity, operates four schools including primary, intermediate, junior high school, and high school.  Centerpoint's Future Farmers of America chapter has almost 300 students, making it one of the largest in the state. It operates the only school-supported meats lab in Arkansas and recently purchased 98 acres for a school farm.

Dawson Education Cooperative

Dawson Education Cooperative is one of fifteen Education Cooperatives in Arkansas.  Act 349 of 1985 authorized the Arkansas State Board of Education to establish up to fifteen Cooperatives. Dawson is governed by twenty-four school superintendents who represent the twenty-four school districts to which Dawson Cooperative provides services.  Member schools determine who is hired, what services are needed and how these services are to be provided through the co-op.  Services are designed to improve the quality of education for ALL students.

Dawson Co-op has the role of assisting member schools in meeting accreditations standards and equalizing education opportunities; improving student achievement by the effective use of educational resources; promoting coordination between the Arkansas Department of Education and local school districts with initiatives and mandates, such as Smart Start, Smart Step and Smart Accountability;  and providing services established as education priorities by local districts, the State Board of Education and The General Assembly.

Examples of services provided by the Co-op include professional development programs, curriculum development, development and purchasing of education materials, standardized test scoring services, intervention programs, access to resources and services of the Arkansas Department of Education, media resource centers, cooperative purchasing, assistance in establishing education partnerships, liaison with post-secondary institutions, technology support and distance learning education.

 

Aviation Student

Aviation Student, Henderson State University

"My parents completed their master's degrees at Henderson and our family has stayed in town ever since."

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