Battle of Backbone Mountain

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Sweden is an unincorporated community in Jefferson County, Arkansas, United States. Sweden is located on Arkansas Highway 88, 16.1 miles (25.9 km) east of Pine Bluff.[2] On January 22, 2012, an EF2 tornado struck Sweden, damaging grain bins and metal buildings; the tornado continued to a point northeast of Lodge Corner in Arkansas County.[3]

Education

It is a part of the Pine Bluff School District[4] The schools serving Sweden are Park/Greenville School for preschool, James Matthews Elementary School, Robert F. Morehead Middle School, and Dollarway High School.

Sweden was previously in the Altheimer School District.[5] The Altheimer-Sherrill district was created in 1979 when the Altheimer and Sherrill districts merged.[6] In 1993,[7] that merged into the Altheimer Unified School District (operator of Altheimer-Sherrill High School),[8][9] which merged into the Dollarway School District on July 10, 2006.[10] Altheimer-Sherrill High closed in 2007, with students moved to Dollarway High.[11] Altheimer Martin Elementary School closed in 2013.[12]

In December 2020 the Arkansas State Board of Education ruled that the Dollarway School District should merge into the Pine Bluff School District as of July 1, 2021; the post-merger school district began operating all existing schools from both districts.[13] Accordingly, the attendance boundary maps of the respective schools remained the same for the 2021–2022 school year, and all DSD territory became a part of the PBSD.[14] The exception was with the pre-kindergarten levels, as all PBSD areas are now assigned to Forrest Park/Greenville School, including the territory from the former Dollarway district.[15] In 2023 the district announced that Dollarway High would merge into Pine Bluff High School, and that Morehead Middle School would become the only middle school for all of the Pine Bluff School District.[16]

References

  1. ^ "Sweden". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. ^ Jefferson County, Arkansas General Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department. 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 8, 2020. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
  3. ^ "Severe Storms on January 22, 2012". National Weather Service North Little Rock, Arkansas. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
  4. ^ "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Jefferson County, AR" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved June 29, 2021. - The map shows Dollarway School District as not yet merged into Pine Bluff School District; the merger occurred on July 1, 2021.
  5. ^ "Arkansas Department of Education school district maps, 1952-1954 Jefferson County, 1952-1954". Arkansas Digital Archives. Arkansas State Archives. (Download) - Includes boundaries of predecessor school districts: Altheimer and Sherrill.
  6. ^ Goatcher, Truett (January 1999). "School District Consolidation Will Save Millions of Dollars: Fact of Myth?" (PDF). Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators. p. 14 (PDF p. 17/27).
  7. ^ "Altheimer Unified School District No. 22 Jefferson County, Arkansas General Purpose Financial Statements and Other Reports June 30, 2001." Legislative Joint Auditing Committee, Arkansas Legislature. Retrieved on August 2, 2017. page 3 (PDF p. 5/22).
  8. ^ "General Highway Map Jefferson County, Arkansas" (PDF). Arkansas Department of Transportation. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 8, 2020. Retrieved February 25, 2021. - See Sweden on the map.
  9. ^ "SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP (2010 CENSUS): Jefferson County, AR." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on July 31, 2017. Compare with the highway map. Note that the map indicates a separate boundary for Altheimer Unified schools, but the district already consolidated with Dollarway in 2006.
  10. ^ "ConsolidationAnnex_from_1983.xls Archived 2015-09-12 at the Wayback Machine." Arkansas Department of Education. Retrieved on July 31, 2017.
  11. ^ Colvin, Eplunus (October 2, 2020). "Closing schools took life out of Altheimer, residents recall". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  12. ^ Hardy, Benjamin (July 28, 2016). "School's out forever". Arkansas Times. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
  13. ^ Howell, Cynthia (December 11, 2020). "State votes to combine Dollarway, Pine Bluff schools". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  14. ^ "Annexation/Transition FAQ". Pine Bluff School District. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  15. ^ Murrel, I. C. (June 28, 2021). "Dollarway alumni honor district". Arkansas Democrat Gazette. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
  16. ^ Murrell, I. C. (March 1, 2023). "Pine Bluff School District will consolidate junior, senior highs this fall". Arkansas Democrat Gazette. Retrieved March 3, 2023.