1. Learning Community Analysis: Searcy, Arkansas LIBM 6360 Cristy Farley September 15, 2011

2. Population Statistics  Estimated population 22,858  86.01% Caucasian  9.4% African American  2.47 % Hispanic  1.38% Asian  51.7% Females  48.3% Males City data.com

3. Searcy Public Schools  Over 4,000 students  Has 6 campuses  Employs 440 teachers, staff and administrators  Ranked in the Top 10 school districts in the state of AR mghelmets.com

4. Higher Education  Harding University  Private Christian University  Students from 50 states & over 50 countries  Over 7,000 students  Offers 10 degrees with over 100 majors  3 rd largest employer in the city harding.edu

5. Higher Education  ASU-Searcy is a branch of ASU-Beebe  Provides technical and career training asub.edu

6. Religion  Heavily Christian influenced area  63% claim an affiliation with a congregation  56% Baptist  17% Church of Christ  10% Methodist  6% Assemblies of God  12% Other new.music.yahoo.com

7. Economic Development  Top industries: Health Care, Social Assistance, Educational Services, Accommodations and Food Services & Financial and Insurance  Natural Gas Exploration has brought $16 million in royalties in one year  Commercial hub of White County  Wal-Mart is the largest employer providing 1,600 jobs in Searcy media.photobucket.com

8. Healthcare  White County Medical Center  2nd largest employer – 1,465  150 physicians  438 beds  Two urgent care facilities  Oncology and Radiation facilities Searcy.com

9. Community Recreation  Searcy has 4 city parks with playgrounds, walking trails and basketball & tennis courts  Camp Wyldewood offers several programs for children throughout the summer along with hiking trails and a retreat center open to the public

10.  The Carmichael Community Center hosts sports camps, arts & crafts classes along with life skill classes for all ages throughout the year Searcy.com

11. Searcy as a Learning Community  Majority of the population is Caucasian but diversity does exist within the learning community  Family-oriented city with all economic levels represented  Great parent involvement within the schools  An LMS at the public schools will be able to utilize many resources from the community

12. References City Data. (2011). Retrieved September 10, 2011, from City Data: http://www.city-data.comhttp://www.city-data.com Harding University. (2011). Retrieved September 10, 2011, from Harding University: http://www.harding.edu http://www.harding.edu Searcy Chamber of Commerce. (2011). Retrieved September 10, 2011, from Searcy Chamber of Commerce: http://www.searcychamber.comhttp://www.searcychamber.com Searcy Community Guide. (2011, January). Searcy, Arkansas. Searcy.com. (2011). Retrieved September 3, 2011, from Searcy.com: http://www.searcy.comhttp://www.searcy.com U.S. Census Bureau. (2010). Retrieved September 10, 2011, from U.S. Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov/ http://www.census.gov/