Hello. I will be visiting Tulsa next month to see the area and decide if my family and I would like to move there. I have several questions.
1) What is a good neighborhood to move to for a family near Tulsa? I have two children ages 6 & 9.
2) What are considered the 'good' school districts near Tulsa?
3) I am also a teacher so it is important to me to be involved in a great school/district. Is it easy to get a teaching job?
Any information would be great. I have done a lot of research on the internet with the homes and real estate out there. I just don't know if I am looking at the right schools/neighborhoods. Thanks!
1) Jenks, Broken Arrow, Union, & Owasso
2) Jenks, Broken Arrow, Union, & Owasso
3) Jenks, Broken Arrow, Union & Owasso; Yes.
The best and the worst public schools are in the Tulsa Public Schools District.
The best elementary school in Oklahoma is Eisenhower International Elementary in midtown and the best high school in Oklahoma is Booker T. Washington in north Tulsa. Both are magnet schools.
The test scores for any Tulsa Public School can be found here...
http://www.tulsaschools.org/schoolinfo/main.shtm
Click on any school, then click on profile.
The surburb school districts are always promoted by the realtors as better than Tulsa Public, but I disagree. Yes, the worst schools can be found in Tulsa Public schools district, but every district has schools that are challenged.
Most of the suburb districts don't post their test scores very quickly so it is hard to get a true real time comparison.
I tend to agree with both previous assessments. The Best and Worst schools are at TPS. The suburban districts tend to be more even accross the district. You may go to an "A" school or an "F" school with TPS. With the suburbs, you're usually at a "B" or "C."
Some (not all) TPS schools try pushing vocational education while some suburban schools experiment with a lot of college prep classes and 6.0 GPA's. The suburban schools largely ignore the vocational system (they are "above" it.)
Broken Arrow:
I attended Broken Arrow Public Schools and absolutely loved the program. I was heavily involved and in the band program (Current National Champions). The school district is growing. A new bond election for almost $50 million dollars just passed. Also, if you are looking for a great community. BA has the 20th lowest crime rate of any city in the NATION! The best police force in the state and one of the best in the country is right here. You would have many reasons to feel safe here.
Bass Pro Shops just opened up here and there are plans now for a Super Target and almost 1 million sq ft of shopping near the Bass Pro. The community is also so close to Tulsa that making a trip or working in Tulsa is so easy. The Creek Turnpike loops around BA and the Broken Arrow expressway provides easy access in and out of Tulsa.
I am proud to say I am a part of Broken Arrow.
I hope you enjoy your visit here soon!!! :-)
Here's an article in today's Tulsa Whirled with some thoughts from candidates in the upcoming District 1 School Board election:
Tulsa School Board Election: TPS candidates give views
By ANDREA EGER World Staff Writer
2/4/2007
District 1's race is between the board's vice president and a 32-year TPS teacher.
Tulsa school board Vice President Gary Percefull is seeking re-election to his District 1 post. Brenda Barre, a Realtor and retired Booker T. Washington High School teacher, will be his opponent in a Feb. 13 election.
Schools in District 1 include Addams, Chouteau, Emerson, Eugene Field, Lee, Park, Remington, Robertson, Roosevelt and Mark Twain elementary schools; Clinton and Madison middle schools; and Central and Webster high schools.
Both candidates provided written answers to a Tulsa World questionnaire.
Gary Percefull
A public relations consultant, Percefull has served on the board since his election in 2003.
He is the father of a grown son who attended Tulsa's Hoover Elementary School and later completed his education in Topeka, Kan.
Before his service on the school board, Percefull was involved in youth and educational issues with his service on the steering committees of the East Tulsa Prevention Coalition and the Tulsa Community Partnership for Early Childhood Success.
His business, The Scissortail Group, has also been a sponsor of Park Elementary the Tulsa Metro Chamber's Partners in Education program.
Percefull said he is seeking re-election "because I want to continue to help bring the district and the community together to meet the needs of our children and their families."
"Over the past four years, I believe I have proved to be a useful, productive member of the Tulsa Board of Education, particularly in helping to build partnerships and collaborations with agencies, organizations, and community groups with an interest in our city's flagship school district," he said.
Percefull said that Tulsa Public Schools' greatest strengths are its student diversity and employees, while its greatest weakness is "inflexibility" to change.
During his tenure, Percefull has been on the winning side when the seven-member board split 4-3 on several controversial issues.
In April 2004, Percefull voted to move Edison Preparatory School's attendance boundary north from 21st Street to the Broken Arrow Expressway and to reassign students who live near the magnet Booker T. Washington High School from schools in south and east Tulsa to three closer schools.
In August 2005, Percefull was again in the narrow majority when the board decided against postponing new school start times, as some parents asked.
After TPS decided in fall 2003 to abolish 30-year-old racial quotas from admissions at Washington High School and Carver Middle School, Percefull and another board member, Bobbie Gray, devised a "geographic assignment plan" that the board adopted unanimously.
Brenda Barre
Now owner-broker at Tulsa Realty, Barre retired from teaching in 1998 after 32 years with TPS.
