Located 23 miles south of the city of Oklahoma, the town of Noble, Oklahoma has five public schools which form its public school district. With a 98 percent four year high school graduation rate and every school meeting or exceeding state requirements in reading and math as of August 2010, the district is recognized as one of the most successful school entities in Oklahoma. Strong parental involvement, a major emphasis on technology, athletics and a good nutrition program are all part of this district's amazing success.
Parental Involvement
Parental involvement is encouraged from birth. Based on a philosophy that parents are a child's first and best teachers, the district utilizes a federally and state-funded program called Oklahoma Parents as Teachers, OPAT. This program develops an early connection between the school and home that can begin with a newborn. It provides personalized visits to the home by a professional educator, parental group meetings, resources, referrals and developmental screenings.
Technology in the Schools
The Noble district is a member of the Oklahoma Technology Association and provides electronic field trips, SMART Boards, IPODS, laptops and digital cameras to be used at all grade levels. The schools all have fiber optic networks which provide high speed access of instructional materials from a variety of outside sources. Age appropriate computer usage actually starts at the pre-school through first grade facility, Katherine I. Daily Elementary School, which serves approximately 581 children. John K. Hubbard Elementary, a school with approximately 460 children, serves as the second through third grade facility. Hubbard has both regular and laptop computer laboratories, a television studio, and an IPod laboratory. Pioneer Intermediate School houses the fourth and fifth grade population of 435 students. Teachers at Pioneer use technology to enhance the curriculum and encourage students to create presentations for their core subjects. Curtis Inge Middle School educates approximately 644 children in the sixth through eighth grades. It has two computer laboratories, classroom responders, and a mobile NEO2 lab. Noble High School educates the approximately 817 young men and women in ninth through twelfth grades. In addition to the computer laboratories and integrated use in the classroom, technology is used at this school to provide distance learning which enables students to be part of classes offered by colleges and universities. All enrollment figures are as of August 2010.
Athletics
The district is proud of the fact that 36 percent of its students are involved in athletic programs as of August 2010. Athletic programs in the Noble district encourage the development of teamwork, good sportsmanship and ethical conduct. Organized sport programs that are offered at the middle school and high school levels include cross country, football, soccer, basketball, cheerleading, golf, softball, track, wrestling, baseball and volleyball.
Nutrition
Good nutrition is strongly fostered. Menus for the breakfast and lunch programs are available online along with a nutritional fact page which gives the breakdown of all food served in the district by calories, carbohydrates, sodium and vitamins. As part of the state of Oklahoma's nutritional improvement initiative, school vending machines offer healthy snacks that include such items as dried fruits, trail mix, baked chips or crackers, low fat yogurt and food bars. Links to the Department of Agriculture's My Pyramid site and other nutritional sites are provided on the official district website.
Looking Forward
On Aug. 24, 2010, the community of Noble approved a School Improvement Bond that provides for additions and improvements to every school in the district and the purchase of additional land for a future school to help meet the needs of the growing community.
