Oklahoma Christian School
Encyclopedia
Oklahoma Christian School (OCS) is located in Edmond, Oklahoma
Edmond, Oklahoma
Edmond is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area in the central part of the state. As of the 2010 census, the population was 81,405, making it the sixth largest city in the state of Oklahoma....

. This independent, private school is accredited by the Association of Christian Schools International
Association of Christian Schools International
The Association of Christian Schools International is an association of evangelical Protestant Christian schools.-Purposes:ACSI, a protestant association for Christian schools, impacts nearly 23,000 schools and transforms the lives of more than 3.9 million students worldwide...

 (ACSI) and fully recognized by the Oklahoma State Department of Education. Grades Pre K-12
K-12
K–12 is a designation for the sum of primary and secondary education. It is used in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand where P–12 is also commonly used...

 are offered. Enrollment follows an admission process with an interview and all students pay tuition and fees.

OCS is a faith-based school promoting strong academic preparation along with Christian
Church of Christ
Churches of Christ are autonomous Christian congregations associated with one another through common beliefs and practices. They seek to base doctrine and practice on the Bible alone, and seek to be New Testament congregations as originally established by the authority of Christ. Historically,...

 values and character development. OCS' motto is "To Partner with Families to Educate the Whole Student to the Glory of God". OCS also is a college preparatory school. ACT
ACT (examination)
The ACT is a standardized test for high school achievement and college admissions in the United States produced by ACT, Inc. It was first administered in November 1959 by Everett Franklin Lindquist as a competitor to the College Board's Scholastic Aptitude Test, now the SAT Reasoning Test...

 scores are some of the highest in the state of Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

, and many students have written back to OCS saying that their college professors have praised OCS graduates for being "prepared for the college experience".

History

Oklahoma Christian School was originally known as the “Christian Center School”. OCS was founded in Fall 1970 and was operated as an arm of the Christian Conquest Center Church in Oklahoma City
Oklahoma city
Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...

. During the 1974-75 school year, the church decided to terminate the operation of the school as an arm of the church. Interested parents and teachers decided that the school must continue. The reorganized, independent school
Independent school
An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...

 was incorporated as Oklahoma Christian Schools, Inc. on January 13, 1975.

Thirteen seniors composed the Class of 1976, the school's first. In 1987, OCS moved to the MetroChurch campus in east Edmond, Oklahoma.

After renting facilities for approximately twenty years, OCS completed its first major building project in 1991-92. This project included a gym complex and then added eight new classrooms in 1995. The facility also housed a band room, science laboratories and the middle school administrative offices.

In 2000, MetroChurch merged with Life Church (also in Edmond). The LifeChurch.tv
LifeChurch.tv
LifeChurch.tv is an American evangelical multi-site church with multiple locations in five states. Craig Groeschel is the founder and senior pastor of LifeChurch.tv....

 and OCS leadership worked diligently to complement one another's ministries. In 2002 OCS purchased 31 acres (125,452.7 m²) of land to two buildings from Life Church. Immediately the school began to convert church facilities to full functional educational facilities.

OCS completed its multi-purpose "Student Center" at the end of the 2007-2008 school year. This building is the first phase in OCS' campus expansion. This building houses a new cafeteria, band room, classrooms, concession stand, football locker rooms, and a secondary gymnasium for physical education classes and basketball practice for both the girls and guys team. The OCS "Master Plan" includes a long term expansion plan that will eventually move OCS out of many of its present buildings into new state of the art facilities.

Chapel

OCS has a chapel program which is under the leadership of the chapel council --class chaplains and the STUCO Chaplain(s). This is a time of student-led worship and Biblical reading and messages. It is not a non-denominational time, but rather an inter-denominational time in which students from all denominations are equally respected.

HEROES Week

OCS students and faculty of all grades (Pre-K through Seniors) reserve one week out of every school year to raise money for a charitable cause. HEROES stands for Hands Extended Reflecting Our Exalted Savior. Recipients have ranged from actual OCS students, families from outside our student body, to Westwood Elementary School in Oklahoma City
Oklahoma city
Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...

 to the No Boundaries International Missions Group in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...

, Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

. This week consists of many events such as movie night, a date auction, flamingo football, and teacher auction (teachers auction off notes, quizzes, tardy passes and homemade items. The largest grossing item to date is a seven course homemade gourmet Italian dinner by freshman biology teacher, Shannon Campbell, that collected over $300 a plate. (This totaled over $3,000). At the end of the week, the school assembles in an all school chapel assembly, and after worship songs and scripture readings, the check is presented to the families or the organization representative.

Notable Alumni

  • Blake Griffin
    Blake Griffin
    Blake Austin Griffin is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association . Griffin had a renowned high school career at Oklahoma Christian School, winning state titles each of his four years under his father, Tommy Griffin, who was the...

    , NBA player for the Los Angeles Clippers
    Los Angeles Clippers
    The Los Angeles Clippers are a professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California, United States. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association...

  • Taylor Griffin
    Taylor Griffin
    Taylor Griffin is an American professional basketball player from the University of Oklahoma.With his younger brother, power forward Blake Griffin, Taylor Griffin helped lead Oklahoma to the Elite Eight of the 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament...

    , NBA player for the Phoenix Suns
    Phoenix Suns
    The Phoenix Suns are a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association and the only team in their division not to be based in California. Their home arena since 1992 has been the US...

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