FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

CONTACT: 

James Kimbrough 

EVP and Interim Headmaster, HHA − Fort Smith 

jameskimbrough@haashall.org, (479) 977-4930 

 


 

Fort Smith, AR – January 29, 2025 – The Arkansas Department of Education’s Division of Elementary and Secondary Education announced this week that a total of $6,999,874 will be awarded to 174 schools through  the Arkansas School Recognition Program. Awards are based on student assessment results from the 2023-2024 school year.  

The Arkansas School Recognition Program (Ark. Code Ann. § 6-15-2107) provides financial awards to the top 10  percent of public schools that achieve high student performance on the state-required assessments in grades 3  through 10. 

Haas Hall Academy (HHA) – Fort Smith, in its first year of operations, was ranked in the Top 5%, along with 49  other schools statewide, including HHA’s four Northwest Arkansas campuses. No other high schools in the Fort Smith/Arkansas River Valley area were recognized in this category of Reward Schools for 2024. 

Opened in the Fall of 2023, Haas Hall is housed on the fourth floor of the multi-purpose Arkansas Colleges of  Health Education (ACHE) Research Institute, Health and Wellness Center (former Beverly Enterprises/Golden  Living headquarters building), located at 1000 Fianna Way in southwest Fort Smith.

The local tuition-free college preparatory school serves Arkansas residents in grades 7−12. At the District level,  the Academy was founded in 2004, becoming the state’s first and now oldest open−enrollment public charter  high school. After humble beginnings in Farmington, HHA moved its flagship campus to Fayetteville and later  expanded into Bentonville, Rogers and Springdale. 

For more than a dozen years, Haas Hall has been ranked #1 in Arkansas for academics. Additionally, U.S. News  & World Report places the Academy as the #3 charter school and the #15 high school overall in the nation. To  learn more, including information about 2025-2026 admissions, please visit the HHA website (haashall.org) or  call the Fort Smith campus at (479) 977-4930. 

(Hero Photo Courtesy of Arkansas Colleges of Health Education) 

 


 

About Haas Hall Academy 

HHA’s mission is to provide an aggressive and positive alternative to the traditional learning environment for  scholars with a high intensity of purpose, enabling them to succeed at the most prestigious colleges and  universities in the country and around the world, and to become leaders of their communities and pillars of  society. 

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