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Incoming sixth grade student Fosta Walter is a bit nervous about starting at Monroe Demonstration Academy this fall.
Despite triple digit heat, Fosta, her older brother, Kenter, and their mother were among the more than 30 families from Monroe Demonstration Academy and McLain High School who turned out Tuesday afternoon at O’Brien Park for free hot dogs, chilled bottled water, school supplies, uniform shirts, enrollment help and a chance to sign up for extracurricular activities before classes start on Aug. 18.
The prospect of making new friends is daunting, Fosta said, although seeing a familiar face at O’Brien Park on Tuesday afternoon helped ease her nerves a little.
Similar events for the two schools are scheduled for 4-6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Springdale Park and Thursday at B.C. Franklin Park.
Even with the heat, Monday’s come-and-go event at Chamberlain Park drew more than 50 students, Monroe Principal Rob Kaiser said, noting that more than 150 students are expected across the four events.
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“For the last four years, we’ve really tried to get into the neighborhood and bring the school to our community,” he said. “We know it’s valuable. We want to serve our community and bring school to our families, so our families don’t always have to come to us.”
At least for now, staff from Monroe and McLain are focusing their outreach efforts on events like Tuesday’s, although Kaiser said other routes are not off the table if necessary in order to reach more families across north Tulsa.
In previous years, Kaiser and other school leaders from the McLain feeder pattern went door to door in an effort to reach families, including holding office hours at Tulsa Housing Authority sites while the district was in distance learning due to COVID-19.
Those outreach efforts have been paying dividends, Monroe Assistant Principal Dana Macon said.
“When we have anything that goes on at school, when we call the parents, they often go, ‘Oh, I remember you. I met you over the summer,’” she said. “That makes it great. We’re building those relationships.”
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