Haas Hall charter seeks OK to open Fort Smith school

FORT SMITH — Haas Hall Academy will go before the state’s Charter Authorizing Panel on Wednesday seeking approval to open a school at the Arkansas Colleges of Health Education.

The Haas Hall expansion at the college has been under discussion for about two years, said Kyle Parker, Arkansas Colleges of Health Education president and CEO.

Haas Hall is a public, open-enrollment charter school. Open-enrollment charter schools are run by entities other than public school districts. They’re open and free to students from any district and receive state money based on enrollment. They do not receive property tax revenue.

“Only scholars from Arkansas will be able to attend,” said Martin Schoppmeyer Jr., the academy’s superintendent, of the Fort Smith school. “We will utilize a random, anonymous lottery for admission.”

Haas Hall has an overall enrollment of 1,326 students in grades 7-12 with campuses in Fayetteville, Bentonville, Springdale and Rogers, Schoppmeyer said.

The Fort Smith campus would serve up to 500 students in grades 7-12, if approved.

“We will begin grades 7-11 and matriculate our own seniors,” Schoppmeyer said.

“We’ve always wanted to have a school in the great city of Fort Smith,” he said. “I think that there are scholars down there who would really like the opportunity to attend Haas Hall.”

Plans are to locate the school in the former Golden Living corporate offices at 1000 Fianna Way, Parker said. The college purchased the 320,000-square-foot building more than a year ago to be home to its Research Institute and Health Wellness Center, he said. The building is appraised at about $60 million. Parker didn’t disclose how much the college paid for the building.

“Right now, we’re investing a little over $32 million in renovation of that facility,” he said, to include $1 million in technology upgrades to benefit the potential Haas Hall students.

Renovation to the Haas Hall space include the development of lab spaces, classrooms with storage capabilities and a large congregation area, Schoppmeyer said. Work on the building will conclude no later than August, with Haas Hall planning to begin instruction in the fall of 2023, Parker said.

Haas Hall hasn’t had to invest money in developing the space, Schoppmeyer said.

If all goes as planned, the school would occupy the entire 60,000-square-foot fourth floor of the five-story building, Parker said.

Students would be able to work alongside the college’s physicians and staff on real-world research to benefit their education in science, technology, engineering, art and math, he said.

“I want to do a medical premed type school to where the scholars that would attend hopefully would major

in something premed when they go to college,” Schoppmeyer said. “The opportunity to partner with the osteopathic medical school is just a phenomenal opportunity for us.”

The partnership would be a game-changer for Fort Smith students, Parker said.

“Merging these thought processes spans all age groups and hopefully will make a difference for all of the citizens throughout this region,” he said.

Carl Geffken, Fort Smith city administrator, agreed in an Oct. 27 letter he wrote to the Arkansas Department of Education in support of the Haas Hall expansion at the college.

“I can’t think of a better opportunity for young Fort Smith students to achieve their full educational purpose and pursue their dreams,” he said. “The opening of this campus at the Arkansas Colleges of Health Education Research Institute Health and Wellness Center would provide a unique opportunity for each institution to fulfill its educational pursuits.”

Haas Hall Academy led the state’s high schools in the 2021 Best High Schools rankings, released in April by U.S. News & World Report. The Fayetteville campus was named the No. 1 public high school in Arkansas, and the Bentonville campus was ranked No. 2; nationally, they ranked No. 50 and No. 80, respectively.

Arkansas Colleges of Health Education is a private, not-forprofit institution with an enrollment of 694 students, said Susan Devero, the colleges’ executive director of marketing, communications and community relations. The college is the first and only private institution in Arkansas dedicated solely to health care and wellness.

The charter panel’s decision will be reviewed by the state Board of Education in 2022. The Education Board can choose to uphold the authorizing panel’s decision or elect to conduct its own hearings before making a final decision.

The state Board of Education meets Jan. 13 and must give the final approval for the charter school’s expansion, Schoppmeyer said.