Check out our October School Board meeting recap. Some highlights include Hispanic Heritage Month, Mr. Charles Finkenbinder, National Principals Month, Paraprofessional Salary Schedule increase, School Board Dr. Barrett Petty nominated as our ASBA Delegate Assembly Representative, Board approved the Superintendent search advisory committee, Ms. Thelma Moton joined in the conversation about Mentoring plan, and more!

🎉 Wampus Cat Pride – Hispanic Heritage Month!
Conway Public Schools celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month across all campuses with student learning, art, and cultural appreciation. We also joined the Hispanic Heritage Festival at Laurel Park, sharing Wampus Cat spirit and student artwork honoring Hispanic culture. Tonight at our October School Board Meeting, we highlighted the art contest winners!
🏆 Art Contest Winners:
1️⃣ Lola O’Connor – Conway Junior High
2️⃣ Trinity Cohee – Conway Junior High
3️⃣ Amelia Thomas – Ellen Smith Elementary
4️⃣ Isabel Choc – Conway High School
5️⃣ Coniah Williams – Simon Middle School
Special thanks to our ESOL team, Dr. Yanez, Mr. Hurtado, and Mark Daniels with Sonic for supporting our students and community! 💙🐾
#WampusCatPride #HispanicHeritageMonth #CPSD

🍂 Fall Break is almost here, Wampus Cats! 🍂
Here’s what the schedule looks like next week:
📘 Monday, Oct. 13 – School in Session
📝 Tuesday, Oct. 14 – Teacher Work Day (No School for Students)
👨👩👧 Wednesday, Oct. 15 – Parent/Teacher Conferences (No School for Students)
🍁 Thursday & Friday, Oct. 16–17 – Fall Break (No School for Staff or Students)
📅 We’ll see everyone back on Monday, Oct. 20!
🔹 Parents – please check with your child’s campus for specific details about Parent/Teacher Conferences.
For more district calendar information: https://www.conwayschools.org/page/school-calendar

On October 3, 1878, our district officially began its journey of educating generations. That means Conway Public Schools is celebrating its 147th birthday! 🎈📚
We are so proud of our incredible students, staff, and community, both past and present, for building this incredible legacy. Here's to many more years of excellence!
In the picture, you can see a rendering of Conway's Little Green Building, the first public school in Conway, AR.
(Source: "Faulkner County Its Land and People" by the Faulkner County Historical Society)


🧹✨ Today is National Custodian Day, and we want to give a huge THANK YOU to our incredible custodians across Conway Public Schools!
From keeping our classrooms and hallways clean to making sure our buildings shine and more, our custodians make a lasting impact in the lives of our students by creating safe, welcoming spaces where learning can thrive. 💙
We celebrated them today, but we are grateful for them every day. Thank you, custodians—you truly make a difference! 👏
#WampusCatPride #ConwayPublicSchools #ThankACustodian #NationalCustodianDay #ChampionsForKids


No better way to celebrate the start of ORCH-tober than by kicking off our "La Fiesta Orquesta" Taco Supper ticket sales and donation drive! Orchestra students will be selling tickets and collecting donations now through October 22nd. All proceeds go straight back to our orchestra students!!
"La Fiesta Orquesta" Orchestra Taco Supper and Concerts:
Thursday, October 30th
Conway High School Cafeteria
Adult taco salad meal $15, Child soft taco meal $10
Dinner service 5-8 pm catered by Make-a-Meal
Performances in the James H. Clark Auditorium
Donations and ticket orders accepted in person and online!
Visit conwayorch.square.site
Pay via cash, check, credit, ApplePay, Google Pay, and CashApp!

October is National Principal Month, and we’re celebrating our champion principals who lead with vision, dedication, and heart. 💙
Help us honor these incredible leaders! Share a story, send words of kindness, or cheer on a principal who inspires you. Together, let’s show our appreciation for all they do.
Cheer on a Champion Principal Here: conwayschools.org/principals
#WeAreWampusCats #ChampionsForKids

CPSD Community Math Workshop
We want to hear from YOU!
CPSD is hosting a workshop to gather community input on supporting student success in math. Parents, guardians, and community members are invited to share feedback and ideas that will help us better support our students.
📅 Thursday, October 2, 2025 | 6:00–7:00 PM
📍 Conway Public Schools Administrative Annex & Support Services
1902 Hairston St, Conway, AR 72034
Your voice matters, and we hope you’ll join the conversation.
If you have any questions, please reach out to Preston Echols at echolsp@conwayschools.info.

