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School News - Tip Sheet - 7/23/2008

TPS Board of Education Meeting 

7/21/2008

The Tulsa Public School Board of Education did the following at their meeting of July 21:

Tabled an action agenda item regarding the proposed Burbank Academy. The academy has been tapped as a site to serve secondary students that require a change of placement and substance abuse/anger management services.

Renewed the contract with Tulsa Promenade to provide lease space for Tulsa Learning Academy (TLA) during the upcoming school year. The Tulsa Learning Academy offers courses to nontraditional students in order to receive high school credits and graduate with a diploma. Rent for the 2007-2008 school year was $400.

Renewed the contract with KIPP Foundation and KIPP Tulsa Academy College Preparatory, Inc. to continue operating KIPP Tulsa Academy College Preparatory, Inc. for grades five through eight. KIPP will serve grades five, six, seven, and eight in the fall of 2008. KIPP was established as an academically intensive college preparatory, upper elementary and middle school. The school can serve up to 360 students. Continued implementation of the KIPP Tulsa Academy College Preparatory, Inc. will allow students and their families an opportunity to attain academic success.

Renewed the contract with Youth Services of Tulsa to provide individual/group counseling services at Franklin Youth Academy and Project 12 during the 2008-2009 school year. The schools serve students who are experiencing social/emotional difficulties. Student exit interviews and self-reports indicate that these on-site social work services provide a critical source of guidance and support.

 

TPS Educators Lauded for MicroSociety Programs 

7/21/2008

The Microsociety program at Tulsa Public Schools continues to receive national attention as three TPS educators have received George Awards from the microsociety’s parent organization.

George Award is named after Dr. George H. Richmond. In 1967, Richmond created the first-ever MicroSociety program in his Brooklyn classroom. The MicroSociety concept was designed as a grassroots program remedying the problems besetting schools across the nation.

Anthony Cherry from Nimitz Middle School was given the George Award for Outstanding Teacher Achievement and Nimitz principal Earlene Gathright received the George Award for Outstanding Innovator Achievement. Thoreau Demonstration Academy’s Tom Padalino has been honored with the George Award for Outstanding Principal Achievement. All three educators were selected from a field of 200 MicroSociety programs nationwide.

The MicroSociety program immerses students in their own society, complete with a constitution, legal system, elected officials, an economy, even a television studio.

 

Board Tables Burbank Due to Location Issues 

7/22/2008

For immediate release: TPS Superintendent Dr. Michael Zolkoski and the Tulsa Board of Education are working to find a suitable location for a proposed substance-abuse treatment school for suspended TPS students.

Several residents and parents of Bell Elementary School students voiced their concerns about a proposal to house the program in the former Burbank Elementary School, which was being used as an annex for nearby Bell.

"The stakes are too high to risk opening this school," said Joyce Buckner, a Bell parent and resident of the White City community. "The safety of grade school kids is most important."

Buckner echoed the sentiments of all of the speakers Monday night, saying she agrees with the concept, just not the location.

"I come from a long line of educators, so I understand the need for kids to have a second chance," Buckner said, "But not at the risk of young children, and not in an area that is already fighting to remain a great place for young couples to start out."

Dr. Michael Zolkoski said he understands the arguments of Buckner and her neighbors, and he empathizes with their positions. At the same time, he said he wants to stem the tide of teens turning to drugs and alcohol in alarming numbers.

"It's not just affecting the kids who get wrapped up in drugs and alcohol," Zolkoski said, "Their choices ripple out to their families, their classrooms, this school district and the community as a whole. I'm looking forward to working with the community, the Board and the incoming superintendent to find a solution to this growing problem."

Zolkoski, board members and district officials are working to find a suitable location for the proposed Burbank Academy.

The community meeting that was scheduled for Thursday, July 24, has been canceled due to the district's renewed site search.

 

Campus Police Need Creative Help 

7/23/2008

Principals and teachers, the Tulsa Public Schools Campus Police Department needs your help. The department is soliciting designs for their police patch and squad cars, and officials there are hoping the creativity of TPS students gives them some ideas. The children, in turn, get a say in determining the department's public face.

“We want the students to feel like they are part of the police department,” said Chief of Police-Tulsa Public Schools Gary D. Rudick. “The best way to get people involved is to help us establish our identity and nothing is more important than our police patch and patrol car designs.”

Here are the rules for the patch:

--The patch must be original and not a copy of another patch from another jurisdiction, although you may use the same emblems or designs in a different fashion.
--Patch designs are sewed or stitched. Remember that designs that are too small will be difficult to stitch or see and too large won’t fit on the patch area.
--The motto “Protecting our Future” must appear on the patrol car graphics in some form or fashion.
--Cars will be black and white so use the different designs or models of black/white combinations with your graphics.
--Both patch and graphic car designs can be found on the web. Law and Order magazine holds a graphics contest every year and some ideas may be found in those editions.

All submissions must be received by the Campus Police Department by October 3, 2008. Winners will be recognized at an official school board meeting.

 

Grand Opening for Early Childhood Education Center 

7/31/2008, 1:30 p.m.

A grand opening for the Skelly Early Childhood Education Center is July 31st at 1:30 p.m.

Funded through a combination of state and private donations—including a multi-million dollar contribution from the George Kaiser Family Foundation—the center reflects a commitment to enhance and expand learning through Oklahoma’s Pilot Early Childhood Program, approved by state lawmakers in 2006 and touted by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Sandy Garrett as “one of Oklahoma's greatest hopes for a successful future.” The program caters to low-income children. Almost nine out of ten recipients are minorities and six out of ten live in a single-parent home.

The center “will provide our community with services that will help prepare children and their families for a successful entry into Skelly Elementary. We look forward to the opportunity to work with CAP,” said Skelly Principal Mike Howe.

The Community Action Project of Tulsa County is tasked with running the center. The project has issued the following statement on the childhood program: “We believe that early childhood education coupled with family strengthening programs represent the best pathway out of poverty for low-income families, improving prospects for academic success, wage-earning capacity, and economic independence.”

“Tulsa Public Schools is a strategic partner for us in terms of where we site and build our early childhood education centers,” said Catheryn Mason, the Community Action Project of Tulsa County’s Director of Development and Communication.

The grand opening includes a tour of the facility, located at 8811 East 31st Street. Organizers are not wasting any time making the center operable: On-site enrollment services will available at 2 p.m. that day.

 

Play Examines Parenting, Learning 

8/1/2008

A locally-produced play featuring a TPS employee and Booker T. Washington student takes a unique look at the education process.

“This is an example of how young men are taught not only by their school, but by their parents,” Ronald Friedberg says of the production of “The Chosen,” in which he plays the lead character’s father. Friedberg’s day job is coordinator of purchasing for TPS, and he appears in the play along with August Luc, a BTW student.

Based on an award-winning novel, “The Chosen” is August 1, 2, 7, 8 and 9 at 8 p.m. and August 3 at 2 p.m. at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $10. For reservations contact the center at 596-7111. This event is part of SummerStage and sponsored in part by the Tulsa PAC Trust.

 

Cutt-Off Sends Students to School in Style 

8/11/2008, 8 a.m.

A close shave can be a good thing. Just ask one of the several thousand area youngsters that took advantage of the Barber Cutt-Off, an annual event that sends students to school looking styled and spiffy.

This year’s Cutt-Off marks the sixteenth annual. As they have done since 1992 local barbers and stylists donate their time and skills to students in elementary and middle schools, also chipping in with school supplies and free lunches.

“Last year we serviced over 2,000 kids,” said Tamara Lockett, one of the Cutt-Off’s coordinators, “because some parents can’t even afford haircuts for their children and this helps them start school with confidence.”

The Cutt-Off is Sunday, Aug 10, at the Hutcherson YMCA, located on east Pine and Peoria. Organizers say they are always looking for volunteers. Contact Kenya Hill at 405-881-4817 or email barbercuttoff@gmail.com, for more information.

 

Input Wanted On Alternative Ed. 

8/20/2008, 5 p.m.

Tulsa Public Schools wants your input as part of an alternative education audit. The effort, mandated by the TPS Board of Education, is all about keeping the district at the head of the class.

“We look at all of our alternative education sites,” said Roberta Ellis, Assistant to the Superintendent for Accountability and Research. “We want to be at the cutting edge of what alternative schools do nationally.”

The district is partnering with MGT of America, Inc, one of the nation’s leading educational management consulting firms, in hosting an Alternative Education Community Open House. The public is invited to participate in what’s called a “Walk About”—essentially sharing ideas through written comments. Topics will be varied and open, ranging from accommodations and eligibility to professional development and parent involvement.

The Walk About is 5-6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, August 20, at the Education Service Center, Cheryl Selman Room, 3027 South New Haven Avenue.

 

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