Choosing the Right Public School for Your Child SPONSORED BY
With summer around the corner, it is never too early to start planning and making decisions for next school year. FULL-TIME ART, MUSIC AND PE TEACHERS, COUNSELORS AND NURSES AT EVERY OKCPS SCHOOL PROVIDE STUDENTS WITH A WELL-ROUNDED EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE.
Some of the questions parents might be asking themselves as they prepare for the upcoming school year include: Is this the best educational experience for my kid? Is mental health as important as academics and arts at his current school or should we take advantage of the new open transfer law? Would my student thrive more in an online or in-person learning setting? Whether you are sending your child to school for the first time or thinking about transferring your student to a new school, looking at your neighborhood school is a good place to start. Great things have been happening at Oklahoma City Public Schools (OKCPS) in the past few years. From the ambitious Pathway to Greatness project — which reallocated funding to fulfill the district’s vision of providing students with equitable access to learning opportunities — to the Family Connect initiative that provides community resources to families and students, OKCPS is at the forefront of providing both quality education and mental health wellness for students, families and staff.
STUDENTS FROM OKCPS APPLICATION SCHOOL CLASSEN SCHOOL OF ADVANCED STUDIES PERFORM.
How could the new transfer law benefit my family? SB 783 took effect Jan. 1, 2022, enabling students to transfer up to two times in a school year, as long as capacity hasn’t been exceeded and the student does not have any discipline or truancy issues.
OKCPS IS AT THE FOREFRONT OF PROVIDING BOTH QUALITY EDUCATION AND MENTAL HEALTH WELLNESS FOR STUDENTS, FAMILIES AND STAFF.
10 METROFAMILYMAGAZINE.COM / MAY-JUNE 2022
• Universal PreK available to all students Open transfer can be especially helpful for those families whose assigned districts have a lottery system for PreK. If a student does not have a seat in their district’s PreK program, they can fill out a transfer request to attend OKCPS. Unlike other school districts that use a lottery system for PreK, OKCPS offers free full day PreK to every family who lives within the district’s boundaries with a seat available for each eligible child. PreK is available for free at every elementary school in OKCPS and at three off-site locations. Children must be 4 years old by Sept. 1, 2022, to be eligible to enroll in PreK. PreK in OKCPS is free for both in and out of district students.
