Kendrick Tolon was like “every other freshman” at Will Rogers College High School. He didn’t really care about school, going just to go, unsure of what he wanted to do with his future.
But heading into his sophomore year, a call from a teacher changed that. The educator wanted to help Tolon plan for his future — and wanted to know his “why.”
“We started to talk about what I want to do, where I see myself, and I had no idea. But he’s motivated me to see where I wanted to be one day,” Tolon said.
Even after that teacher left Rogers, a network of counselors and educators helped Tolon put in the effort. It paid off. He became a fellow with the Oklahoma City Thunder as a junior and spent last summer at Princeton University’s Young Leaders Summit. He graduates in May.
“They showed me that I have a community in this school,” Tolon told the Tulsa Public Schools board Monday night. “I have people who believe in me and help inspire me to be the person who I am. They showed me what I could be.”
District-wide interventions are building up more soon-to-be graduates like Tolon every year.
Nearly 57% of the district’s high schoolers are on track for a college and career readiness diploma — well above the goal TPS set years in advance. More than 90% of the district’s current senior class is enrolled in college and career ready curriculum with support from a graduation outcome team. It’s the highest rate the district has ever seen.
At Monday night’s board meeting, students and principals from across the district celebrated the team’s efforts getting more students on track to graduate.
“It’s a demonstration, really, that we’ve changed our mindset,” said Kathy Dodd, deputy superintendent. “We’ve changed our practices, we’ve changed our expectations for the students and then we changed the accompanying strategies and resources to align to these goals.”
There is still room for improvement in some areas, Dodd said, especially for multilingual learners, students with Individual Education Plans and chronically absent students — but the gaps are shrinking.
Rogers Principal Cindy Largent-Williams “tracks absenteeism like a CEO tracks their stock price,” said board member Calvin Moniz Monday night.
Chronic absenteeism has dropped at Rogers by 19% this year after more than 150 attendance meetings and contracts for students regularly missing class, Largent-Williams said.
Rogers counselors hold daily check-ins for five students each day, in addition to regular checks on grades, credits and graduation readiness. After-school tutoring and summer credit recovery helped students make up 120 courses last June, Dodd said.
Those interventions make Rogers freshman Audrey Lopez “feel wanted” by her school, she said. Lopez joined the EDGE program, allowing her to graduate high school with an associate’s degree.
“The community is so great, it makes me love going to school,” Lopez said.
At McLain High School for Science & Technology, daily attendance is up 8% and chronic absenteeism down 18%. Extra opportunities are motivating students too. The school has seen a 400% increase in student acceptance to Tulsa Tech.
Juroyce Wiggins, a senior at McLain, plans to study education at Westminster College in Missouri next year. Mentorship from Stephon Simon at TMC Records, a record label for McLain students, opened doors for Wiggins.
“(Simon) wanted me to come to school,” Wiggins said. “I like making music, so, OK, I’ve gotta have A’s to make music. He really put me on the right path.”
“We have some other students at McLain that have the option to choose where they want to go and what they want to do,” said McLain Principal Rob Kaiser. “And that can only happen when they’re on track to graduate.”
The board celebration came on the eve of the district’s largest bond vote April 7. A large part of the $609 million package would go toward creating career academies at every TPS high school.
“This is what we were expecting to see in this new administration, so I credit you, Dr. Johnson, for that — to making a more renewed student focus, more accountability,” said board member E’Lena Ashley at the meeting.
Ashley faces challenger and former Tulsa City Councilor Connie Dodson in a bid for re-election Tuesday. Polls are open until 7 p.m. If you haven’t voted yet, get a last look at what’s on the ballot in our voter guide.
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