At Washington, she served as chairwoman of the social studies department and student council sponsor.
Barre said she currently serves on the boards of the Tulsa Women's Foundation, North Tulsa Community Development Corporation and the Center for Racial Justice.
She has never sought public office before, but said she is running for the District 1 post because "board members are on the front line for leading the school district to put in place the proper expectations and structures for students to learn and achieve at the highest possible level."
"I have been interested and involved in education all of my life. I think that my background and experience in education, as well as my community involvement, will help me build relationships between the school and community," Barre said.
Barre said she would like to collaborate with Tulsa Superintendent Michael Zolkoski.
"Open, honest and timely communication among board members and the superintendent is very important, as well as a commitment by all to practice ethical decision-making," she said.
TPS' strengths include its model for continuous improvement and strong community support, she said, but she would like to see the district pursue more funding for professional development.
Barre said she is also concerned that too many students are graduating high school unprepared for their futures and that current standardized tests may not be the best way to measure what students have learned.
"Einstein once said that 'not everything that can be counted necessarily counts, and what really counts may not be able to be counted,' " she said.
Andrea Eger 581-8470
andrea.eger@tulsaworld.com
I don't want to scare you off, but you deserve to know we have state legislators like this one profiled in UTW (//%22http://www.urbantulsa.com/gyrobase/index%22):
The Cop
Another newcomer is Republican Rep.David Derby from Owasso.He replaces recently elected Tulsa County Commissioner John Smaligo for representation of House District 74.The 30-year-old fledgling lawmaker said he hopes to be a force for education reform in Oklahoma and,as one of the first steps to that end,Derby plans to advance a proposal to end tenure for teachers in the state. "That way we have more control at the school district and superintendent levels to hire and fire,"he explained."This will give power back to the parents,school districts and principals" with the goal of ensuring more accountability for teachers,he said. Derby,whose wife is a teacher,said he consulted with her as well as with other educators about his proposal,and all support it. Teachers would still be protected from unfair treatment and arbitrary job termination,Derby said, because current due process laws would remain in place if his proposal becomes law.However,another provision of his measure would be the addition of one more level of review for teachers. Teachers are currently reviewed once a year,but his law would require it twice annually.That way,he said,teachers' job performances would be well documented to protect them against being arbitrarily fired,and administrators would have ample documentation to justify terminating a teacher if his or her performance is not up to par.
BTW, I am not sure if you are aware, but Oklahoma is a Right-To-Work(for less), At-Will employment state.
I think a lot of your questions could be better answered by asking what you value in your child's education. Do you want your kid to go to a large 6A school or do you want something smaller with more attention given to the students. I'd submit that many of the suburban school districts are great (Union, BA, Sand Springs, Owasso, etc) but not all provide a well-rounded, quality education...many are focused on the quantity of students they can graduate. I'm very familiar with the BA School System (being a product of it and having friends who work there), but must disagree that it would be the place I'd put my kids. You can get a better quality education at other schools. I have family in the Union, Owasso and Sand Springs districts and they can't say enough about the quality of education. The Academic Performance Index (API) Scores (1500 Max) for some of the area school districts are:
State Avg - 1180
Bixby - 1287
Broken Arrow - 1322
Owasso - 1369
Sand Springs - 1305
Sapulpa - 1264
Skiatook - 1232
Tulsa - 1037
Union - 1325
Not much difference in many of the area schools.
There are lots of good neighborhoods in the mid-town area which we have decided is I244 to I44 between the River and Yale Ave. I prefer to never live where I cannot see the skyline but I do tolerate occasional trips to the shopping center neighborhoods.
Have to agree with ReCycleMichael and Sgrizzle on their remarks about schools. Tulsa has both the best and the worst and the burbs are pretty much average. If you have to go to a burb I would recommend Sand Springs which is largely overlooked by everyone.
Eisenhower as a grade school is unparalled (it ought to be with all the intelligent wealthy parents that get their kids in there!)The bonus at Eisenhower is that your kid learns a foreign language by immersion. But Lee and Elliot are quite good in the midtown area too.
Several TPS middle schools are outstanding including Thoreau, Carver, Wilson & Edison.
Booker T. Washington H.S. consistently produces the top students in the state as well as providing a cultural immersion the others lack. It is a small school (300?) vs the much larger burb schools.
All these schools draw from the mid-town area. You may notice we're all cheerleaders for our own experiences. Two of my kids went through Lee/Carver/Wilson/Washington. My youngest is in Thoreau and excelling.
Welcome.
quote:
Originally posted by recyclemichael
The best and the worst public schools are in the Tulsa Public Schools District.
The best elementary school in Oklahoma is Eisenhower International Elementary in midtown and the best high school in Oklahoma is Booker T. Washington in north Tulsa. Both are magnet schools.
The test scores for any Tulsa Public School can be found here...
http://www.tulsaschools.org/schoolinfo/main.shtm
Click on any school, then click on profile.
The surburb school districts are always promoted by the realtors as better than Tulsa Public, but I disagree. Yes, the worst schools can be found in Tulsa Public schools district, but every district has schools that are challenged.
