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
Movie “Waiting for Superman” causes splash
The early release of the education documentary “Waiting for ‘Superman’” in select cities – New York. Los Angeles, etc. – has stirred waves in the education community.
The film – created by the same man who backed “An Inconvenient Truth” – tracks the pitfalls of American education through the eyes of students attempting to escape failing schools and drop out factories.
I haven’t seen the film myself, but have read enough reviews both positive and negative to make me want to see it. According to www.imdb.com it will open in Oklahoma theaters on Oct. 8.
Most praise for the film says it uses real emotion and drama to draw attention to the education crisis in the United States. Critics are saying the film oversimplifies a complicated issue by demonizing teachers unions and teachers. A number of unions have spoken out about the film’s shortcomings.
I’ll reserve judgement until I’ve actually watched the film, but if it works to put education issues in the spotlight, it has at least done some good!
Perhaps following the movie’s release, all across the state local school board meetings will be packed with concerned citizens and principals will be bombarded with volunteers and donations.
Or maybe it’s just a film.
Listed on wimgo Movies under Documentary
New roofs and AC units for district schools
In 2007, voters approved a $248 million bond issue for Oklahoma City Public Schools – funding that was timed to pick up as the MAPS for Kids funding expired.
Last week, the school board approved a plan for $103 million of that funding, which will almost entirely be spent on replacing and repairing roofs and heating and air conditioning systems in the district’s buildings.
There will be about $17.8 million available through 2014 for the facility upgrades, and the district is working on identifying priorities. Already a roof has been replaced at Dewey Elementary School, and HVAC projects were completed at Eugene Field and Shields Heights elementary schools.
The next priorities will be roofs at Arthur, Buchanan, Horace Mann, Prairie Queen and Rockwood elementaries and Northeast High School.
Millions in school turnaround dollars attract “carpetbaggers”
The New York Times ran an article this week about all the make-shift companies crawling out of the woodwork, labeling themselves as school turnaround experts, and bidding for a piece of the $3.5 billion allocated to school improvement this year.
Three school districts in Oklahoma received a chunk of that school turn-around change: Tulsa, Oklahoma City and Crutcho public schools.
Oklahoma City went with a company that top administrators said was tried and true: Marzano Research Laboratory. The district has partnered with the Indian-based company before on projects and said it was pleased.
Tulsa Public Schools requested proposals from companies to serve as “a lead turnaround partner.” The bid solicitation closes on August 17, 2010. It will be interesting to see how many companies experienced and inexperienced respond to the nation-wide search.
“We believe it is to our advantage to survey the market on any of our purchases,” said Linda Phillips, director of materials management for Tulsa Public Schools.
There was also an interesting Oklahoma tie in the NYT article.
Quoted in the article was former Oklahoma City Public Schools Superintendent John Q. Porter, who according to the article was hired in March to run Mosaica Turnaround Partners. The New York Times article read:
Mr. Porter said he attended a vendor fair at Ohio State University in June that had been organized to introduce dozens of new companies and nonprofits to districts preparing school turnarounds.
“It was like a cattle call,” Mr. Porter said. “No, actually it was more like speed dating.”
Truancy report shows visit from police has impact
Sgt. Matt Sites, Oklahoma City Police Department, talks with Yolanda Armendariz about her son's school absences while making a truancy call in northwest Oklahoma City Wednesday, April 8, 2009. Photo by Paul B. Southerland, The Oklahoman
Lt. Paco Balderrama said his six truancy officers visited more than 2,000 homes of habitually truant students and that the warnings issued to parents decreased truancy by 50 percent.
“It’s a brand new program, but I believe it was pretty successful,” Balderrama said.
He presented his truancy report to the Oklahoma City School Board this week. The program began in the fall 2009 with two officers visiting the homes of students with five or more unexcused absences. Then in the spring 2010 the force received a federal grant and added four more officers and Balderrama to the efforts.
Balderamma said the program has tracked a 53 percent decrease in truancy among students that it has made contact with, but noted the program is limited by size.
Every year more than 6,786 students are identified as habitually truant.
“We contact about 32 percent,” Balderrama said. “Believe me, it’s not from a lack of effort.”
The Oklahoman spent a day with officers on the truancy team last year.
Since then officers have also been given the authority to ticket students for truancy, a step that Balderrama said is a last resort when working with these kids.
