Gentry High School slated to open as conversion charter
Additional vocational courses to be offered
GENTRY — Gentry High School will open on August 15 as Gentry High School Conversion Charter. As such, it will continue to offer high school courses approved by the Arkansas Department of Education and general education college courses through Northwest Arkansas Community College but will add expanded programs of study in a variety of vocational fields.
Medical courses will be offered, including Medical Professions, Medical Terminology, Pathology, Medical Math and Pharmacy Technician. NWACC will offer Anatomy and Physiology for college credit.
Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) and Personal Care Assistant (PCA) courses will be offered through NWACC for the second year. All students completing both courses in the last school year passed the state licensing examination and received licenses enabling them to be employed as CNAs.
Medical Office Management will be offered; and this class would be beneficial for students interested in both medical and business classes leading toward positions in office management, billing, coding and similar fields.
In the agriculture field, two instructors will be at work — Jeremy Mabry and Wendy Jackson (a new second teacher) — to increase course offerings and expand those offerings from the high-school level down to the middle-school level for eighthgrade students.
Diesel technology classes to be offered in Gentry through Arkansas State University at Beebe include: Diesel Engine Technology (4 credit hours); Transportation Electronics (4 credit hours); Steering and Suspension Systems (4 credit hours). The Diesel Engine Technology course is also offered for high school credit.
In addition to the diesel courses, two college courses in welding will be offered at GHSCC, with college credit being awarded through Arkansas State University at Beebe.
In the information technology field, NWACC will be offering classes on the campus of GHSCC, including: Networking 2053 Microcomputer Hardware support in the fall semester and Networking 2153 Microcomputer Software support in the spring semester. The courses are offered in preparation for testing for Comp Tia A+ industry certification.
In addition to all that is being offered at the high school and middle school, the school district was awarded a second grant to establish a second EAST program, this one for students in grades 2-5, to be housed at the primary school campus.
Open house
An open house for students and parents has been scheduled for each of the Gentry School District campuses on the following dates: High School (grades 9-12) — Aug. 8, from 6 to 8 p.m.; Middle School (grades 6-8) — Aug. 9, from 4 to 6 p.m.; Primary School (grades K-2) — Aug. 10 from 4 to 6 p.m.; Intermediate School (grades 3-5) — Aug. 11 from 6 to 8 p.m. The first day of school for students is Aug. 15.