Harding Charter Preparatory High School is an open-access public

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. It was founded in 2003 and is sponsored by the

Oklahoma City Public Schools The Oklahoma City Public Schools, abbreviated OKCPS, is a multicultural public school district serving most of the urban area of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It is the second largest primary and secondary education district in the state of Oklahoma, ...

system, offering a free public college-preparatory education. The school's expectation is that after graduation every student will not only enter college but earn a four-year degree, either directly out of high school or after enlisting in the military.

Admissions and demographics

Harding is non-selective and does not have entry tests or interviews, but in March 2012, application numbers required a lottery to be instituted for the available places. The school reflects the diversity of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area; in 2013 people of color constituted 58% of enrollment, 48% were economically disadvantaged, and two thirds of its graduates were first-generation college students.

Curriculum

Harding has a rigorous academic curriculum based on a 4x4 (four years of math, science, English, and social studies) plan featuring required

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. American colleges and universities may grant placement and course ...

courses, three years of foreign language, and fine arts. The school also emphasizes community service, requiring service hours of parents as well as students.

Rankings

HCP became a

National Blue Ribbon School The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures, ...

in 2013. In 2013 and 2016 the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' ranked it as the most challenging high school in the state, and in 2014 '' U.S. News & World Report'' ranked it as the best high school in the state. In 2016 the school received an A+ grade from the state Department of Education for the fourth consecutive year.

Relocation

Beginning in the 2019–2020 school year, Harding Charter Preparatory High School was relocated to the former

Oklahoma Centennial High School Oklahoma Centennial Middle/High School was a grade 7–12 public education school in the Oklahoma City Public Schools district.http://www.okcps.org/Domain/81 Oklahoma City Middle/High School In 2008, the school occupied its permanent building, loc ...

building, located at 1301 NE 101st St., due to the closure and sale of the historic building at 3333 N Shartel to

Harding Fine Arts Academy Harding Fine Arts Academy (HFAA) is a college preparatory high school in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It is sponsored by the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma. HFAA serves students from grade 9 to 12. It is a public, charter high school; th ...

by the OKCPS "Pathway to Greatness" project.

References

External links

* {{authority control Public high schools in Oklahoma Schools in Oklahoma City Charter schools in Oklahoma