Ouachita River School District

Kyler Ford, a 1st grade student in Mrs. Bohlman's class, has awesome reading skills! He practiced his oral reading fluency by reading to the principal. Nice job, Kyler!

Kynlee McCormick shows off her reading skills as she reads to the principal! Awesome job, Kynlee!

🏀 Acorn to Host 2A Junior District Finals! 🐅 Get ready for an exciting night of junior high basketball action as Acorn proudly hosts the 2A Junior District Finals! The competition tips off tonight at 6:00 PM with an electrifying showdown between the Acorn Junior Lady Tigers and the Danville Junior Lady Little Johns. Following that, the hardwood heats up as the Acorn Junior Tigers go head-to-head with the Mountainburg Junior Dragons in what promises to be a battle of determination and skill. Come out and cheer on these talented athletes as they leave it all on the court in pursuit of the coveted title of 2A Junior Conference Champions. Don your blue and gold, bring the noise, and help us create an unforgettable atmosphere for all the teams! 🏆 Game Schedule: 📍 Location: Acorn High School Gymnasium 🕕 6:00 PM - Acorn Jr. Lady Tigers vs. Danville Jr. Lady Little Johns 🏀 7:30 PM - Acorn Jr. Tigers vs. Mountainburg Jr. Dragons Let’s pack the stands and show everyone what Tiger Pride is all about! 🐯🎉

Rhett Goodner, a 1st grader in Mrs. Bohlman's class, practices his reading skills as he reads this story to the principal. Great reading skills, Rhett!

Ouachita River School District Celebrates CTE Month Acorn High School CTE Instructor & FCCLA Advisor: Mindy Lyle Thank you, Mrs. Lyle for all you do to prepare students for life! #orsdlifeprep #AHStigersSERVE

Acorn Campus Valentine's Day drop-off times. We ask that you drop gifts off between 830 am - 1pm. Balloons and Glass will NOT be permitted on the bus.

Attention fans! The game schedule for tonight at Umpire has been adjusted. Start Time: 5:00 PM With the Senior Lady Tigers playing first then Senior Tigers (immediately following) Thank you for your support, and we look forward to seeing you there! 🏀🐯

Mrs. Larucci’s First-grade class celebrated their adopted SR Sydney Holliday with gifts for Senior Night!

Acorn Senior teams are set to travel to Umpire on February 11, 2025, to play the Wildcats @ 530 pm.

Acorn Elementary 6th Grade Milo Grant has been selected as a 2025 WonderWorks' WnoderKids Winner. Acorn Elementary Teacher Becky Jackson has nominated him in the category of Future Scientist. Out of the hundreds of nominations submitted, WonderWorks has chosen Milo. Future Scientist: This award will be presented to a student with a passion for the sciences. They live each day as an innovator and discoverer, hoping to one day change the world through their love of science. As winning students, they are invited to attend a special winners live Zoom/webinar with a subject matter expert from Seaworld Orlando. In addition to the webinar, your student will receive a nomination certificate and four tickets to WonderWorks. Congratulations, Milo Grant, on your achievement. AES is super proud of your dedication and hard work.

Polk County Achieves ACT Work Ready Communities Certification In 2023, Polk County began the process for ACT Work Ready Communities certification and in April 2024, Polk County achieved this goal and certification. An ACT Work Ready Communities certification is a designation given to a community by the ACT organization, signifying that a significant portion of its workforce has earned the ACT Work Keys National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC), demonstrating a high level of foundational skills like applied math, workplace documents, and graphic literacy through results from all three assessments, considered essential for most jobs across industries; essentially, it indicates a community has a skilled workforce ready for employment opportunities. Students that complete all three assessments can earn a bronze, silver, gold or platinum certification level. In partnership with Mena School District leading and facilitating the certification process, Cossatot River School District and Ouachita River School District worked collaboratively with community and career partners from area business, industry, agencies and organizations to identify levels of commitment in process from the industry-recognized National Career Readiness Certifications (NCRC). Area high school counselors, school staff and faculty, and school administrators contacted area community partners and conducted presentations to facilitate partnerships in the certification process. Levels of commitment were identified from the following: Employers recognize the ACT Work Keys NCRC when applicants present one Employers recommend the NCRC for applicants and/or existing employees Employers require the NCRC for applicants and your company has completed a job profile In February 2024, Talk Business and Politics article referenced Site Selection magazine, a key publication for the economic development industry, ranked Arkansas No. 1 in the South Central Region for workforce development - the region includes Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas. Our school districts would like to extend our gratitude to all of the community partners for your support and recognition of the NCRC and achievement of the ACT Work Ready Communities Certification for Polk County! #orsdlifeprep

Announcement for 3rd-6th Grade: We are excited to announce our Family Night at Acorn Elementary, featuring park interpreters from Cossatot State Park and Queen Wilhelmina State Park. Additionally, Brian and Lisa Schuller from DMESC will be setting up a planetarium for an engaging experience. Event Details: Date: February 27, 2025 Time: 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM Location: Acorn Elementary Gym Notes will be going home today, so please RSVP by February 26th to ensure we have enough snacks for everyone. We look forward to an enjoyable evening with our families and community!

