Oyler School is a pre-K through 12th grade community school in Lower Price Hill known for taking a holistic approach to education by offering students health and social services right in the building. That's why U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona took an interest in the school and came to Cincinnati for a visit Tuesday.
Cardona, along with Ohio Congressman Greg Landsman, met with students and staff at Oyler to hear about their experiences and see the ways the school has impacted the lives of people in the community.
Educators told them about times when issues were resolved thanks to the school's services, like when they discovered a student struggling to pay attention in the classroom was suffering from a painful toothache. In another occasion, a student who had difficulty identifying colors was found to be colorblind after a medical evaluation.
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Cardona says he was impressed by the stories and thinks more schools can apply similar strategies to address common issues like learning loss and keeping students engaged following the pandemic. Other communities can learn something from Oyler and Cincinnati Public Schools, according to the secretary.
"I've been traveling to 43 states. This is one of the best models I've seen in my time as Secretary of Education, in my over two decades of service in education," Cardona told the media.
After touring the school, Cardona and Landsman spoke with CPS Superintendent Iranetta Wright, Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval, and other local education leaders to discuss the current state of education.
Landsman says when it comes to education, lawmakers in Washington are turning their attention to improving students' lives beyond the classroom as a pathway to better academic outcomes.
"The next phase here is to tackle together the mental health crisis that our young people are dealing with; housing issues that our young people and their families are dealing with; and to make sure that every single young person has access to a really good paying job," Landsman said.
Last December, the federal government doubled its funding for Full-Service Community Schools and Cardona wants to keep raising the bar in the years to come.
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"Community learning models like this one work," Cardona said. "We see it in the data. The transiency rate here has dropped. People stay in the community. That's good for kids. So, I'm a big fan of what works for kids and this does work. And yes, I want to see more of it."
CPS first adopted the Community Learning Center model in 2002.
