wfn.org | United Methodist charter school opens in Oklahoma City

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Nov. 2, 2001  News media contact: Linda Green7(615)742-54707Nashville, Tenn.
10-71B{510}

OKLAHOMA CITY (UMNS) -- Two United Methodist groups have joined with the
Oklahoma City public school system to establish a school for at-risk
students.

The Oklahoma City Cooperative Urban Parish (CUP) and the Criminal Justice
and Mercy Ministries (CJAMM), in cooperation with the school system, opened
the John Wesley Charter School Sept 4. The school is designed to help
seventh- through 12th-graders continue their education in a setting that may
enable them to graduate from high school.

"As a charter school, we are sponsored by the Oklahoma City Public School
District," said Doug McPherson, coordinator of the CUP. "Our funding is
funneled through the district, but we follow the regulations handed down by
the State Department of Education, not necessarily the district."

CJAMM works with prisoners, ex-prisoners and their families. CUP includes
nearly 25 churches in Oklahoma City that help communities adjust to changes
in demographics, economics and community services.

The Rev. Stan L. Basler, director of CJAMM, said the idea for an alternative
school came after visits to juveniles who were on disciplinary lockdown at a
detention center. He discovered that some of the youth had been expelled
from school for the year or could not attend school. "This created idle
hands and idle minds," he said.  

That led to the conclusion that the most effective way to do ministry with
juvenile offenders was to see that their educational needs were met, said
Basler, also the co-pastor of Redemption (United Methodist) Church in
Oklahoma City. The church provides worship services and a series of
educational and social service programs for juvenile offenders, prisoners,
ex-prisoners and their families.
 
Charter schools are independent public schools, designed and operated by
educators, parents, community leaders, educational entrepreneurs and others,
according to the Center for Educational Reform in Washington. They are
sponsored by designated local or state educational organizations, which
monitor their quality and integrity but allow them to operate freed from the
"traditional bureaucratic and regulatory red tape that hog-ties public
schools," according to the center's Web site. Without such micromanagement,
charter schools design and deliver programs tailored to educational
excellence and community needs.  

According to officials at the center, charter schools operate on three basic
principles: accountability, choice and autonomy. "They provide options and
opportunities for children who are not succeeding in public schools," said
Mary Kayne Heinze, media relations director for the center. The John Wesley
Charter School is "a good example of a community wrapping its arms around
kids to help keep them from falling through the cracks," she added.
 
The John Wesley Charter School's mission is to prepare at-risk students to
be productive members of the city, state and nation. The 40 students
enrolled, the maximum number permitted by the charter, come from traditional
educational environments, said Tamra Washington, director of the school.
Many were expelled from other schools, some have been arrested and others
dropped out for a variety of reasons, she said.

Washington, who helped begin one of the first charter schools in Oklahoma,
said John Wesley has a family environment, a small population and a system
that tracks students on any given day.  A successful program for at-risk
students needs to fit the child, rather than the other way around, and must
contain approaches and activities designed to make students more resilient,
she said.

"We are outside the tradition. We do things differently, and the kids like
it because we show we care," she said.

In choosing the name, the board of directors felt that the school's mission
was consistent with Wesley's mission of education. "Since public schools
have national heroes, they felt it was more than proper that this school
have a church hero," Washington said.

The public-funded charter school cannot handpick students, so a lottery is
used to select them. However, only students approved for application by the
Oklahoma City Public School District -- the charter sponsor -- are eligible.

Washington said the school's program is individualized. With a self-paced
program and the chance to get credit for courses, students can accumulate
the necessary graduation requirements quickly, she said. "It's better for
those students who are 19 and have only enough credit to be a freshman or
sophomore. It's set up to work for them."

A feature of the school is its ABC (Asset-Building Community) Center for
Life, a program that offers real-world experience and training for students
and their families. The center offers money management, life management,
skills development, public speaking, conflict resolution, peer mediation,
art and music appreciation and more.

Through the center, students and their families receive counseling. "We'll
do home visits and family mediation if necessary," Washington said.

"If our kids in the juvenile justice system have court dates, we will try to
go to court with them and represent them," she said. "If we are not able to
go, we'll send a report to show how they're doing in school. For kids who
have community service, we will afford them the opportunity to do their
service here."

Other planned offerings include arrangements with local vocational schools,
an occupational mentor program, an athletic program in cooperation with
another charter school, and job placement assistance and follow-up. "We will
be checking on them, even students that are currently employed. We will be
able to give them credit for their work," Washington said.

"We believe that through this school, the church can bridge to family
systems," McPherson said.  "We cannot make that part of the curriculum, but
our intent is to relate churches to people and family systems so that they
might find a church relationship, a church home, a faith connection as part
of their healing process."

"Through this school, we are providing a meaningful educational experience
to young people who come from troubled circumstances," Basler said.
"Hopefully, we are equipping them to live lives as contributing citizens."

For more information, contact Washington at (405) 524-8900. 

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NOTE:  This story was adapted from one that appeared in the Oklahoma United
Methodist Contact, newspaper of the Oklahoma Annual Conference.  

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