Tulsa World: Students feel at home at school

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Students feel at home at school
A holiday dinner is their platform to tell adults how Street School has helped them.

Students, their family members and Street School staff members gather Tuesday for a Thanksgiving dinner at the alternative school at 1135 S. Yale Ave. Shane Bevel / for the Tulsa World

By ANDREA EGER World Staff Writer
Published: 11/25/2009 2:23 AM
Last Modified: 11/25/2009 4:06 AM

The name on the building might say Street School, but inside, at-risk youths find a place where they feel like family, a school to call home.

A group of students shared their personal struggles with pregnancy, illicit drug use, depression and dropping out of school with Mayor Kathy Taylor and a group of business and nonprofit leaders before the school's annual Thanksgiving luncheon for students, families and school supporters Tuesday.

All of the students described feelings of being overwhelmed by the size of traditional high schools, as well as a lack of student discipline and support and encouragement from the adults they encountered there.

"There are not many kids in this school, and the teachers, they pay close attention to you," said Raven Houston, a senior who came to Street School from Rogers High School during her freshman year.

"If I hadn't come here, I wouldn't have graduated, and now I have — what — five months until graduation."

Street School, 1135 S. Yale Ave., is a 35-year-old nonprofit school that combines alternative classes and therapeutic counseling.

Director Lori McGinnis said that despite the school's having been recognized as a state and national model for serving students who are at risk of dropping out, Street School struggles with obscurity and common misconceptions.

"We don't want to be Tulsa's best-kept secret," she said. "We want people to understand what our mission is."

The school always has a waiting list for its 90-student capacity, with about 130 students served over the course of each academic year.

Enrollment is strictly voluntary, not a result of discipline issues at other schools, McGinnis said.

Students begin each morning by meeting with a counselor.

Four days a week, they attend classes to earn credits towards their diplomas, and on Fridays, they divide their time between group therapy sessions and topical or project-based minicourses, including HIV/AIDS and pregnancy prevention, art, yearbook, Key Club and wilderness.

Houston noted that the school also has a group to help students get off drugs.

"You don't see that in public schools," she said.

Sean Donica, a sophomore who moved to Tulsa from Arizona in 2008, said he tried going to Hale, Edison and Memorial high schools before dropping out and doing drugs. Then he heard about Street School.

"I thought I would just go by and check it out, and they offered me a tour," he said.

"It changed my whole perspective on what the school was. I raised my grades from D's and F's to A's and B's."

Sophomore Adrian Ocasio shared his story of finding his way to Street School after his drug use led to an overdose and a stint in rehab.

"I came here from Memorial," he told the visitors. "The school was huge. I couldn't get anywhere, and I started slacking off and started doing drugs pretty bad. At Memorial, the teachers didn't care — they just did their own thing. Here, there are just a lot better connections."

Senior Shaina Zeff said the caring adults at Street School altered the course of her education and life after depression led her to leave the Tulsa School of Arts & Sciences, the charter high school where she said she had a 4.0 grade-point average.

"I tried Memorial, but I had been in small schools my whole life. I couldn't even learn there; it was chaos," Zeff said. "At Street School, the teachers, the counselors, the staff is your family. Here, it's just like you're so comforted. Here, I feel like it's a home away from home."

For more

For more information about Street School, call 833-9800 or go online to tulsaworld.com/streetschool.

Andrea Eger 581-8470
andrea.eger@tulsaworld.com By ANDREA EGER World Staff Writer

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Some reader comments for this story were copied from "Students speak with Tulsa mayor at 'Street School'," which was published on 11/24/2009.

	Report Comment sirwinston, (11/24/2009 6:59:42 PM) Street School is not a good program. It is a waste. They would rather subject students to rap music that talks about and promotes rape and killing than make the students turn it off because they don't want to discriminate. I left street school and I will not recommend it to anyone.
	Report Comment Herbie, Stillwater (11/26/2009 8:15:00 AM) Nice to see a great school getting some local press. The Tulsa area is lucky to have several exceptional alternative programs, all patterned after the success of students at Street School. These schools change lives.
	Report Comment sportsgal, (11/26/2009 12:40:41 PM) I wonder if they have alternative schools in China or Japan, or if they're just focused on learning?
	Report Comment Elusive, Owasso (11/29/2009 3:55:52 AM) Why can't all schools be magnet schools? It sounds like Street School must be doing something right. The kids choose to go there unlike traditional school. Taylor sure has been busy this week. I bet she felt out of place at Street School.
	Report Comment forkandknife, Tulsa (11/30/2009 1:13:42 PM) **sirwinston Wow. Sorry to hear that. Looks like it is doing very well for others. Maybe you were just 'too" bad.

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