New FCSD Superintendent ready to lead students, staff to good year

As Forrest City students head back to the classroom, Superintendent Dr. Zrano Bowles is looking ahead to his first full school year leading the district with a new vision and a set of priorities focused on student growth, safety and the overall student experience. Bowles, who stepped into the superintendent’s position near the end of the last school year, recently sat down with the Times-Herald to discuss the year ahead and the direction he hopes to take Forrest City schools. At the center of those plans is the district’s new “Level Up” initiative, built around a simple goal, “Every student, one level higher.” “I think a lot of this, for us, is really making sure that every student becomes a better version of themselves,” Bowles said. Along with academic growth, Bowles identified student safety and improving the student experience as two of his biggest priorities for the new year. According to Bowles, the “Level Up” initiative grew out of work by him and the district’s leadership team to establish a shared vision and direction for Forrest City schools. Bowles explained they used the district’s FCSD initials to develop a framework centered on four areas: Focusing on elevating people, Committing accelerating performance, Supporting and empowering students and Developing strength in the community. “Our leaders have done an excellent job coming together to develop this framework and create a vision to become a premier, unified school district where every student levels up, every educator inspires excellence and every graduate is prepared to thrive in college, career and community,” Bowles said. For Bowles, putting that vision into practice begins with making sure students show academic growth regardless of where they start the year. + “If a student is scoring on a level one on the ATLAS, we want to make sure that when that student leaves the classroom, we can at least advance them to another level, whether it be two or three,” Bowles said. “If you’re level two, hey, we want you to move to level three, level four.” Bowles said reading will receive particular attention this year as the district responds to state requirements surrounding third-grade reading performance and retention. “The state has taken the stance that if students don’t perform well on their third-grade assessment, then they have to be retained,” Bowles said. “With that, we decided we really need to put more intense focus in the reading area.” The district has hired instructional support specialists and reading coaches to provide additional assistance. Bowles said the district is also beginning the year in a stronger position when it comes to staffing. “We’ve had the opportunity to eliminate some of our virtual classes,” Bowles said. “We are pretty much staffed this year and where we want to be this time of the year.” Several key positions have also been filled, including a new band director, dean of students and parent coordinator. Parents, Bowles said, will play an important role in helping the nearing completion.” The district has also been working to repair damage caused by flooding this spring. BOWLES district reach its academic goals. He encouraged families to read with their children, make regular attendance a priority and ensure students arrive at school rested and prepared to learn. to “Just having that kid at school rested and prepared for learning, that would be one of the biggest things for us,” Bowles said. The district is also discussing bringing back literacy and math nights as another way to encourage parents to become more involved in their children’s education. While academic improvement is a priority, Bowles said students also have to feel safe when they arrive at school each day. The district has renewed its partnership with the Forrest City Police Department, which will provide school security this year. Bowles said the district is also making sure its camera systems are up to date. “We just want to make sure that our students are safe, that they feel safe coming into our buildings,” Bowles said. “We are really excited about t h e partnership with the Forrest City P o l i c e Department, and naturally we “We also experienced a Category 3 flood right at the end of April,” Bowles said. “That turned out to be a really big project. But we have done the mitigation work and are bringing walls back up on the construction side.” According to Bowles, building a better experience for students will require support beyond the walls of the district’s schools. “It just takes a village to do this work,” Bowles said. “We don’t want to do this work in a silo.” He says he hopes to continue strengthening the relationship between the district and the Forrest City community throughout the year. “We welcome any support from the community,” Bowles said. “We want to build something that the community can actually be proud of.” That partnership, he said, also means keeping the district’s doors open to parents and community members when they have questions or concerns. Bowles encouraged parents to communicate with principals and other school leaders and said he wants the district to be receptive to feedback, even when that feedback is critical. “We really want a partnership,” Bowles said. “We really want to open our doors. We don’t have anything to hide. “Criticism is welcome as long as it’s constructive.”– Dr. Zrano Bowles, FCSD Superintendent are ensuring all of the camera systems are up to date.” Beyond feeling safe, Bowles wants students to feel connected to their schools. He said conversations with student councils across the district helped shape his third priority, improving the overall student experience. “I’ve had the opportunity to meet with a lot of our student councils throughout the district, just to kind of hear some of their visions for the school,” Bowles said. “Some of them wanted basic things, like, ‘We want our clubs back.’” Bowles said the goal is to balance the instructional side of school with opportunities that make students excited about being there. “We want to be able to have more incentives,” Bowles said. “They want to be celebrated. So we aren’t just focusing on the instructional side of the work, but also want to give them something where they want to come to school and where they want to have more of an exciting experience.” Students and staff will also return to a district where several facility projects have been underway throughout the summer. “Over the summer, we have worked on some major improvements,” Bowles said. “We are doing this multimillion dollar HVAC renovation at the junior high school, which is “If there are some things that we’re not doing, we welcome the feedback,” he added. “Criticism is welcome, as long as it’s constructive.” With his first full year as superintendent b eginning, Bowles said success will u l t i m at e l y come down to how well the district follows the vision its leadership team has established and whether students, educators, parents and the community can work toward it together. “Success in the long run is really going to be how well we can stick to our vision,” Bowles said. As families send their children back to school, Bowles said he also wants to begin the year with a message of appreciation. “Thank you for entrusting us with your student,” Bowles said. “Our doors are open. We really want a partnership with our parents and our community. As long as we can try to get in there, come to the table together, this, to me, is the way you really move forward.”

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