Oates Loop
Jessieville, AR 71949

I am absolutely heartbroken and furious about my experience with Jessieville School in Arkansas. As a parent with full legal custody of my daughter, I showed up to pick her up, exercising my rights under Arkansas law where the custodial parent has clear authority for such pickups. The principal acted like she was going to help by saying she'd go get my daughter, but instead, she sneaky went and fetched my mom who works there as a paraprofessional and allowed her to call her lawyer right there on school grounds. Next thing I know, there's some electronically signed document being thrown in my face, blocking me from taking my own child home. This principal straight-up violated my parental rights by interfering, enabling a family member on staff to escalate a private dispute, and ignoring standard protocols that prioritize the legal custodian. Schools in Arkansas are supposed to facilitate smooth exchanges without disrupting the day or favoring one family member over another, especially when para staff might have insider access that creates conflicts of interest. She tore my family apart in the process. my son misses his sister terribly, and so do I. All this stemmed from my mom convincing me to uproot our lives and move to Arkansas, only to kick me and my son out, and when I tried to get my daughter the very next day, this stunt happened. It's even more concerning when personal family drama spills over into official duties like this.Parents, beware if you're sending your kids here. You never know when the principal might pull something like this on you, especially if a staff member like a para is involved in a custody tug-of-war, siding with the wrong person and ignoring legal custody. This school failed me and my family big time. STAY AWAY!

I am a taxpayer who supports Jessieville schools, I am also a retired high school math teacher, in addition to teaching math at a community college, and teaching courses at a major corporation. I know that most kids who aren't happy are the ones who are the most vocal outside the school grounds. I also know that most of those kids are not the ones who really make an effort to get involved, it's easier for them to sit back and complain. Jessieville must be doing some things right because people who live in Little Rock are moving to the west end of the Village so their kids can go to school there. A lot of the kids here are from low income families, but that doesn't stop them from being recognized outside the school for their accomplishments. Several of the Villagers who have moved in from other parts of the country have been involved by being a school board member, and believe me when I say they want to see their money being spent in educational activities. For a small school, Jessieville does quite well and they have teachers and administrators who do their best for the kids. As with any school system, there are always some who are nay-sayers for several reasons, mainly if they don't get their way and are expected to obey the rules. I've been retired for over 20 years and my hats are off to most of the teachers today because the environment is totally different from when I taught. If the kids want an education, Jessieville does a good job for those kids, and the teachers step outside their traditional roles to be of service to help move these kids forward.