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Deer Creek Board of Education
The Deer Creek Board of Education Monday was updated about the school district’s new partnership with the University of Central Oklahoma, which includes a new academic program.
UCO and Deer Creek Public Schools established an exclusive partnership Jan. 8, that will offer juniors and seniors at Deer Creek High School the opportunity to take concurrent courses through the university.
Deer Creek juniors are eligible to receive a maximum of nine college credit hours for the academic year; seniors can earn 18 college credit hours. Program participants must meet the eligibility requirements set by Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.
UCO will offer concurrent courses on the Deer Creek High School campus, eliminating the need for students to leave school grounds. Additionally, UCO will provide a dedicated advisor for program participants and cover tuition for eligible participants through waivers.
“We are proud to announce a new program coming to Deer Creek High School in the fall,” Superintendent Jason Perez said. “Students will soon be able to earn college credit while taking the forensic science classes offered on campus at the high school to launch the partnership. Some of our students toured the Forensic Science Institute at UCO, where they collected evidence from a mock crime scene in the new crime scene house.”
Perez told the school board that families need to register their Deer Creek students for the 2024-2025 school year.
“All current students must complete an annual online registration review before classes will be assigned the next year. This annual process is a critical part of our hiring season as we use this data to staff our schools appropriately,” he said.
Deer Creek Chief Financial Officer Dr. Cordell Ehrich recognized members of the Deer Creek Teacher Leader Development Academy.
“The goal is to create a system in which it's aspiring teacher leaders within our organization may be identified, recruited, trained, and placed in instructional leadership positions where they promote the core values of Deer Creek schools and quality of teaching for all educators in order to create a highly effective teaching force to ensure that all students receive the best education to each Deer Creek School,” he said. “The real goal here is that we sent this out to the district last year to all of our teachers and asked them to apply. And these leaders applied. We had lots of applications and we selected 17 teachers.”
Ehrich said those selected teachers participated in professional development training throughout the school year.
“These teachers missed four different days during the year of professional development where we focused on two areas, leadership and instruction,” he said. “And throughout the year, they had little homework assignments they would work on. They learn how to develop their skills and how to have that influence within a (school) building.”