Familiar faces in new places at Green Forest schools

Three of the four campuses in the Green Forest School District will have a new face in the principal’s office this upcoming school year.

Two of those faces will be quite familiar for students.

High school principal Tim Booth retired after last school year and is being replaced by Adam Wade, who is transitioning from the middle school. Cody Curtis, a teacher and coach for 10 years in Berryville, was recently hired to replace Wade at the middle school (grades 6-8) while longtime elementary principal Danette Chaney will lead the intermediate school campus (grades 4-5) after Chandra Anderson resigned to become a principal in Morrilton.

Heather Ogden, who enters her second year over the elementary school, will be the only returning principal.

“It’s not a total clean slate,” said David Gilmore, who became the district’s new superintendent July 1. “We just have different people in different roles with Cody being the only brandnew administrator.”

Curtis, who was hired by Gilmore at Berryville approximately 10 years ago, recently became certified as an administrator and is a good fit for the Green Forest district, Gilmore said.

“He’s spent his entire career over in Berryville and within the last year or two had completed his classwork for being an administrator,” Gilmore said. “I think he had looked at other districts at different times, but maybe it just wasn’t the right opportunity.

“I actually hired him as a teacher when I was at Berryville. He’s a sharp young man and was a really good classroom teacher and a really good coach. He was really a good combination there.”

Green Forest’s athletic teams are moving into Class 4A, and Curtis’ familiarity with the larger conference was an added bonus, Gilmore said.

“He’s got a lot of experience in the 4A conference that we’re moving into, so I thought that was a really good hire for us,” Gilmore said. “He can help us not only academically, but also kind of help us navigate into that 4A conference. He’s got a great personality and the kids respond really well to him.”

Chaney, who had a short retirement after leaving her position as longtime elementary principal following the 2022-2023 school year, let it be known she was interested in leading the intermediate campus after Anderson’s departure.

“She retired from being an administrator and then she came back to the district as a kindergarten teacher,” Gilmore said of Chaney. “And when position came up we had her and several other really good applicants. But, Danette just has great experience and has had a good track record with the Green Forest School District. She was highly effective at the elementary school and we felt like she’d be a real asset to our other administrators and our administrative team overall.”

The Green Forest School Board has an open seat with John Bailey resigning from his Zone 4 position.

Jeff Boggs, who held the Zone 3 seat, recently moved to an area of the city within Zone 4, so he was approved to switch seats.

That leaves the Zone 3 position open, Gilmore said.

“John Bailey did a good job with the district and we were able to recognize him,” Gilmore said. “John resigned and he was in Zone 4. When a board member resigns midterm, the board has 30 days to appoint someone to the position. We were still within the 30 days and Jeff Boggs, who had been in Zone 3, had actually moved to Zone 4. He resigned from his Zone 3 seat since he was no longer living in that zone and the board decided to appoint him to Zone 4, where he actually moved to.

“So, we currently have an opening and it’s on our agenda for our next meeting, which is July 16. The board will look at appointing someone for that zone for the remainder of its term. Both of the terms for those are actually up at the same time and will be May of 2025.”