Conway FFA students shined at the Faulkner County Fair livestock show last week!
Congratulations to Ella Kate Brown, Lainey King, Blaine Horton, Libby Anne Brown, Henderson Ealy, Brianna Moseley, Braelynn Carter, Lane Leavell, Madison Hartsfield, and Kanika Lep for their hard work, dedication, and outstanding awards, including over $7,000 earned in the Junior Livestock Auction!
These students will continue their competition season at the Arkansas Youth Expo in Fayetteville and the Arkansas State Fair in October. We are so proud of all of our FFA members and can’t wait to cheer them on at these upcoming events!
Read more about their accomplishments here: https://www.conwayschools.org/article/2442396
#WampusCatPride #ConwayFFA #ChampionsForKids #WeareConway #WeareCPSD #WampusCats










🐾 Don't forget! You’re Invited! 🐾
Join us for our first C.A.T. Forum – Communication • Accountability • Transparency. This is a community forum so everyone is welcome!
📅 Tonight Thursday, September 18, 2025
🕕 6:00–7:00 PM
📍 Conway High School Cafeteria
Why should you join us?
💬 Strengthen Communication – Share ideas and hear from others about how we can improve connections across our schools and community.
✅ Promote Accountability – Be part of the conversation that builds shared responsibility, transparent practices, and stronger accountability.
🔎 Encourage Transparency – Help create a culture of openness and trust through honest, respectful dialogue.
Let’s work together to make Conway Public Schools stronger—through communication, accountability, and transparency!



🇺🇸 Attention Military Families 🇺🇸
The Arkansas Council for Military Children will host its first public forum of the 2025–26 school year on Thursday, October 2, from 12:00–2:00 PM (virtual).
📌 The forum will begin with a presentation on resources available to support military families, followed by an opportunity for families to share feedback directly with Council members.
📅 Date: October 2, 2025
🕛 Time: 12:00–2:00 PM
💻 Virtual via Microsoft Teams
🔗 Join the meeting
Meeting ID: 289 080 645 395 5
Passcode: kw9HA29y
📞 Dial in by phone: +1 929-229-2890,,532032899# (Conference ID: 532 032 899#)
Find a local number
We encourage all military families to attend and share their voices.
For more information please reach out to Preston Echols at echolsp@conwayschools.info.


The Hispanic Heritage Festival was held at Laurel Park on September 6th. This event is a community-wide celebration of Hispanic heritage. Conway Public Schools was thrilled to be invited to host a booth there. Several members of our Conway Public Schools ESOL team were present along with Assistant Superintendent Bryce Bennett, Interim Superintendent Jason Black, ESOL Instructional Facilitator Melinda Fraser, and CHS TOY and District TOY Kait Smith. CPS hosted a table where we gave out Conway Wampus cat shirts and items that were donated by local schools. We also created an art display where we showcased art from several Conway Public Schools campuses. Art teachers created projects with students to celebrate Hispanic heritage and the top five pieces of art were chosen to be on put display. Community members were able to scan a QR code and vote for their favorite student artwork. Those winners will be celebrated in the coming weeks. Conway Public Schools was honored to have representation at the festival and we look forward to our continued partnership with the Hispanic community.

It was a great CPSD School Board meeting tonight with many recognitions and highlights! Check out our September School Board Meeting recap! https://conwaypublicschools.edurooms.com/engage/conway-public-schools/newsletters/september-2025-school-board-meeting-recap

🌟 Wampus Cat Pride! 🌟
We are proud to celebrate Theodore Jones Elementary for a very special recognition! Recently, Principal Carise Echols and select TJE students were honored to attend the Arkansas Martin Luther King Jr. Commission Conference in Little Rock.
At the event, Mrs. Echols and our students received the 2025 AMLKC Award of Excellence in Student Leadership and Service! 🏆✨
This award celebrates the commitment, leadership, and service shown by our school community. 💙
We’re proud of Mrs. Echols and her students as they represented TJE and CPSD with excellence!
#WampusCatPride #CPSDProud #WeAreConway #StudentLeadership



A big thank you to our SROs for the many ways they serve our schools and community— including tonight at our School Board meeting. We are grateful for their constant support and dedication to keeping our students and staff safe! 💙👮♂️ #CPSDProud #WampusCatPride
