School soon to expand its reach

At Oklahoma's only elementary school for homeless children, roughly 70 students showed up for the first day of classes this year, a larger-thannormal total. If a handful more had done so, school officials would have had to say “Sorry, we're full.”

Before too much longer that won't be the case, as Positive Tomorrows in Oklahoma City is preparing later this year to move into a building that will more than double its capacity. Instead of maxing out at 74 students, the school will, in time, be able to serve roughly 200.

That's the plan, at least. It's one that is contingent on Positive Tomorrows securing sustainable funding.

Presently, school principal Susan Agel says, the annual budget for the nonprofit private school is $2.3 million. Most of that is private funds — the school receives roughly $60,000 from the federal government for its lunch program. Expanding as Agel and her board hope will require continuing charitable donations.

They had hoped to

get some help from the Legislature this year through a bill that would have allowed some homeless students to qualify for the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarships for Students with Disabilities Program. Instead, the bill died quietly.

Lawmakers in 2020 should revisit the idea they rejected this year. Positive Tomorrows does remarkable work providing homeless kids not just with standard educational services, but with clothes, hygiene products, after-school programs and counseling.

Agel notes that the school takes children who, due to their circumstances, “are the largest drain on our local school districts” and gets them to the point where they can attend a traditional school and “are not a drain on the districts.” Providing a way for more students to have that opportunity only makes sense.

When it was established 30 years ago, Positive Tomorrows had eight students and two teachers. Today, it has 30 staff members for students in pre-K through fifth grade. Since 1989, Positive Tomorrows estimates it has served more than 5,500 kids and their families.

When the new building opens at 901 N Villa, Agel intends to add early Head Start classes (for infants through age 3). Eventually, the school plans to have individual classrooms for each grade — today some grades are combined — along with expanding to sixth grade, and one day through eighth grade.

The new building is the result of a $10.2 million fundraising drive. Once it opens, “Our plan is to pick up everything we have now and move it into the new building,” Agel says. Then Head Start classes will be up first, followed by further growth during the next several years.

But, there's that caveat. “During that time, we need to come up with sustainable funding,” Agel says. “That's the trick, not only funding a classroom for a year but being relatively certain it will come back every year.” We wish them only the best in doing so.