The Tulsa Public Schools Board of Education voted Monday night to approve a new, nature-focused charter school in west Tulsa.
Under the Canopy School, originally started as an after-school enrichment program within TPS, will take over the vacant building that once housed Park Elementary on West 39th Street. The school's contract will last five years starting in July of 2025.
"We need this kind of school in Tulsa," said Margaritte Arthrell-Knezek, Under the Canopy's founder, addressing the board before the vote.
School officials say the curriculum is based on the Waldorf model, created by nineteenth century scholar Rudolf Steiner, with emphasis on time spent outdoors in nature.
A number of the school's supporters showed up to encourage the TPS board to vote in favor, as did the school's board of directors.
TPS Board President Stacey Woolley, whose district the school will be located in, spoke of her excitement at the school's nature-focused approach.
"We have to get our kids outside more," she said. "It's really hard with all of the regulations that we get from the state, which is one of the bonuses that charters have."
Woolley added that she "never imagined" that she would have voted in favor of a charter school.
TPS Board Vice President John Croisant said the school will be good for Tulsa's kids.
"It's nothing to do with private versus public or charter versus public," he said. "It's about 'are we giving students the opportunities that they deserve?'"
The vote passed unanimously. Dr. Jennettie Marshall left the meeting before the vote. Woolley said Marshall needed to return home due to pain she was feeling following a recent surgery.
