Beebe Junior High School principal looks to make an influence
Beebe Junior High School principal looks to make an influence
When Art Bell was a teacher at Beebe Junior High School, he only impacted about one-third of the students, but when he made the switch to administration, that number increased dramatically.
“I get to have a positive influence on 525 students, as opposed to about 100. [I just] have a broader spectrum of young people that I can help,” he said. “Our goal is to prepare them for high school, but at the same time, we want them to enjoy their time here, and as principal, I feel like I can impact more lives and touch more lives this way and in a good positive way.”
Bell has been the principal at Beebe Junior High for two years. Prior to that, he was an assistant principal for a year and was the basketball and golf coach for three years before moving into administration.
“I think building relationships is about being transparent and inviting people in, and Art is committed to building relationships with students, parents and staff that go beyond the school,” Beebe School District
Superintendent Chris Nail said. “They buy into what he says, and he has a really good quality about him.”
Nail hired Bell two years ago as principal at the junior high.
“Our test scores have really jumped under his leadership, and the relationships he has built with his kids and staff have been fantastic,” Nail said of Bell. “He has done an excellent job; we are really proud to have him.”
Prior to coming to Beebe, Bell was the senior boys basketball coach at Bald Knob for two years and was not looking to make a change anytime soon.
“In 2014, I was engaged to my now wife, and she is an attorney in Little Rock. We moved to a rent house in Beebe, just to make the commute about halfway for both of us,” Bell said.
“About two weeks after the move, I got a phone call from the varsity boys basketball coach [at Beebe], and he told me the district had a high school socialstudies teaching and a junior high head basketball coach position open,” Bell said. “[My fiancee and I] drove from the house to the campus, and we were blown away with the facilities and the community.
“With Beebe, it was just a perfect fit — it just made a lot of sense, and it was definitely the right decision.”
Bell is originally from Searcy. In fact, his parents and sister still live there. He graduated from Searcy High School in 2001. He attended college at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, earning a bachelor’s degree in 2005.
We just want their time here at Beebe to be positive.”
Art Bell
BEEBE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL