News & Press

June 1, 2009
by Andrea Egar

The Tulsa school board is set to consider a complete overhaul of the Franklin Youth Academy and Project 12, as well as new names for those alternative schools and the Tulsa Academic Center on Monday.

The recommendations, which came from the Alternative Schools Innovations Task Force, would take effect when school starts in August. The board will vote on the plan at a meeting set for 7 p.m. Monday at the Education Service Center, 3027 S. New Haven Ave.

“The genesis of the alternative education task force was solving the problem of school safety, order and discipline in Tulsa Public Schools,” said Superintendent Keith Ballard. “With very little exception, we believe the task force recommendations should be adopted in total, but funding is a serious problem.”

The proposed changes are:

• Transform Franklin Youth Academy and Project 12 into “Big Picture Learning Schools” and incorporate New Vision Academy services for students with drug or alcohol issues into those schools.
• Further develop the Project ACCEPT program at Anderson Elementary School and expand the program to another elementary school so more students with aggression issues can be served.
• Create the Middle College High School through a partnership with Tulsa Community College, where students could earn high school diplomas and college associate’s degrees simultaneously.
• Create a “continuation” school for adjudicated youth through a partnership with juvenile justice authorities.

The board will also be asked to consider a separate recommendation to rename the Tulsa Academic Center as the TRAICE Academy, which is short for Tulsa Resource and Adolescent Intervention Centers of Excellence. Administrators are also asking that the Franklin Youth Academy be dubbed the Tulsa Met-Franklin, and for Project 12 to become the Tulsa Met-Lombard.

Superintendent Ballard established the Alternative Schools Innovations Task Force after a national research and consulting firm hired by the school board questioned the effectiveness of several Tulsa alternative schools.

The task force studied examples of successful programs in other urban school districts, including the Providence, R.I.-based Big Picture Learning Schools. The recommendation to the school board includes a contract with that school network for training, technical assistance and coaching for Tulsa teachers.

“We want all of our employees in these alternative schools and programs to be trained in the (Big Picture) strategies because we want those employees to be able to determine whether a child’s lack of success in the classroom has been based on a behavioral deficit or an academic deficit or if it’s both,” said Assistant Superintendent Marvin Jeter. The two Tulsa Big Picture Schools would have “Met” in their names as a tribute to the first Big Picture School, the Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center in Providence.

Ballard said some other recommendations from the Alternative Schools Innovations Task Force will have to wait until the school district can afford them.

“It is very difficult to shoehorn in any new programs right now,” Ballard said. “We may be seeking outside sources of one-time funding, or start-up funds, for computers and other resources so these are good, solid programs when they open.

“I wish the state Legislature could come to grips with the fact that it takes more money to run an urban district because we are dealing with children from highly disadvantaged backgrounds and you need a highly diverse, layered system for serving those children.”

About the student-centered learning model used by “Big Picture Learning Schools”

• Each student is part of a small learning community of 15 students called an “advisory,” which is led and supported by one teacher who will be called advisor
• Each student works with their teacher to identify their interests and personalize their learning.
• Each student has an internship in a real world setting where they work closely with a mentor.
• The model originated in 1996 in Providence, R.I.