Great Expectations model schools
We weren’t able to fit the entire list of schools who were named Great Expectations model schools in the paper today, so I’m posting the honored schools here for everyone to see the 71 dedicated sites.
Great Expectations is an Oklahoma-based professional development program that instructs teachers how to manage classrooms so students get the most out of instruction time. It’s a program that Oklahoma City Public Schools has adopted as part of a district-wide plan to reform elementary schools.
Here’s the complete list of districts and schools. Congrats everyone!
Great Expectations Model Schools
Oklahoma City Public Schools
Nichols Hills Elementary
John Adams Elementary
Monroe Elementary
Sequoyah Elementary
Van Buren Elementary
Altus Schools
Washington Elementary
Ardmore Schools
Lincoln Elementary
Will Rogers Elementary
Broken Arrow Schools
Country Lane PK-3
Country Lane 4-5
Liberty Elementary
Lynn Wood
Cache Schools
Cache Middle School
Cache Primary School
Cashion Schools
Cashion Elementary
Chisholm Trail Heritage Center
Chickasha Schools
Southwest Elementary
Choctaw Nicoma Park Schools
Indian Meridian Elementary
L.W. Westfall Elementary
Claremore Schools
Roosa Elementary
Coweta Schools
Heritage Intermediate Grade Center
Mission Intermediate Grade Center
Deer Creek Public Schools
Grove Valley Elementary
Edmond Public Schools
Washington Irving Elementary
West Field Elementary
El Reno Public Schools
Roblyer Middle
Rose Witcher Elementary
Enid Schools
Hayes Elementary
Grove Schools
Grove Elementary
Healdton Schools
Healdton Elementary
Holdenville Schools
Ethel Reed Elementary
Hydro-Eakly Schools
Hydro-Eakly Elementary
Idabel Schools
Idabel Southeast
Kansas Schools
Chetopa Elementary
Chetopa Junior High School
Lawton Schools
Hugh Bish Elementary
MacArthur Middle
Whittier Elementary
Woodland Hills Elementary
Lone Grove Schools
Lone Grove Intermediate
Lone Grove Primary
Mustang Public Schools
Creek Elementary
Trails Elementary
Noble Schools
Katherine I Daily Elementary
Oak Hall Episcopal School
Owasso Schools
Bailey Elementary
Barnes Elementary
Mills Elementary
Pauls Valley
Jackson Elementary
Jefferson Early Learning Center
Pioneer Schools
Pioneer Elementary K-8
Plainview Schools
Plainview Primary
Ponca City
Roosevelt Elementary
Ponca City Christian Academy – private
Pryor Schools
Jefferson Elementary
Putnam City Public Schools
Dennis Elementary
Sapulpa Schools
Sapulpa Freedom Elementary
Sapulpa Woodlawn Elementary
Sand Springs Schools
Limestone Technology Academy
Stratford Schools
Stratford Elementary
Stillwater Public Schools
Richmond Elementary
Tahlequah Schools
Cherokee Elementary
Greenwood Elementary
Sequoyah Elementary
Texas Schools
Spring McNabb Elementary
Spring Northgate Crossing Elementary
Turner Schools
Turner Elementary
Wetumka Schools
Wetumka Elementary
Wilson Schools
Wilson Elementary and Early Childhood Center
Yukon Public Schools
Central Elementary
Skyview Elementary
$10,000 Oklahoma scholarship open for nominees
It’s time for teachers and administrators to think hard about what lucky senior they’d like to nominate for the John W. and Mary D. Nichols Oklahoma Heritage Scholarship, $10,000 for the Oklahoma college or university of the student’s choice.
The scholarship is awarded to a student each year who demonstrates a passion and knowledge of Oklahoma history and geography, outstanding academic achievement, leadership and citizenship.
The award is paid in $2,500 increments over four years to an in-state institution. Nominations cannot be made by a student’s family.
Find the application and more information here for the 2011 scholarship and submit nominations by March 4, 2011.
Barresi “education leader to watch”
Oklahoma’s newest state superintendent of schools, who takes the oath of office on Monday, was named one of the top school chiefs to watch in 2011 by The Christian Science Monitor.
