The Academies of Central Arkansas
College Ready. Career Ready.
Pulaski County Educational Initiative with Ford NGL
Academies of Central Arkansas
Enrollment is Open
Did you know open enrollment runs from December through February? For more info about schools, proceed to your district below.
Implementation of the Academies of Central Arkansas continues to move forward and launched in the Fall 2020 semester despite the challenging times our districts are facing with COVID-19.
About Ford NGL
In January 2019, the Little Rock Regional Chamber – in collaboration with the Little Rock, North Little Rock, Jacksonville/North Pulaski and Pulaski County Special school districts – enlisted the help of Ford Next Generation Learning to see whether a community-centered, career-focused educational model could improve outcomes in those district’s high schools.
In the News – “Academies of Central Arkansas launching this fall” READ MORE
“Cash helping Pulaski County schools on career-focus aims” READ MORE
FORD NGL
Ford NGL is a collaborative community-driven approach to education. The Academies of Central Arkansas is focused on increasing students’ academic success. Click the link below to learn more about Ford NGL.
Inside the Successes of Ford NGL Communities
The Ford NGL framework has proven to be successful. Download the PDF below to learn more about the roadmap to success for Central Arkansas.
Portrait of a Graduate
Academies of Central Arkansas students will graduate with a personal resilience and awareness necessary for success in life after high school.
phase 1 findings & Recommendations
The Ford NGL team found opportunities and feasibility across the four Pulaski County school districts. Read the details of the team’s report, along with its recommended path forward.
pulaski county ready for transformation
Pulaski County schools were deemed ready to undertake high school transformation with Academies of Central Arkansas.
infographic
Take a look at how Academies of Central Arkansas are elevating all public high schools across Pulaski County.
Frequently Asked Questions
Established as an arm of the Ford Motor Co. Fund, Ford Next Generation Learning is an educational initiative that helps students prepare for college, career and life by engaging them in project-based learning. The team has helped more than 35 communities, including Nashville, Tenn., Rio Grande Valley, Texas, and Lexington, Ky.
The approach aims to achieve the following outcomes:
- young people prepared for college, careers, lifelong learning and leadership
- increased community prosperity shared by all
- a strengthened talent pipeline
- educational equity and justice for all
- the capacity to contribute and go further
Established as an arm of the Ford Motor Co. Fund, Ford Next Generation Learning is an educational initiative that helps students prepare for college, career and life by engaging them in project-based learning. The team has helped more than 35 communities, including Nashville, Tenn., Rio Grande Valley, Texas, and Lexington, Ky.
The approach aims to achieve the following outcomes:
- young people prepared for college, careers, lifelong learning and leadership
- increased community prosperity shared by all
- a strengthened talent pipeline
- educational equity and justice for all
- the capacity to contribute and go further
Ford NGL brings everyone to the table, including local business and civic leaders, school and district leaders, and parents and students to plan and implement an educational model to transform secondary schools.
It does so by following a frame work made up of three parts:
Transforming
teaching & learning
Transforming the secondary school experience
Transforming civic & business engagement
The first part is about changing the way that students learn, putting them in front of a hands-on project that allows them to embed their academics into authentic projects. The second part focuses on changing the school culture and structure to support the project-based teaching and learning. The third part is what separates Ford NGL from the rest: Ford NGL believes that civic and business leaders should be at the table at all times, helping form a vision of success, develop a plan to get there and implement the strategy.
To ensure success,
Ford NGL recommends a five-phase approach:
01
Explore
Understand the benefits and features of transforming the secondary school experience using the Ford NGL community-driven approach.
02
ENvision
Deepen community-wide understanding of the benefits and features. Understand and develop the systems, structures, processes and competencies needed to implement the plan and guide continuous improvement.
03
Plan
Achieve community-wide consensus on and ownership of a vision for transformation and learn what it will take to implement the vision. Create a community-wide, three-year master plan for achieving the vision that is aligned with the school district’s plans. Agree on a set of priorities for the first year of implementation.
