By James Leigh

Even though he is just two weeks into his new job, Scott Jones feels as though he is at home.

Jones was named the new assistant superintendent over supplemental services which includes extra curricular activities, transportation, technology, custodial services and athletics at Malvern High School.

A native of Arkadelphia, Jones has strong ties to the community. His father was born and raised here, his grandparents still live here and his wife works at First Step.

Jones also has a tie to the school district. His father was in the tenth grade when coach David Alpe first came to Malvern, and Jones’ grandmother was a lifelong employee of the district.

“I don’t feel like there was any transition,” Jones said. “I was hired, and I got to work.”

Jones was excited to come to Malvern. With his family here as well as working with a strong program, Jones felt confident that Malvern was where he needed to be.

“Malvern has an athletic program that is tradition-rich,” he said. “The program is well-known all over the state, and it is well-respected. A lot of that is due to coach [David] Alpe.”

“The administration team here is wonderful, too,” he continued. “It is well-organized and well-structured. It has cohesiveness.”

Jones graduated from Arkadelphia High School in 1996 where he played baseball and was the quarterback for the Badgers.

After graduation, he attended Henderson State University and played baseball for one year before transferring to Ouachita Baptist University.

Jones finished his degree at OBU, graduating with a B.S.E. in secondary education.

He then went back to Henderson for his Masters degree.

Jones joked that while he had gotten his bachelor’s degree from OBU, “I have taken more classes at Henderson.”

Jones has earned both his M.S. in sports administration as well as an M.S.E. in educational leadership, and he is currently working on earning his degree as an educational specialist.

Jones first taught and coached at Arkadelphia for six years. He was the offensive coordinator for the Badger football team as well as the head baseball coach.

Jones explained that he had good reason to believe in the traditions of the Malvern athletic department.

“I never won a game at Malvern,” he said. “That’s not to say we never beat them, but we never beat them here in Malvern.”

After his tenure in Arkadelphia, Jones took a job as assistant principal at Gurdon High School.

Two years later, Jones is the assistant superintendent at Malvern High School.

Jones is ecstatic about the high level of support the community gives the athletic department.

“The support this community gives athletics is better than any other in the state,” he said. “I have never seen a commmunity where they support the program like this, but that is what makes this job so much fun. It is good to see this much support. That kind of thing excites me.”

Many have probably noticed the presence that past athletic directors have had at sporting events, and Jones doesn’t expect that to change.

“That is part of this job,” he said. “I intend to be very present at the games and extracurricular events. You can’t do this job without being visible. I think it is a must for this job.”

Jones also explained that he plans to do as much for the district’s athletes as is possible.

“I want for these kids to have the absolute best they can,” he said. “We will provide for them as best we can in apparel, situations and transportation. We want to be fiscally responsible, but we want to give them the best we can. In my opinion, we will do the most we can for our kids.”

With this being only the end of Jones’ second week, he hasn’t had much chance to meet with many of the coaches and athletes, but he has been in contact with some.

“I have talked with most of the coaches,” he pointed out. “I am going to try to kick things off before school starts, and I will talk with them all one-on-one.”

Despite not having dealt with the coaching staff as much, Jones has had the opportunity to work with the custodial, maintenance, transportation and technical staffs.

“The summer is the busiest time of year for the custodial staff and the maintenance staff,” he said. 

Jones said that he has been welcomed whenever he has had to deal with those in the community.

“I feel 100 percent welcome,” he said. “I have only been here two weeks, and I already feel very welcomed. It has made my transition smooth and the support has been great.”