Janet Barresi, who founded two charter schools in her spare time as a dentist, became the first Republican ever elected to the office. She replaces Sandy Garrett, a democrat who held the office for 20 years.
The article by Stacy Teicher Khadaroo put Barresi behind Jason Glass in Iowa, the new Republican director of the state’s education department, who plans to reform the teacher pay, and New Jersey’s Democratic education commissioner Christopher Cerf.
“Her agenda includes increasing the rigor of the state curriculum to ensure that students are ready for both college and careers. Ms. Barresi also wants to revise testing requirements,” Khadaroo wrote about Barresi.
Tulsa contracts for new teacher evaluations
Ever wonder how much the new teacher evaluation system under Senate Bill 2033 will cost to implement by the 2013-2014 school year?
According to today’s Tulsa World, it cost the state’s second largest school district $605,000 to implement a new evaluation system that evaluates teacher and leader effectiveness based on student growth data.
The “value-added” evaluations were part of the legislation passed under the state’s Race to the Top application, but Tulsa Public Schools has had a head start on the project and will serve as somewhat of a pilot for how the program works.
Oklahoma did not receive any funding to implement the new evaluation system from the Race to the Top competition.
Teachers and administrators are evaluated under the new system once a year. Half of their score is based on qualitative factors, such as the principal’s observations of how a teacher interacts with the class. The other half of the evaluation is based on quantitative data such as student’s increasing or decreasing scores on standardized tests, or class grades.
The Tulsa School Board approved two contracts on Monday to get the pilot off the ground. The first was for $205,000 for the actual data analysis and the third was for $450,500 to a different company that will teach employees how to use the data in evaluations, according to the Tulsa World.
OK virtual school enrollment at 2,593
The State Education Department tracked a new statistic this year in its annual release of student enrollment numbers – the number of kids in virtual schools.
Virtual schools are growing across the nation offering students access to teachers, courses, text books and other students online.
According to the data released for the 2010-2011 school year, Oklahoma had 2,593 students enrolled in virtual schools where the student didn’t attend a physical school but received all of their course work and instruction online from a distance.
Another 1,863 students took virtual classes online, but in a school setting.
White Oak Public Schools had the most virtual students with 973 kids enrolled in the K12 program offered by the small rural district in north east Oklahoma.
Hanna public schools was next with 348 students enrolled in off campus programs, and Oklahoma City came in third with 236 students.
But Oklahoma City ranked first for on campus virtual programs with 337 students enrolled.
Tulsa Public Schools had 280 students enrolled in virtual online courses and Shawnee Public Schools in Pottawatomie County had 204 students on campus taking virtual courses.
School zone for new elementary needs to be drawn
The construction of Oklahoma City’s newest elementary school is on schedule to be finished in time for the fall class of 2011.
Cesar Chavez Elementary School, located at 600 SE Grand, will be a massive kindergarten through 8th-grade school built to house 775 students in a new $12.8 million facility.
Once the building passes inspection, the only thing remaining is determining what children will attend the new school.
The school board will have a preliminary discussion about the attendance boundaries tonight.
Oklahoma City Public Schools last dealt with redistricting when it divided the old John Marshall High School into two districts for the new John Marshall High School the new Oklahoma Centennial High School.
School Board Member Lyn Watson said the district will likely have to consider redistricting on a larger scale in the coming years as schools struggle with overcrowding in the south and lagging enrollments in the east.
Cesar Chavez will relieveCapitol Hill Elementary School that is bursting at the seams with over 1,000 students, and it will also take students from other nearby elementary schools depending on how the boundaries are drawn.
Supplies needed for Teachers Warehouse
The Oklahoma City-based mail supply company Comtech and the Oklahoma City Thunder are leading a supply drive until November 7 to help stock the Teacher’s Warehouse at the Foundation for Oklahoma City Public Schools.
Every year the warehouse provides much needed supplies to teachers throughout Oklahoma City Schools preventing teacher’s from spending their money on paper and pencils for students.
