FROM THE TWENTIETH CENTURY TO THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
Serving The Boys And Girls Of Erlanger And Elsmere Since 1967
Arnett Elementary School is a preschool through fifth grade facility located on eleven acres of rolling land, high atop a hill overlooking the community of historic Erlanger, Kentucky. Arnett serves a diverse population of about 365 boys and girls of varied socio-economic backgrounds, providing instruction to meet the needs of all students. Programs include special instruction for those with special learning needs, as well as an array of programs focusing on the arts and humanities, student leadership, physical education, and targeted instruction for students with special gifts and talents.
Located in Kenton County directly across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, Ohio, the Arnett neighborhood enjoys a small-town, community-centered environment - yet has the benefits of a large city. Arnett is about fifteen minutes from the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport, and twenty minutes away from the symphony, museums, ballet, professional football, baseball, and hockey. In meeting the needs of 21st century families, the school is in close proximity to numerous shopping malls, centers, districts, and specialty shops - as well as restaurants of diverse cuisine.
Arnett Elementary School sits on former farmland property, at one time owned by two area pioneer families: the Timberlakes and the Stevensons. Major William Thornton Timberlake, a veteran of the war of 1812, built his home in 1826 near the corner of present day Alice Street and Stephenson Road. By 1856, Timberlake’s son-in-law, Dr. John B. Stephenson had acquired the property. Marked by a Kentucky Historical Society marker, the original Timberlake home still stands near the corner of Alice Street and Stephenson Road in Erlanger.
Originally named “Stephenson Road Elementary,” by the time of its dedication in the fall of 1967, the Erlanger-Elsmere Board of Education had renamed the school, “Edgar Arnett Elementary,” in honor of their longest serving superintendent. Mr. Arnett, superintendent of the Erlanger-Elsmere School District from 1929 to 1965, dedicated his life to the boys and girls of our community. Prior to the merger of the independent Elsmere and Erlanger school districts in 1928, Mr. Arnett had served as a teacher, principal, and superintendent in the Elsmere school district from 1924-1928. He became the first principal of the high school in the newly formed Erlanger-Elsmere School District in 1928 – and superintendent of the district in 1929. He was present at the dedication of the Edgar Arnett Elementary school building in the fall of 1967. To this day, his oil portrait proudly hangs in the school lobby in his honor.
DEDICATION OF ARNETT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL - 1967
(Left to Right: Superintendent James Tichenor, former Superintendent Edgar Arnett, and the school’s first Principal, Ray Weaver)
Arnett Elementary has the distinction of sitting in two Northern Kentucky cities, as the building was placed over a city boundary. Part of the school sits in Elsmere, and part of the school sits in Erlanger. At the time the building was constructed, the surrounding community was growing so quickly that additions to the building were soon made in 1969 and again in 1972. More recent additions have included a three-story elevator in 2000, kitchen and cafeteria expansion in 2004, and the addition of 2 modular classrooms in 2008. In the tradition of academic excellence, the school was recognized by the United States Department of Education and by the President of the United States in 1985 as a Blue Ribbon School Of Excellence.
Mr. Ray Weaver became the school’s first principal in 1967. He was succeeded by Arnett’s longest reigning principal, Mr. Oliver Bryant in 1972 - whose leadership produced national recognition in 1985 as the school received the Blue Ribbon School Of Excellence award. Serving Arnett for 22 years, Mr. Bryant retired in 1994 as Dorothy Howell Elementary’s Principal, David R. Palmore, moved into the administrative seat at Arnett.
Fulfilling a tradition of long-tenured principals at the school, Palmore was only the third principal that had served at the leadership helm at Arnett since the school had opened nearly a half-century earlier. He served as Arnett’s principal for 15 years before being appointed as the Assistant Superintendent of the Erlanger-Elsmere Schools on July 1st, 2009. Lloyd Memorial High School’s Assistant Principal, Matthew D. Engel, became principal at Arnett in July of 2009. Mr. Engel’s appointment as principal was unique, as he was a former Arnett student himself - having attended kindergarten at Arnett in the 1980’s.
With Kentucky's Learning Goals and Academic Expectations, Core Content, and Program of Studies in mind, Arnett's primary and intermediate programs serve students from the time they enter preschool until they complete the fifth grade. Primary students learn in environments that are appropriate for the developmental level and learning styles of young children. This includes the use of authentic assessment, as well as qualitative reporting methods, and allows for the continuous progress of each student.
Like the primary program, students in grades four and five receive a curriculum based on Kentucky's standards. Periodic adjustments are made to instruction as indicated through continuous, and on-going student assessment and learning checks. With this information students are then provided intensive interventions to meet their individual needs.
As the staff at Arnett Elementary strive to present the most appropriate program for each child, they utilize Professional Learning Communities, and the Kentucky Comprehensive School Improvement Planning Process to monitor and gauge everything they do. The staff at Arnett Elementary is proud of its program. They recognize that it’s an honor and a privilege to serve the boys and girls in the Erlanger and Elsmere Communities, as they continue the honorable tradition of Academic Excellence at Arnett Elementary School.