New Charter School Aims To Serve Indigenous Community

A new type of charter school will open its doors in about a month in Oklahoma City.

Founders of the Sovereign Community School told News 9 they aren’t tied to a school district, so they are enrolling students from all over the Oklahoma City area. 

The new charter school will be located in northwest Oklahoma City, just off of May Avenue and Northwest Expressway. 

Right now, the school is only ready for two grades -- sixth and ninth. Even though the school will start small, founder Phil Gover said their enrollment goal is 80 to 100 students.

“We believe that schools should and can have different kinds of impacts,” said Gover. 

He’s hoping to make an impact on any student that’s interested in the school through culturally relevant teaching. But administrators said they will be focusing on serving the indigenous community. 

“For a lot of people, that means taking Indian or indigenous people out of the history class and infusing it into all of our curriculum with those experiences," Gover said.

Gover said the school will also focus on holistic wellness and building a community. 

Administrators told News 9 one day they hope to be much more than just a school.

“We want, I hope, after five years, you look at Sovereign and we look a lot more like a community-based organization that provides a range of services to families in the community that uses us,” said Gover. 

Administrators said they are still accepting students.

For more information on the school, head over to its Facebook page. Sovereign will also be hosting an open house at the end of July.