Van Buren High School is a comprehensive public high school serving students in grades 10 through 12 in Van Buren, Arkansas, United States. It is the sole high school administered by the Van Buren School District.

History

The school underwent a major development project that was finished in 2009. The project added a number of new classrooms, a new basketball facility (Clair Bates Arena), and a 1,500 seat concert and performing arts center, known as the Van Buren Fine Arts Center.

Curriculum

The assumed course of study at Van Buren High School exceeds the

Smart Core curriculum Smart or SMART may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Smart'' (Hey! Say! JUMP album), 2014 * Smart (Hotels.com), former mascot of Hotels.com * ''Smart'' (Sleeper album), 1995 debut album by Sleeper * ''SMart'', a children's television ser ...

developed by the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE). Students engage in regular and

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. American colleges and universities may grant placement and course ...

(AP) coursework and exams to obtain at least 24 units beyond the 22 units required by the Smart Core curriculum. The Van Buren School District offers students a Smart Core diploma, a College Prep diploma, a College Prep with Honors diploma, and a College Prep with High Honors diploma, each based on certain coursework and grade point average requirements. Exceptional students have been recognized as National Merit Finalists and participated in Arkansas Governor's School. The school maintains a concurrent credit partnership with the

University of Arkansas – Fort Smith A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

, Arkansas Tech University,

Western Arkansas Technical Center Western may refer to: Places * Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia * Western world, countries that ...

, and Northwest Arkansas Community College, whereas students may receive concurrent high school and college credit. The Pointer Pride Marching Band has won several marching contests, including Broken Arrow Invitational Grand Champions in 2010.

Athletics

The school's mascot is the Pointer (hunting dog), and its school colors are kelly green and white. For 2012-17, the Van Buren Pointers compete in the state's largest classification (7A) And in 2018 will compete in the state's second-largest classification (6A) within the 7A/6A Central Conference of the

Arkansas Activities Association The Arkansas Activities Association (AAA) is the primary sanctioning body for high school sports in state of Arkansas. AAA is a member association of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFSHSA). Every public secondary sch ...

(AAA). The Pointers engage in numerous interscholastic activities, including baseball, basketball (boys/girls), cross country (boys/girls),

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, golf,

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

, softball, tennis (boys/girls), and volleyball, along with marching band, cheer, and

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

. Other extracurricular activities include a journalism department that produces the student newspaper and yearbook, choir, and drama. The Van Buren High School Pointers have won several state and conference championships in multiple sports: * Football State Champions (4x): 1912, 1930, 1977, 1996 * Bowling State Champions (2x): 2010, 2020 * Girls Cross Country State Champions (1x): 2010 * Boys Basketball State Champions (1x): 1950 * Girls Basketball State Champions (5x): 1950, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1955 * Boys Golf State Champions (2x): 1970, 1976 * Competitive Cheer State Champions (2x AAA): 2006, 2007, 2008 (girls), 2018 * Competitive Dance State Champions (1x): 2008 * Boys Soccer State Champions (2x): 2006, 2021 * Marching Band State Champions (4x): 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021 * Baseball State Champions (1x): 2021

Alumni

* Juanita Broaddrick (then Smith), 1960 *

Shay Mooney Dan + Shay (the plus symbol substituting for an ampersand as an 'and' indicator) is an American country pop music duo composed of vocalists and songwriters Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney. They are signed to Warner Records Nashville and have release ...

, 2011 * Austin Nguyen, 2012

References

External links