Arch Ford Education Service Cooperative -

We are looking for district, building, and classroom leaders to be part of our 2025 AFESC Math Leadership Collaborative. These dates will be a mixture of updates, new learning, and planning that will support our schools, teachers, and students. We hope to see you there! Register with the link below! https://www.escweb.net/ar_esc/catalog/session.aspx?session_id=569764

🌟 BIG NEWS, EARLY CHILDHOOD FRIENDS! 🌟
We’re launching another CLASS Observer Training!
Ready to deepen your understanding of high-quality teacher–child interactions? Join us at Arch Ford for Pre-K CLASS Observer Training on January 13–15, 2026! This FREE 18-hour training is led by Kristen Weatherall, Dayna Lewis, and Melinda McFerron.

👉 Register: https://www.escweb.net/ar_esc/catalog/session.aspx?session_id=571667

🎉✨ Arch Ford Education Service Cooperative is celebrating 50 Years of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)! ✨🎉

Today, November 29, marks the 50th anniversary of the signing of IDEA — a landmark law that transformed education by ensuring that students with disabilities have access to a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment.

For five decades, IDEA has opened doors to inclusion, opportunity, and lifelong success — empowering millions of students, families, and educators to dream bigger and achieve more. 💛

At Arch Ford, we are proud to honor this milestone and to recognize the teachers, families, advocates, and students who make the promise of IDEA come alive every day. Here’s to 50 years of progress — and to an even brighter, more inclusive future for all learners! 💫

#IDEA50 #ArchFordProud #InclusionMatters #SpecialEducation #EveryStudentEveryDay #CelebratingProgress#ArchFordGrows

Elementary counselors in the Arch Ford region recently spent the day with Bethany for a time of networking, collaboration, and learning! They explored the power of adult regulation, executive functioning development in young people, and how they can contribute to systemic change on how we approach student behavior. This is an amazing group! #archfordserves #yourBESTsolution

Administrator Book Study: Help for Billy-ZOOM Join Arch Ford for a virtual book study on Help for Billy, by Heather Forbes and Jim Sporleder. Together, we will take a deep dive into how to approach challenging behaviors while exploring the role of neuroscience in education today. Administrators will discuss challenging scenarios as they learn to better support both teachers and students. Our state and national trends show that the most vulnerable students are the people who receive the harshest punishments (seclusion, corporal punishment, restraint, suspension, expulsion). Through a trauma-invested lens, school staff can empowered to lead students and each other through challenges and cultivate a community of safety and belonging for all. There will be 8 biweekly meetings starting on January 29, 2026. I will starting sending email communication on January 20th. These will be Zoom meeting from 9:30 to 10:30. The first 15 to register will get a free book! https://www.escweb.net/ar_esc/catalog/session.aspx?session_id=571774 #archfordserves

Elementary educators at South Side Bee Branch recently spent a whole morning learning about brain science, executive functioning development, the impact of childhood adversity on brain development, and how excessive screen time has impacted child development. They also learned how common, universal language for expectations and how regulated adults can create a community of safety and belonging for all. This is the very beginnings of building a system for adults and students that will create that level of belonging for all!

Through the work of our Local Lead, Arch Ford provided preschool students with a high-quality arts-integrated experience through Tiny Toy Tales, led by teaching artist Kassie Misiewicz. During this interactive storytelling session, children engaged with narrative elements through props, movement, and imaginative play. This experience supported early learning skills including making predictions, letter identification, retelling, comprehension, and vocabulary, while also strengthening language development and oral expression. What a fun week with some of our tiniest learners as they explored story, language, and creativity through the arts.

Mentoring Program Specialists Vandy Nash and Jennifer McMahan recently facilitated a session for Conway's mentor teachers and their novice teachers. We are proud of the work this district is doing to support their novice teachers.

We are so proud of all the hard work our ArPEP candidates are doing in our schools!

🧠✨ Atkins Elementary and Middle School Special Education Staff spent time growing their skills and deepening their impact through a powerful professional development session on October 29!

