One might describe the Cross County School District as “the little district that could,” and did. Growth is top of mind for Cross County High School Principal Cody Goulart.
Set back amongst the fields of Cherry Valley, the high school has seen a 20 percent increase in students in recent years.
“We’re around 312 students today, and back in 2019 when I first got here, we were probably around 265 or 260,” Goulart explained.
Along with that growth, Goulart takes pride in the quality of the educational experience his students receive, and the state of Arkansas is taking notice of that. The Arkansas Department of Education released the official 2024- 2025 school letter grades, showing positive news for Cross County.
“Our high school just received a ‘B’ rating from the state of Arkansas, and it put us as one of the top schools in Northeast Arkansas,” said Goulart.
According to the Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education, these scores are part of an accountability system with a focus on the state’s educational priorities: achievement, growth, and readiness to ensure every student is adequately prepared for what comes next.
While excitement about academic growth is evident when speaking with Goulart, he feels it takes more to provide a complete educational experience.
“Every student knows I’m going to school today to learn about math, science, English, and history,” Goulart said, but for his students, he likes to offer more. Cross County High School is doing that in the form of extracurricular activities.
Goulart wants to give the students something to look forward to when they arrive at school each day. He described the students’ enthusiasm for these activities. “I know I’m going to get to go to band today. I know I’ll get to go to my art class. I’m going to choir or whatever other activity that may be.”
Goulart, a former coach in the district, acknowledged, “Our students aren’t coming to school for an education. What drives them are the extracurriculars.”
The district’s Executive Master Teacher Mindy Searcy recognizes the importance of extracurricular activities, as her own son, a senior at Cross County High School, is involved in them. However, she is also very pleased with the academic success that the district has seen recently, and she says there’s a secret to that success.
Searcy explained that the school district utilizes the TAP system. The TAP system was created by the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching. It’s described on NIET.org as a comprehensive approach that “attracts, develops, and motivates high-quality educators.”
Searcy said the system encourages teachers and school leaders to reflect on best practices to enhance their teaching skills. “We require three observations here, where everybody else only gets one a year,” Searcy explained.
According to Searcy, the teachers really enjoy the feedback they receive after these observations. “It’s never an ‘I got you,’ it’s always ‘Let me come into your classroom, let me see what great things you have going on, and let me see what we can help you with,’” Searcy described.
Searcy said the TAP program provides a “better teacher for each student,” which includes instructors who instruct classes in the arts programs, such as choir and band.
Tori Beckett, the first-year K-12 music teacher, appreciates the support and mentoring, as she is balancing her teaching skills with what is required to also be the high school band director and choir director.
Beckett described band and choir as great tools for character building in students. She said her students have character traits to work on throughout the year. For the students at Cross County High School they work on two traits every two months.
The current trait, respect, is teaching students lessons outside of academics. Beckett had students write their own songs. She said of the process, “Everyone had to have something for others to hear, so it helped them have that even playing field.”
Beckett, a 2025 Arkansas State University graduate, emphasized the importance of inclusivity, recognizing that some of her students have no experience in music. “I’ve tried to build a little bit of a buddy system. I put my more experienced kids with my less experienced kids so that they have those relationships and they come back not feeling alone.”
Beckett’s goal is to make sure every student has a voice, a voice that is heard. She said that the goal transcends to other areas of her students’ lives. “I like doing the social emotional learning because our kids really connect to it better if they feel they are safe emotionally,” Beckett said of the students she encourages to explore their emotions through music education.
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One has to wonder how much they benefit from Wynne school district people sending their children there. Quite a bit from what I hear. The old government school types don’t like school choice.