By Paris Rain, Fox23 News
TULSA, Okla. — Students and staff at Monroe Demonstration Academy are celebrating a historic milestone after the north Tulsa school moved off the state’s failing list for the first time.
Administrators say the progress marks a turning point for the school and reflects years of focused effort inside and outside the classroom.
“We are not just teachers, we are counselors, we are mentors. We’re the parents here at the school,” said Francis Brathwaite, a teacher and coach at Monroe. “A lot of these scholars don’t have the support at home, so we are their support.”
That support is one of the key factors school leaders credit for the improvement.
Assistant Principal Krystal Medina said the gains come from an aggressive focus on academics, as well as improvements to school climate and culture.
“A lot of that work is attributed to the people who have come and since gone from Monroe,” Medina said. “That work involved aggressive focus on academics, aggressive focus on climate and culture, ensuring that we created spaces that students wanted to be present here at school, and that the school, as a whole, synced up and ensured that every single classroom was focusing on the high-priority areas.”
Medina said the school created more opportunities for students to read, write and participate in advisory mentorships to help them understand and track their academic goals.
“It’s really exciting to see the excitement that they have in themselves, not just by paying attention to what their scores are showing, but the fact that they’re willing to go and share that information with others,” Medina said. “They’ve taken the time to internalize it and are really trying their hardest to demonstrate that they have what it takes.”
She said improved academic achievement was the main factor in helping the school move up in state rankings.
Brathwaite said new instructional strategies have helped students engage more deeply in lessons.
“Our students are learning more. They’re achieving more in the classroom,” he said. “With new innovative ways that we practice, more hands-on, more real-life scenarios incorporated into our lesson plans, it helps them learn better and makes the class more creative, fun and safe.”
Sixth grader Rylan Donley said he feels proud of his school’s progress and believes students are focused on improvement rather than perfection.
“I think the expectations are a little bit higher. We want to stay off the F list. We want to go higher and higher,” Donley said. “But I still want students to believe that we’re not being forced to be perfect. I just hope they try to do their best.”
Donley said, despite negative perceptions from some in the community, he sees the changes happening firsthand.
“A lot of people think negatively about our school,” he said. “But if we, as students and parents who have children going here, see the school as good, then that’s enough.”
Medina said state testing begins next month, and the goal is to continue climbing while ensuring students receive a quality education that prepares them for the future.
