HERMITAGE – Arkansas Secretary of Education Jacob Oliva visited the Hermitage School District on Monday, January 6, 2025, as a special surprise guest to speak to the educators while they were learning about key Literacy strategies to implement across the curricula, student character-building principles, and the enhancement of the Positive Behavior Intervention Support (PBIS) processes.
Article and photos courtesy of the Hermitage School District.
Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders appointed Jacob Oliva, a lifelong educator, as secretary of the Arkansas Department of Education in January 2023.
As secretary, Oliva’s leadership was instrumental in the passage of the LEARNS Act, a comprehensive restructuring of Arkansas’ education system. Oliva has since guided the implementation of LEARNS, which focuses on the importance of early learning programs, reading supports, and Career and Technical Education, in addition to empowering parents and recruiting and retaining the best educators.
Oliva is a graduate of Miami-Dade County Public Schools and Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida. He began his educational career more than two decades ago as an elementary teacher for students with special needs. He later served as a principal at both the elementary and high school levels and as a superintendent at Flagler County Schools.
Oliva shared where the state stands on education and why it is vital to ensure Arkansas’s vision that all students can learn is successful. This is our top priority as students are accelerated and provided rigorous instruction based on the Arkansas State Standards, says Oliva. It is up to all school educators to ensure that the Arkansas Grade Level Standards are taught to all students. Oliva said that third-grade students are to read at or above grade level because that is the point when students learn how to read, and then, they read to learn. When a student has gaps in reading in the early grades, we have a lot of work to do to catch them up. Secretary Oliva said, “The professional development for teachers is key as we build a curriculum with high-quality instructional materials to teach the standards with fidelity. Our assessment system gives teachers real-time information on how to support students and data to measure progress. If teachers teach students the grade level Arkansas Standards every day, their lives will be changed because they will do better in school.”
Secretary Oliva travels across the state to listen to educators, and the Hermitage teachers were excited to share what they are currently doing to prepare students for successful pathways in school. Hermitage educators asked Oliva about where the state of Arkansas is with the career pathways and expectations for schools moving forward regarding college and career readiness. Oliva said that Arkansas LEARNS requires each Arkansas school to offer three College and Career pathways in school. This year all Arkansas districts met that expectation. Schools need a system to have career goals and pathways that are obtainable by students.
Superintendent LaDonna Spain, on behalf of the Hermitage School District, presented Secretary Oliva with a plaque made from Bradley County lumber and designed and hand-carved by retired local artist Charles Browning, signed by Browning and all participating educators who spent time with Secretary Oliva. “We are always happy to share what makes Hermitage so unique and special to Hermitage children and Bradley County. We were so excited to hear firsthand about Arkansas LEARNS expectations directly from Secretary Oliva and look forward to the future,” says Spain.
