Johnson County School Districts

CLARKSVILLE

LAMAR

OARK

WESTSIDE

Clarksville School District has five school complexes that serve approximately 2500 students kindergarten through the twelfth grade: Clarksville Primary, Pyron Elementary, Kraus Middle, Clarksville Junior High and Clarksville High School.

University of the Ozarks

The University of the Ozarks entered the 21st Century riding an unprecedented wave of growth and progress in its continuing mission of providing a high-quality, comprehensive education.

The private, four-year college is closing in on a $60.2 million PRIDE & PROMISE campaign goal that has helped strengthen academic programs, student services and facilities. Among the new facilities the campaign helped fund were three apartment-style residence halls and Walker Hall, a state-of-the-art $7 million teacher education and communications building that opened in 2003. The campaign started in October of 1998 with the largest single gift ever to a private university in Arkansas - $39.5 million from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation.

Ozarks' long and successful relationship with Johnson County dates back more than 100 years, and the university continues to have an enormous impact on the county's economy. With approximately 150 full-time employees, an annual payroll exceeding $4 million, more than 600 students from 22 states and 20 countries, and numerous events and activities that draw visitors from throughout the region, Ozarks' economic impact to Johnson County is conservatively estimated to be more than $14 million a year.

The University of the Ozarks and the Johnson County community are also connected in many other ways. Civic organizations such as Rotary, Kiwanis and the Lion's Club use campus facilities to hold meetings. Faculty and students volunteer hundreds of hours every year throughout the county in such activities as youth sports programs, tutoring sessions, hiking trail maintenance, and Spanish translation for schools and hospitals. The campus also provides the community events and activities such as NCAA Division III athletic competition, University Theatre productions, University Chorus concerts and the Walton Arts and Ideas Series, which brings lectures, performers and entertainers from around the world to campus.

U of O traces its roots back to 1834 when the Cumberland Presbyterian Church established Cane Hill College in Cane Hill, Arkansas. When Cane Hill College closed its doors in 1891, many of its faculty and staff came to Clarksville and established Arkansas Cumberland College. The college, which became The College of the Ozarks in 1920 and then University of the Ozarks in 1987, has maintained its long affilation with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). That Christian tradition can be found in the university's mission of preparing students educationally, spirtually and socially. Dr. Rick Niece was inaugurated as the University's 24th president in November of 1997.

In addition to its rich history, Ozarks' current educational environment is second to none. U of O's trademark is personal attention, as evidenced by an average class size of 16 and a student-to-faculty ratio of 15:1. The university has been ranked by U.S. News & World Report as a "top tier" Southern university for four consecutive years and was named the South's No. 1 "Best Value" in 2002. Ozarks offers 26 majors and 29 minors, ranging from such traditional programs as education, business, communications and pre-medicine, to more unique programs such as environmental studies and religion/philosophy. U of O also has a highly regraded program for students with learning disabilities - the Jones Learning Center.

For information or a tour of the campus - located three blocks north of the Clarksville town square - please call (479) 979-1420. For admissions information, call (479) 979-1227.
Web Site: http://www.ozarks.edu