THE SCHOOL BEGINS
The first church school in Fayetteville opened November 27, 1905, with an enrollment of two for the first two weeks, and three by the third week. Mrs. Lou Noel of Lincoln, Nebraska, was the first teacher. By January the enrollment had risen to fourteen, some of whom didn’t know anything about the Adventist message (Oliver, 1906). The school closed at some point and reopened for the 1909-1910 school year. For the 1923-1924 school year the teacher was Elizabeth Burdick (Norwood, 1924). The school was in operation until the Fayetteville church started supporting the district church school in Springdale (Times, 1970).
The Fayetteville church again operated a church school that opened August 29, 1985, as the thirty-fifth school in the conference that year. School was held in the church fellowship hall with Lavon “Von” Smith as the teacher. The church school committee made arrangements to purchase school desks, chairs, textbooks, as well as other equipment (Smith, 1985). Later, Von became construction supervisor of a new church school building. Classes began in the new school building in March 1988 and an open house was held the afternoon of May 15, 1988. The school was completed mainly by volunteers from the Fayetteville, Huntsville, and Brentwood churches (Neptune, 1988). The first eighth grade graduation from the school was in 1990 (Neptune, 1990).
Citations
(1904 – 1920) Yearbook of the Seventh-day Adventist Denomination. Washington, D. C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association.
(1970, Oct. 10). Adventists Preparing for New Building, Northwest Arkansas Times, p. 7.
Neptune, William J. (1988, Jul. 8). Southwestern Union Record, p. 7.
Ibid. (1990, Aug. 1). p. 9.
Norwood, G. E. (1924, Jan. 8) Ibid., p. 3.
Oliver, Lou. (1906, Jan. 9). Ibid., p. 2.
Smith, Lavon B. (1985, Sep. 4). Letter regarding the new school.
How it all Began 