John Rex Elementary

[Frustratedoptimist]

So sad to read that the Downtown Elementary School won't be adding a grade every year. Thanks, Steve, for clarifying this in your interview today. The confusion was due to a couple of stories and ads for the upcoming ULI event, featuring Kirk Humphreys. The added grades would have enticed several suburban families to make the move to Downtown OKC. This family included.

Also still waiting for 3-bed units.

[DoctorTaco]

I have a question (or maybe questions).

This is a charter school. Ordinarily charter schools exist outside of the usual school district feeder areas. Classen SAS, for instance, has no defined feeder neighborhood. Neither do any of the other charter schools, as near as I can tell. But in this case, Rex elementary has a defined neighborhood (downtown + SOSA) feeding into it. Students whose parents want them to go to Rex but who do not live in this geographical area will have to wait in line according to proscribed criteria described elsewhere in this thread.

So in this regard (geographical feeder neighborhood) it doesn't sound any different from any other elementary school in OKC. Does this mean that OKCPS will be redrawing the rest of the school neighborhood boundaries? As they are currently drawn, the area that will eventually feed into Rex is currently allocated to Wilson + Edwards Elementary schools. Will the entire geometry of elementary school neighborhoods in the urban core have to be tweaked as a result of Rex?

[soonerguru]

I have a question (or maybe questions).

This is a charter school. Ordinarily charter schools exist outside of the usual school district feeder areas. Classen SAS, for instance, has no defined feeder neighborhood. Neither do any of the other charter schools, as near as I can tell. But in this case, Rex elementary has a defined neighborhood (downtown + SOSA) feeding into it. Students whose parents want them to go to Rex but who do not live in this geographical area will have to wait in line according to proscribed criteria described elsewhere in this thread.

So in this regard (geographical feeder neighborhood) it doesn't sound any different from any other elementary school in OKC. Does this mean that OKCPS will be redrawing the rest of the school neighborhood boundaries? As they are currently drawn, the area that will eventually feed into Rex is currently allocated to Wilson + Edwards Elementary schools. Will the entire geometry of elementary school neighborhoods in the urban core have to be tweaked as a result of Rex?

Classen SAS is NOT a charter school. It is a magnet school operated by Oklahoma City Public Schools.

[DoctorTaco]

Classen SAS is NOT a charter school. It is a magnet school operated by Oklahoma City Public Schools.

In the context of my question, this is a minor semantic distinction. Not to be a jerk about it .

[Pete]

Doctor Taco, you ask good questions and it led me to do a bit of research as I have been confused as well.

I believe geographic boundaries apply when a charter school is sponsored by a school district. In the case of the downtown elementary school, it is sponsored by OKC Public Schools, which means they draw up boundaries based on the need of the area. However, I believe the boundaries only mean that families within them have the first choice to send their children to that particular school but can opt for another nearby traditional school if they so choose.

Beyond those that live in the defined geography, other families can try to gain admission and because there is often more demand than space, a lottery (rather than application) is often utilized.


OKC Public Schools actually sponsors a bunch of charter schools, such as Harding Middle School. In Harding's case, they still serve the same geographic area, they just have more latitude to implement different teaching approaches, although there is still accountability to certain high-level standards. I believe they also accept a certain amount of other students from throughout the district, probably through a lottery system.

In the case of magnet schools, they typically draw from the entire district through an application/acceptance process. And magnets typically have some specialized courses / curriculum / tracks.


I think I have this right but we have teachers and administrators on this site and others that can no doubt correct / clarify.

[Architect2010]

You've got magnet schools down correctly, as Southeast and Classen SAS both operate in that manner. Technology at SEHS, arts or IB at Classen SAS, and both operate buses across the district for their students.

[DoctorTaco]

I had a long conversation with the principal at Rex the other day. He was hired out of the Edmond School district and has an impressive resume.Many many questions were answered and he seemed like he is going to make a great principal.

On the point about the boundaries: His understanding is that once Rex is running at full K-6 capacity (2018?) the downtown district will automatically feed to Rex. Until that time kids in the downtown district will have their choice between Rex and whatever they are currently zoned for (Wilson and Moon(?) I think, depending on where they live).

Rex is going to open fall 2014 with only K-2, and will add a year until they are at full K-6 capacity in 2018. This is both to allow for construction delays and to "build the culture of the school" from the ground up.

Admission is going to go in tiers: Tier 1 = downtown district, defined elsewhere in this thread. Tier 2 = students at failing OKCPS schools as defined by the state (there are only 5 of these). Tier 3 = any OKCPS student. Tier 4 = the child of a downtown OKC employee from outside OKCPS district. Tier 5 = basically anyone that is left.

Much much more information in this lengthy document.

[Pete]

Thanks for that, DoctorTaco.

All very interesting... And starting only with K-2, that means all kids will have at least 5 years in that school before moving on to middle school.

Construction should be starting very soon and I bet this will go up fast.

[Jchaser405]

Fences coming down, parking spaces removed, surveyors onsite. Let the good times begin.

[loveOKC]

This is probably somewhere in the many pages of this forum but when will they begin the admissions process? I have three children I would love to attend this school. As Im sure everyone else does

[DoctorTaco]

This is probably somewhere in the many pages of this forum but when will they begin the admissions process? I have three children I would love to attend this school. As Im sure everyone else does

The first students arrive Fall 2014. So I would assume that the admission process will begin about one year from now. Also note that the initial class is only three grades, K-2, with a grade added every year until they get to K-6 (or maybe it is K-5, I forget already).

[ljbab728]

Does anyone know if a safe room is already planned for this school or,if not, consideration is being given to adjusting the plans?

[soonerguru]

Does anyone know if a safe room is already planned for this school or,if not, consideration is being given to adjusting the plans?

Excellent and topical question.

[metro]

Does anyone know if a safe room is already planned for this school or,if not, consideration is being given to adjusting the plans?

Doubt it considering when this was planned vs. recent Moore tornado.

[ljbab728]

Doubt it considering when this was planned vs. recent Moore tornado.

Which doesn't mean that consideration isn't being give to adjusting the plans.

[Fantastic]

Doubt it considering when this was planned vs. recent Moore tornado.

From what I understand they are looking at incorporating safe rooms in all future schools, as well as looking at building them in current schools... the key words in this statement are "looking at."

[metro]

I know Glenn Beck's Mercury One charity donated over $350K to tornado shelters for schools in OK, and over $1.7 million in tornado relief. I wonder what locals are doing on the tornado shelters front.

[LakeEffect]

Doubt it considering when this was planned vs. recent Moore tornado.

Doubt it? What basis do you have?

[Pete]

Does anyone know if a safe room is already planned for this school or,if not, consideration is being given to adjusting the plans?

The detailed floor plans are shown in the article at the top of this thread and I don't see anything like that.

Of course, they could later the plans but this does not seem to be considered in the last set of plans that were presented for approval.

[Pete]

Can anyone confirm that this project is under construction?

[RodH]

I saw construction equipment, including a crane on the site yesterday.

[Urbanized]

Can anyone confirm that this project is under construction?

Yes. Piers are being drilled as of the end of last week. Augers in upright position on-site.

[hoya]

They are pouring concrete.

[cagoklahoma]

Here crane at the school site!

[Pete]

Awesome!

Thanks everyone for the update.