Tulsa Public Schools' north Tulsa plan for Monroe

A new plan to shake up Monroe Middle School is on next week's Tulsa School board agenda. <br/><br/>The Tulsa School Board already rejected one plan that included consolidating Monroe and Gilcrease,

Wednesday, January 18th 2006, 12:06 pm

By: News On 6

A new plan to shake up Monroe Middle School is on next week's Tulsa School board agenda.

The Tulsa School Board already rejected one plan that included consolidating Monroe and Gilcrease, as well as Greeley and Houston.

News on 6 reporter Ashli Sims says the school district still wants sweeping changes in north Tulsa schools.

Block scheduling, a longer school day, more science and math. They are all options on the table as ways to improve north Tulsa schools.

Monroe Middle School students could be spending more time in front of computers. TPS is pushing a science and technology focus to bring Monroe in line with the curriculum at the Tulsa School for Science and Technology or TSST.

But Monroe isn't the only school that could be affected. Students at TSST, Gilcrease, Cherokee, Greeley, Hawthorne, Houston, Alcott, Whitman, Penn, and Anderson could have a longer school day or possibly more school days. The plan would also extend library hours and beef up teacher training.

Tulsa Public Schoolâ€™s chief academic officer Dr Mary Guinn: "If we have a sufficient amount of time to work with staff to plan programs for the opening of next school year, there's no doubt in my mind that it will make a difference."

TPS has to take corrective action, because Monroe has been on the federal needs improvement list for several years in a row. To satisfy state and federal requirements, they're not just looking at Monroe, but the elementary schools that feed it.