Board Approved on December 7, 2020

The Great Commitment is a promise to our students. We believe in their future. We believe they are capable of unimaginable successes. It is our job as a community to meet their needs so that they can choose their path in life. To make their dreams come to life, we are committed to the continuous improvement of our system and schools. Great schools are the heart of a great community.

In OKCPS, we have reason to be hopeful. Despite our challenges, we have brilliant children, loving families, energetic teachers, and a community that comes together, time and time again, to accomplish big goals. Our task now is to harness the power of hope and the solid foundation we have built in the last five years to design a future OKCPS that is the heart of a healthy, vibrant Oklahoma City.

A strategic plan is a road map for an organization. It shows our North star--our shared moral purpose--and describes the district we intend to be. It paints a picture of where we are headed, and our common values and priorities as each part of the organization shapes its path toward our shared destination. A good strategic plan keeps us aligned and focused, even if different schools take their own paths forward.

The 2015-2020 Great Commitment established some important priorities for our focus, and our work during that time strengthened the foundation upon which we can now build. Over the last five years, thanks to the dedication of the OKCPS Board of Education, we:

• Stabilized our leadership,
• Restructured our district to ensure that every student has access to the basics of a quality educational program, and
• Established a vision for educational equity.

That strengthening enabled us to reconnect with our community and make some hard choices that were essential to the long-term health of the district, including bringing consistency to our feeder patterns and grade bands, redirecting resources to priorities like mental health and the arts, and reorganizing central office teams to better support schools. We are also proud of our investments to begin to address equity.

For example, OKCPS now boasts two teacher pipeline programs that invest in our bilingual paraprofessionals and paraprofessionals of color to help them become certified educators in partnership with the Foundation for OKCPS. We have also expanded our alternative education offerings, and we support two cohorts of school leadership teams in our Innovative Transformation Schools initiative, which was born from the Pathway to Greatness effort.

Now that we have strengthened the foundation, our community has made it clear that it is time to close gaps in opportunities between schools and student groups and make a common expectation of excellence accessible to all. OKCPS students, teachers, staff, families, volunteers, and advocates from across the city provided their perspectives through online surveys, principals’ meetings, community work sessions, and small group conversations to talk about what is working, what needs more work, and where we should be focused for the next five years.

With a clearer picture of where we are going and of the organization we mean to be, we are ready for the next critical step in preparing every OKCPS student to choose their own path for college, career, and life. Our system will rise by building leadership capacity to transform learning and build a sustainable system, based on planning for the unique needs of each school and each child.

We are committed to using this plan to guide our collective efforts, to bring coherence to our work in OKCPS over the next five years, and to keep our promises to our young people.

Together, We Rise.

Every day, Oklahoma City Public Schools will ignite a passion for learning in every child, invite families to engage, and inspire respectful and trusting relationships with our diverse community. 

By providing equitable access to a world class education, every Oklahoma City Public Schools student will graduate ready to fulfill their unique purpose in a healthy, vibrant community. 

Focus on Student Success
We embrace and drive positive change. We nurture the constant learning and forward progress of our students, teammates, and community. We will rise together.

Diversity & Inclusion
We are a place where everyone belongs and every voice matters. We seek to hear and be influenced by the perspectives of others. Each person's inherent value contributes to the whole. Our differences unite us and make us strong.

Communication
We value all-way communication, we engage those who are affected in decisions, and we do what we say we will do. Transparency and engagement are how we build trust.

Relationships & Collaboration
We are catalysts for connection and teamwork. We make decisions together and then speak with one voice. We approach conflict with curiosity and respect, and work as a team to move forward. We understand how playing our individual roles adds up to achieving big goals for our students.

Servant's Heart
We put students first. We serve our students and the teachers who care for them with purpose, humility, hard work, pride, and integrity. We are devoted to building a more just future for students, their families, and our community.