Supplies can be dropped off at Comtech, 117 E Hill Street, or other locations that can be found by calling 843-3185.
The grand finale to the supply drive will be the Thunder’s home game on Nov. 7 against the Boston Celtics. Fans who drop off school supplies at the entrances to the Oklahoma Ford Center will be entered to win a number of prizes including autographed memorabilia.
These items are the hottest commodities in the Teachers Warehouse – no matter how many are in stock, they are gone in an instant!
• Reams of paper
• 8 ½ x 11 copy paper
• 8 ½ x 11 colored, copy paper
• 8 ½ x 11 3-hole-punched, copy paper
• Art drawing paper/watercolor paper
• Colored construction paper
• Card stock
• Packages of wide-ruled and college-ruled lined paper
• Electric staplers
• Heavy-duty staplers (to staple large packets)
• Standard staplers
• Three-hole punches
• Highlighters
• Expo dry erase markers
• Folders with pockets and brads
• Post It Notes
• Pens (red, blue, and black)
• #2 standard and mechanical pencils
• Binder clips—all sizes
• File Folders (8 1/2 x 11)
• Paper Clips
• Rubber bands
Top Requests
These are items are often requested but just a few have been donated:
• Crayons
• Washable markers
• Colored pencils
• Rulers
• Safety scissors (scissors for kids to use)
• Pencil top erasers
• Elmers glue & glue sticks
• Backpacks
• Pencil bags/boxes
Wine tasting fundraiser for early morning arts program
A wine tasting on Oct. 7 will raise funds for an early morning arts and sciences program at Taft Middle School.
All funds raised from the event will go to fund the morning classes already being offered at Taft for students who are dropped off earlier than the school’s 9:20 a.m. start time.
Not having a place for students to go before school is a challenge for parents who work and must drop off kids before the doors open. The arts program was created to keep those kids out of trouble in the mornings and instead get them active and learning.
The wine tasting begins at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 7th at 9225 Lake Hefner Parkway, Suite 100. Tickets are $25 in advance or $35 at the door and the sampling will include Oklahoma wineries.
For more information or to RSVP call 405-314-0945 or e-mail mjgarneau3@gmail.com.
Longer school day, year on the horizon?
Superintendent Karl Springer has made no secret of the fact that he wants Oklahoma City school kids in class more hours and more days in the year.
The Oklahoman reported in May on his hopes for implementing a district wide calendar that would shorten the summer to just a few weeks but adds shorter breaks throughout the year .
“The long-term effect of that could be wonderful,” Springer told The Oklahoman. “If you think about our kids starting in kindergarten and going through 12th grade and getting an extra hour of school each day, they’d get a year’s more time in class than they would have otherwise.”
But even with seven schools in the district already using the calendar, the idea could have been considered nothing more than a pipe dream. Longer school days and longer school years require lots of money to pay teachers, and school districts across the state are strapped for cash.
Rumors are surfacing that the district might put one or both changes - longer school days and years - on the table for the union to consider may as early as the 2011 school year.
Ed Allen, representative of the Oklahoma City American Federation of Teachers, has said if such an offer was brought forward the union would be amicable.
So where would the money come from?
The Baltimore Sun reported that Baltimore schools unveiled a myriad of reforms; among them was the proposal to use the recent federal teacher jobs money to give teachers a $1,500 signing bonus. Could that pot of cash also coming to Oklahoma be used to pay teachers for working longer hours and longer years?
Lights on Afterschool
Afterschool programs across the state are charging up for the eleventh annual Lights on Afterschool event – a day each October dedicated to bringing awareness to the importance of safe places for kids to go after schools close.
It’s a nationwide event that has the Empire State Building and Mount Rushmore turning on the lights in support of after school programs.
The Boys and Girls Club of Oklahoma County is holding a carnival for students and parents.
Earlier this month it was announced that Laticia Wade of Stratford was named one of only 18 Afterschool Ambassadors throughout the nation and would be responsible for hosting a Lights On event here in Oklahoma.
Visit this website to find out what’s occuring in your community: http://www.afterschoolalliance.org/loaFindEventState.cfm?state=OK
