Bentonville or Rogers re:kids activities (Springdale: house, moving to, transfer)

[dbgaeclark]

We are moving to Rogers next month, bought a house in Shadow Valley. We will live in Rogers, but the kids will go to Bentonville schools. My question is....do I sign the kids up for park and rec. type activities in Bentonville or Rogers? Do you follow that by the city you live in or the school district you attend? Or does it matter?

Also, can the school district really deny you admission to the school by saying it is full? Is that legal? We bought a house specifically to attend a certain school and now we are on a waiting list. Cany anyone shed some light on this? Thanks.

[MSN]

We don't have children, so I don't know specifics about the activities in the area; however, I imagine they would participate in Bentonville because that is where their school friends will be. Rogers and Bentonville are intertwined in many ways, so activities for children could probably cross over as well. I know that Pinnacle Country Club has many activities for the member children and I would imagine that Shadow Valley has some of the same offerings for their children.

As for the school situation, I know it's frustrating. We live in the same school district as you and have neighbors who have experienced that same problem (the pains of a growing area). Unfortunately, the law is what is making the school tell you they are full. Arkansas law limits the number of students a teacher can have enrolled for his/her class (I think the limit is 25 for elementary; I know it's 150 for secondary). Once a teacher has reached the limit, he/she cannot legally have any more students and it's not finanically sound to hire a teacher for just a few students (assuming there is an available classroom). As long as there is available space at another school in the district, the student is forced to transfer until space becomes available. This is a problem in Bentonville, Rogers, and Springdale.