Education has changed drastically since Oklahoma’s first class convened in 1889. In that private or “subscription” school, parents paid tuition of $1.50 per student. Today, most Oklahomans are used to a far more “traditional” educational route, but the creative spirit lingers with different approaches to educating Oklahoma youth.
Charter Schools
Students with Dove Science Academy charter public school are teaching a robot dog new tricks … like how to impress dignitaries. The students write code to program the pooch to balance on his forelegs, jump and perform other acts. The dog even shook hands with U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon when she visited Oklahoma last summer.
The metallic gray dog recently ran through his paces for Oklahoma Magazine.
“My name is BenBen,” he says, as a blue light flashes across his face. “I’m your loyal and adorable robot dog.”
At his handler’s command, the beagle-sized pooch answers questions using ChatGPT, bounces to his feet and shakes his back end.
“It’s very agile. But I think the coolest thing we’ve done with it so far is we’ve actually used the programming language Python to code it,” says Dove student Rayan Elmhami.
The dog, as well as drones and other robots, are key elements of the charter school’s STEM focus, says M. Atay, principal of Dove’s high school in Warr Acres. Dove is one of 26 charter schools attended by over 38,000 students in Oklahoma. These tuition-free, state-funded public schools develop their own curriculum, but must meet their contract, or “charter,” performance standards. Dove also offers one of seven online public charter schools serving kids across Oklahoma.
Montessori Schools
On any given day, you might find Undercroft Montessori private school students selling jars of locally sourced honey or cooing at McMomma’s baby chicks scratching in the school’s chicken coop.
In the classrooms, teachers or “guides” step back and let kids from three years old through eighth grade forge their own pathways in hands-on learning, ranging from pounding steel drums to carving the moon’s phases in Oreo cookies’ creamy filling.
The private school in Tulsa is one of about 20 Montessori institutions in the state.
“The children are learning all kinds of skills,” says Nancy Davis, head of school at Undercroft. “Having that freedom of choice allows them to respond to their own developmental needs.”
Today, about 5,000 Montessori schools teach 1 million students nationwide.
Home Schools
Oklahoma’s hands-off attitude toward homeschooling is an excellent policy, according to Jana Belcher, a former public-school teacher who homeschooled her own four children.
“I think homeschooling really provides a lifelong learning mentality more than anything else,” she says.
About 46,000 kids are homeschooled today in Oklahoma, and programs operate legally as long as 5- to 18-year-old children are schooled for 180 days a year.
The first step of developing curriculum doesn’t have to be a pain point for parents, as they can buy or access free packages online or develop their own customized lesson plans. The Coalition for Responsible Home Education offers guides and how-tos, as well.
“We offer all kinds of resources,” Belcher confirms.
Homeschoolers often come together as a microschool in which a paid educator, specializing in chemistry, for example, walks five or six students through the curriculum. Co-ops consist of parent-led groups that share teaching duties. Experts teach homeschoolers about physics, movie making, crocheting, entomology, geography, photography, conducting mock trials and much more.
“At the end of the day,” Belcher says, “all of my children, when they want to learn something, they are on fire for it.”