The training focused on:
🔹 Behavioral Neuroscience – understanding how the brain impacts behavior and learning
🔹 Interactions to Strive For and Steer Away From – strengthening positive, supportive communication
🔹 Building Self-Regulation Tools – for both teachers and students
🔹 Creating Accessible Expectations and Consequences – ensuring all students can succeed

We’re so proud of this dedicated team for their commitment to continuous learning and for investing in strategies that build stronger, more supportive classrooms for every learner. ❤️📚

#AtkinsPride #SpecialEducation #ProfessionalGrowth #BehavioralNeuroscience #StudentSuccess
#yourBESTsolution #ArchFordServes

The Division of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) partnered with leaders in the Arch Ford region to explore Arkansas’ new school accountability formula. Educators engaged in thoughtful collaboration and were challenged to reflect on their systems of support—celebrating growth and achievement while planning intentional responses to student needs throughout the school year. #archfordserves #yourbestsolution

Teachers and students at Danville High School are working hard, taking care of each other, and giving their all to make everyday a great place here! #ArchFordServes

Arch Ford Specialist Nicki Watford had the pleasure of visiting Catie Overton’s special education classroom at Jim Stone Elementary, Conway Public Schools. 🌟
She got to see an inclusive setting where students were actively engaged, learning together, and most importantly—having fun! 🎉📚💡
It’s always inspiring to see classrooms where every student feels included, supported, and excited about learning. 💙
#SpecialEducation #ConwayPublicSchools #LearningTogether#ArchFordGrows

🌟 Several members of the Arch Ford Special Education team had the opportunity to participate in powerful professional development sessions at the 2025 LEA Academy: Building Bridges to Meaningful Futures. 🌟

Team members attending included:
✨ Beth Harness, Early Childhood Coordinator
✨ Nicki Watford, System Support Specialist, Special Education
✨ Tammy Rainey, Special Education Manager
✨ Stephanie Guyse, Special Education Supervisor
✨ Cheyenne Jordan, Special Education Supervisor
✨ Roxanne Riddle, Special Education Supervisor
✨ Tori Biggers, Special Education Supervisor

The academy was filled with meaningful learning, collaboration, and inspiration. One highlight was exploring a wide range of important topics (check out the image for a snapshot!). 📚💡

We are so grateful to those who organized this event and for the opportunity to grow and learn together in support of students across Arkansas. 💛

#LEAAcademy2025 #BuildingBridges #SpecialEducation #ArchFordGrows

Great things are happening at Dardanelle Intermediate School. From teaching with their HQIM to digging into ATLAS Interim data, these teachers are working hard to teach and support their students.

Gator Strong! 🐊 Two Rivers K–12 educators are on the move—strengthening Tier 1 and 2 instruction! Teams unpacked standards, designed learning ladders, and built responsive systems of support. Each group dug into their top 10 students, connecting data to indicators of excellence. Go Gators! 💪✨ #archfordserves #yourbestsolution #aflp

⸻ 🦅 Warhawks Soaring Beyond the Data! 💫 Warhawk educators in the Mt. Vernon-Enola School District dug deep— looking beyond the numbers to truly see the whole child behind every data point. ❤️ Through their partnership with Arch Forward, both elementary and high school teachers spent time with Bethany having "kid talks" and looking beneath the surface of the numbers. Together, they explored what real engagement looks like through the lenses of: 🧠 Executive Functioning – strengthening working memory, cognitive flexibility, and self-regulation 🎯 Relevance – connecting learning to meaning and purpose 💬 Student Discourse – amplifying student voice and building thinking through conversation This district is soaring toward a future where every learner feels seen, supported, and challenged in ways that align with how the brain learns best. 🚀 #ArchFordServes #yourBESTsolution #AFLP

K–12 District and Building Administrators, Educators, Special Education, and PLC teams are invited to join us for a four-part professional learning series: Uplifting the Lowest Quartile. This series is designed to equip leaders and educators with the tools, data, and strategies needed to increase both achievement and growth for the lowest quartile of students across the campus. #yourbestsolution #archfordserves Registration: Day 1: November 19 https://www.escweb.net/ar_esc/catalog/session.aspx?session_id=570190 Day 2: December 9 https://www.escweb.net/ar_esc/catalog/session.aspx?session_id=570198 Day 3: January 20 https://www.escweb.net/ar_esc/catalog/session.aspx?session_id=570201 Day 4: March 3 https://www.escweb.net/ar_esc/catalog/session.aspx?session_id=570204

Here’s the buzz! 🐝 South Side High Hornets are strengthening their Tier 1 and Tier 2 instructional systems with AFLP System Support Specialists Dr. Lori Edgin and Jacob Sisson. Secondary educators focused on unwrapping essential learning standards into clear, student-friendly targets and designing instructional zones for foundational, proficiency, and stretch learning using Learning Ladders. Every teacher and student will use these ladders as a formative assessment tool to track progress and celebrate growth. Hornet strong! #archfordserves #yourbestsolution #aflp