Most of the suburb districts don't post their test scores very quickly so it is hard to get a true real time comparison.
Agree...mostly. For elementary schools...I would highly recommend Carnegie. Located in a great neighborhood to boot. On the downside...it also puts you in a weaker middle and high school.
Tulsa School for Arts and Sciences(A charter high school) is one of the best(if not the best) high schools in the TPS district. I know parents that sent their older children to private high schools that are trying to get their younger child into TSAS.
I was born and raised in Tulsa and graduated from Union High School. Unlike many suburban kids, I had several friends from midtown as well as the suburbs. Not to sound snobbish, but I usually consider the best high schools to be those that offer the most college-prep courses and graduate the most college-bound students. These are the schools that generally offered the most college preparation and graduated the most college-bound students:
Union
Jenks
Booker T. Washington
Owasso
Broken Arrow.
At Union, 90% of my class entered at least a two-year college after graduation. You would probably find a similar statistic at the other four schools I listed. The same schools also have several out-of-town students, which is usually due to their academic reputation. At Union, only about 50% of the people I knew were born in Tulsa.
Location:
My family live in midtown Tulsa (Which I consider to be from Downtown to 51st South and Sheridan to the East... much more narrow than some I know) right next to Eisenhower. Though you will pay more for a house in midtown, I wouldnt want to live anywhere else. I am 5 minutes from downtown, 5 minutes from the University of Tulsa, 5 minutes from a shopping mall, 5 minutes from my sons school - an equal distance from the new shopping and restaurants on 71st street and from the airport. Basically, it is centrally located for everything we do.
Midtown also has something that the suburbs cannot offer: character. While it is true that all of your neighbors wont be similarly situated white suburbanites living in cookie cutter housing - that's the point. Many of the developments in South Tulsa and the suburbs are very nice, quiet, and clean neighborhoods with friendly people, but they are just like every other subdivision in the midwest. I prefer some diversity in people and structures, mixed use areas, and a little liveliness from time to time. Midtown is as close to being in the center of the action as one can get in Tulsa.
Schools:
By all accounts Eisenhower is a great school - but living near it has no bearing on your child attending there. Aptitude, then race, and then location are the determining factors as to what children can attend. Not that Im a bitter father or anything (damn only slightly above average child).
I had my son in private schools here but after visiting Patrick Henry elementary (Tulsa Pubic Schools/TPS) I was not convinced it was worth the thousands of dollars I was paying - and didnt have. Thus far I have been very happy with TPS.
I also wanted to point out that no matter where in the metro you live, there are indeed excellent private schools if you desire. Though I would warn you that a couple of the religious schools seems to be religion with a school attached as opposed to a school that incorporates religion.
In any event, a child's education is 50% the work of the school and 50% the work of the parents. Without both putting in effort it matters little what the other is doing.
Teaching:
TPS is the largest school district in the state. Though the City of Tulsa and some of the suburbs form a kind-of hi bred system with parts of each overlapping and some entirely within Tulsa but their own district... TPS remains the largest. Getting a job there has, by all accounts, gotten much easier in the last couple of years following a hiring freeze in 2001-2003.
My wife is a teacher but had to take a job in another industry in that time period and has not returned to teaching.
One thing worth noting in education down here is the impact of athletics on the appearance of a school. All the big-name football schools are also considered the best schools overall. Not sure what the relationship is there, but it certainly holds true. So if you see a huge stadium, end zone screens, and a $100,000 a year head coach - the school is probably considered a good one.
quote:
Originally posted by cannon_fodder
One thing worth noting in education down here is the impact of athletics on the appearance of a school. All the big-name football schools are also considered the best schools overall. Not sure what the relationship is there, but it certainly holds true. So if you see a huge stadium, end zone screens, and a $100,000 a year head coach - the school is probably considered a good one.
Don't know if you meant to imply that athletics is valued higher than academics, but it is certainly not true. The reason many of the suburban schools have grandiose athletic facilities is because they have a wealthy per capita property tax base and only themselves to share the wealth with. Broken Arrow has appx. 90,000 people and just one high school. Granted, some of Broken Arrow's city limits are in the Union School District, but most of the city falls in Broken Arrow Public Schools. That means the district can focus all of its property tax revenue on one high school. This mass of revenue usually has a trickle down effect throughout academics, technology, athletics, and fine arts. Of course, there is a top-out point where a school can just get too big. For Broken Arrow, which graduates about 1,200 students a year or more, that point is approaching quickly.
Like I said, Im not sure what the relationship is... but the schools with the best stadiums, the highest paid coaches, and winning football teams are also the districts people wants to move into. Jenks, Union, Owasso, Broken Arrow, Booker T... probably the best recognized highschools in the area. And have among the best football teams and the most fancy stadiums.
If their average ACT says they are a good school academically, so be it. Just trying to point out what a big deal athletics in high school sports is down here (The Union High School football pre-game show, brought to you by Connoco). I'm not even saying its a good or bad thing, it is just certainly a change from many parts of the country where high school sports is something you support if your kid or nephew is playing.