THE SCHOOL BEGINS
Little Rock operated a school for the 1906-1907 school year. They operated off and on, holding school for the 1908-1909 school year and the 1915-1916 school year. They reopened for the 1917-1918 school year and have operated continuously since that year (Yearbook, 1904-1921). For the 1920-1921 school year, L. J. Black was the teacher with an enrollment of sixteen. Before school started, the parents spent quite a bit of time and money in equipping the schoolroom and making it more attractive (Record, 1920).
Property with an existing church at 1213 Marshall Street in Little Rock, was purchased in the fall of 1921. The house next door at 1215 Marshall Street was remodeled to house the Conference headquarters. Within a few months a room was added to the church to create a two-room church school. By the end of September 1922 the school rooms were nearly finished, the floor was laid and they started school on Monday, October 1, 1922, in the new rooms (Record, 1922). In 1924 the Little Rock school was the largest in the conference with two rooms and nine grades (Richards, 1924).
For the 1930-1931 school year the Little Rock school had three teachers, Mr. and Mrs. H. E. Mitzelfelt, and Miss Nell Beem (Hanhardt, 1930). For the 1933-1934 school year, attendance was up to fifty-six. The teachers were Mr. and Mrs. M. A. Dunn and Nell Beem was still there (Record, 1933).
A New School in 1950
In the fall of 1950, the church school opened under the leadership of Mr. Daniel Peckham and Miss Leona Holloway, in a new school building. Some thirty students were in attendance that year. While some work remained to be done in the finishing of the rooms, the classes were able to meet there (Powers, 1950).
A New School Building
In 1967 eight-and-a-half acres of land were purchased on Rodney Parham Road (Minutes, 1967). A church and a school were built on this property. Building the school was the first phase and on December 23, 1969, the groundbreaking for the church was held (Clark, 1970).
Citations
(1904 – 1921) Yearbook of the Seventh-day Adventist Denomination. Washington, D. C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association.
(1920, Oct. 12). Southwestern Union Record, p. 11.
(1922, Sep. 26). Ibid., p. 7.
(1933, Sep. 27). Ibid., p. 3.
(1959, Aug. 5). Ibid., p. 2.
(1967, Feb. 14). Minutes of the Board of Trustees of the Arkansas Conference Association. Shreveport, LA: Arkansas-Louisiana Conference of SDA.
Clark, Ernest D. (1970a, Jan. 24). Southwestern Union Record, p. 15.
Hanhardt, W. H. (1930, Oct. 15). Ibid., p. 2.
Powers, J. C. (1950, Oct. 11). Ibid., p. 3.
Richards, H. M. J. (1924, Mar. 18). Southwestern Union Record, p. 6.
How it all Began 