04
Implement
Strengthen community-wide capacity to implement and continuously improve the master plan. Inspire, share and contribute to the Ford NGL network.
05
Go Further
Deepen and broaden the community-driven transformation and apply it to the entire education system. Serve as models for creativity, innovation and risk-taking, as well as demonstrated competence.
As a result of these efforts, Ford NGL communities have experienced:
- increased high school graduation rates
- increased academic achievement
- improved preparation for college, careers and life
- development of 21st century skills
- increased number of students graduating from high school with industry certifications and
college credits - increased earning potential
- strengthened talent pipeline
The Pulaski County community will benefit from access to the Ford NGL network, which cultivates a spirit of sharing and innovation aimed at improving the practices used across communities. The four school districts will also be able to cut down the amount of time and money it takes to transform their secondary school experience by learning from the network of other communities who have already undergone these transformations. Pulaski County communities will have a dedicated Ford NGL coaches who support and guide them as they develop and implement the master plan to scale and sustain a career academy network to prepare students for college, careers and life.
Each of the school districts have already taken part in Phase I (Explore), Phase II (Envision) and Phase III (Plan). We are now in Phase IV (Implementation) and all four school districts began implementing Career Academies in their high schools during the 2020-2021 school year with the Freshman Seminar course.
No. The Ford NGL initiative can be applied individually in each district. Consolidation is not necessary and has not been – nor will it be – part of the discussion. The districts have agreed to explore this model together, knowing that all four face similar opportunities and challenges. Together, the districts can not only expedite and scale success, but they can also help elevate the entire Little Rock metropolitan area.
All high schools (10) in the Little Rock, North Little Rock, Jacksonville/North Pulaski and Pulaski County Special school districts will take part in the initiative.
During the 2020-2021 school year, you can expect to see the offering of a new course Freshman Seminar. Depending on each school’s rate of implementation, this course will either be a required course or an elective and either a semester or year-long offering. Moving forward, all schools will offer Freshman Seminar as a required, year-long course and freshman students will be placed within a Freshman Academy.
During the latter part of 2020, you can expect to see themed Academies named for each high school and business partners identified for each school to begin planning relevant, real-world learning experiences for students.
As themed Academies roll out, students will be cohort scheduled within their Academy for core classes and can expect more personalized, relevant learning that provides them with real-world experience to better prepare them for both post-secondary and career and teaches them the skills necessary to be successful in life.
To-date, portions of this work have been funded through business investment:
- The exploratory phase of the process was funded through a grant from Entergy Arkansas
- Freshman Seminar curriculum and professional development was funded through a grant received by the Arvest Foundation
- The virtual platform that will be used for the Freshman Career Exposure event was purchased with a grant from the Regions Foundation
- Additional investments have been made through grants from Union Pacific, AT&T and Fifty for the Future.
Support from the Little Rock Regional Chamber to serve as the convening organization for the Academies of Central Arkansas has been provided through the Chamber’s economic development budget in addition to a grant from the Delta Regional Authority.
Additionally, the districts themselves have proportionally paid for the coaching and consulting expertise of Ford NGL.
Moving forward, the implementation of themed Academies will continue to be funded through a combination of grants, private business investment, school district budgets and allocated state funds for career and technical education to match business investment.
If you’re a parent, enroll your child in a public high school in Pulaski County.
If you’re a community leader, help spread the word about the Academies of Central Arkansas. Follow us on social media and share our posts.
If you’re a business leader, reach out so we can partner you with a themed Academy at a school.
Here is a list of resources to watch, read, learn and share.
Videos:
- North Little Rock School District Video
- Little Rock School District Video
- Pulaski County Special School District Video
- Jacksonville North Pulaski School District Video
- Business Partnership Video
- Short Info Video
- Long Info Video
PDFs:
Contact Us
For more information about this educational initiative, contact Kristi Barr, director of workforce development and education at the Little Rock Regional Chamber.
Kristi Barr
Call | 501.377.6017
Email | [email protected]