2024-2025 Career Fair Expo On February 4th, area high schools from Polk and Montgomery Counties in partnership with the following event sponsors; University of Arkansas Rich Mountain, Mena/Polk County Chamber of Commerce and Dequeen-Mena Education Service Cooperative hosted the 2024-2025 Career Fair Expo event in the Dick and Frances Carver Grand Hall of the Ouachita Center on the University of Arkansas Rich Mountain main campus. The event was from 9-11:00 a.m. with over 75+ career representatives from business, industry, agencies, organizations, military branches, and higher education institutions. High school juniors and seniors from each of the five high schools were represented: Cossatot River School District, Mena School District, Ouachita River School District - Acorn High School and Ouachita River School District - Oden High School. The event involved career representatives sharing information, training and career opportunities both current and future for students to learn about and help develop their postsecondary plans. Students were tasked with asking questions and obtaining signatures from career representatives they met with during the event in an effort to facilitate opportunities for employment, internships, apprenticeships, job shadow experiences, education, and training based on students’ career pathways, skills, and career goals. Students also learned about potential career and occupational pathways to explore as a result of this experience. The event was a huge success for students, career and community partners, and school districts. A huge “THANK YOU” to our community partners and career representatives in attendance: - University of Arkansas Rich Mountain - Cosmetology Program - University of Arkansas Rich Mountain - Computer Systems & Business Programs - University of Arkansas Rich Mountain - Nursing Programs - University of Arkansas - Welding Program - University of Arkansas - Advanced Manufacturing/Machine Tool Technology Program - USDA - U.S. Forest Service - Progressive Therapy - Tyson Foods, Inc. - Healthy Connections, Inc. - Dequeen/Mena Education Service Cooperative - USDA - NRCS Rich Mountain Conservation District - Union Bank - 24-Hour Fitness - Arkansas Division of Workforce Services - Vocational Rehabilitation Services - Arkansas Department of Transportation - University of Arkansas Medical Services - Cancer Institute - City of Mena - Mena Fire Department - Mena City Police - Polk County Sheriff’s Department - Mena/Polk County Chamber of Commerce - Student Management Group - Exchange Program - Aleshire Electric - Sterling Equipment - Mena Regional Health System - The Mena Star & Ouachita Trading Post - Ouachita Broadcasting - Nidec Motor Corporation - Repops - Ouachita Children’s Coalition - Queen Wilhelmina State Park - Rich Mountain Electric Cooperative - Southwest EMS - Camp Ozark - US Army National Guard - National Park College - Polk County Farm Bureau Area high schools will be hosting the annual CAREER CONNECT - Reverse Career Fair for seniors on Wednesday, April 2nd - 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM in the Ouachita Center on the UA Rich Mountain main campus. This event will involve seniors from five high schools participating in interviews and providing their resume to career and community representatives. Career and community representatives interested in participating in the reverse career fair event to interview seniors, please contact: Tammy Young at (4790 394-5544, x.104 or tyoung@orsd.k12.ar.us Our school districts and counselors would like to extend our gratitude to the University of Arkansas Rich Mountain, DeQueen-Mena Education Service Cooperative, Mena/Polk County Chamber of Commerce and all of the career and community representatives and partners! Thank you for sharing your time, talents and important information with our students in helping them be better prepared for life! #orsdlifeprep

Acorn to Host the 2-A Junior High District. Come on out and support all these wonderful teams. Especially your Acorn Jr Tigers, who play February 10th @ 515 pm, and your Acorn Jr Lady Tigers, who play February 12th @ 4 pm.

ORSD - Acorn High School Celebrates Senior Athletes On Friday, February 7th, Acorn High School Class of 2025 athletes were recognized during the AHS Senior Night ceremony by a great crowd of family, friends and supporters. Parents escorted the senior athletes in the recognition ceremony prior to the Acorn Lady Tigers and Acorn Tigers senior basketball games versus Danville on the Mike Jackson Court in the Acorn Gymnasium. The following AHS seniors in attendance were recognized: Chanity Hall Sydney Holliday Aiden Kimp Kolbi McCourtney Raegan McCourtney Fredrick Metcalf Rebecca Moore Hailee Shores Caden Tarkinton Colton Taylor Jordan Wagner Congratulations, AHS Seniors! We are proud of you! #orsdlifeprep

Congratulations to Mrs. Brittney Moore and Mrs. Toby Hollin for receiving the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Education Grant . This grant will be used to purchase archery equipment. We appreciate all of your time and effort you have spent in working with our archery team.

Happy National School Counseling Week! Thank you, Mrs. Tammy Young and Mrs. KyLynn Ledbetter! We appreciate everything you do to support our students and ORSD!

Acorn Jr Girls, Sr Girls, & Sr Boys will host Danville @ Acorn February 7, 2025 with games beginning @ 5 pm. Acorn will be celebrating their Senior Athletes following the Jr Girls game.

Oden Jr Boys & Both Sr teams will travel to St. Paul on February 7, 2025, to play @ 5 pm.

Acorn Home game against Whitesboro has been canceled due to the opposing team having the Flu.