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- EPIC Charter Schools
EPIC Charter Schools
Named an Oklahoma Top Workplace in 2018 and 2019, EPIC Charter Schools is Oklahoma’s largest public charter school and largest public school system, serving more than 61,000 students in the 2020-21 school year. With more than 2,100 employees serving students and families in all 77 Oklahoma counties, EPIC provides a free-state accredited and individualized education for each student through a blended-learning model that pairs digital curriculum with regular one-to-one instruction with a fully certified Oklahoma teacher.
Demand for the school is high with the advent of the COVID-19 global pandemic and is growing at a rate faster than any other state public school system.
Demand for the school is high with the advent of the COVID-19 global pandemic and is growing at a rate faster than any other state public school system.
Vision
Epic Charter Schools is dedicated to providing every student with the opportunity to meet their full academic achievement potential. We are committed to reaching this goal by: Offering the finest quality of instructional strategies and curriculum choices; Continuously use assessment to improve our delivery of instruction; Treat our students with respect and have high expectations for achievement; Use current research and resources to be most effective.
Mission
Mission Statement: "Fulfilling every student's individual potential by personalizing an educational plan that focuses on creating a dynamic school and family partnership to achieve optimal student performance.
Additional Culture Details
While EPIC takes its mission seriously and aims to elevate and improve all of its students' lives, it also has a uniquely fun and cohesive work culture. EPIC's leaders do not take culture for granted and continually seek to build and improve upon it for all employees, who are based in all 77 Oklahoma counties and with a mixture of field-based positions and office-based positions at one of EPIC's five physical work locations. Workplace fun includes such things as an annual Halloween contest that has become, well, EPIC; including staff in social media posts, birthday recognition and so much more! Further, principals and teachers are organized into geographic "tribes," and cohesion is built within these sub-units to ensure that EPIC's supportive team culture is evident regardless of where an employee is based within the state. We sincerely mean it when we tell new employees that joining EPIC means you have gained an additional family.
Culture and cohesion also is reinforced in no less than four professional development days in Oklahoma City throughout the year for all teachers and instructional leaders; annual two-day administrative retreats for all administrators and staff at an Oklahoma venue for the purpose of team building and strategic goal setting; and an annual Faculty & Staff Appreciation banquet and awards ceremony, which this December will be held at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Norman for all faculty and staff and featuring author and motivational speaker Alton Carter, who wrote the award-winning book "The Boy Who Carried Bricks."
Building leadership capacity also is a unique aspect of EPIC's work culture. Being an organization with an annual growth rate of 40 percent, EPIC has engaged in a year-long leadership initiative to build the leadership effectiveness and capacity of its central office administrators and its principals. With 1 in 2 teachers and staff being new to the organization, EPIC's senior leaders recognize the need for a coordinated leadership program tied to best practices and mission-building. Facilitated by GIANT Worldwide (see giantworldwide.com for more information), all supervisors, as well as those they manage, have taken a modified form of the Myers Briggs personality assessment, as well as the 5 Voices assessment. Results are being used to executive coach the organization's senior management and drive content for monthly half-day leadership intensives for all employees who supervise at least one other employee.
Culture and cohesion also is reinforced in no less than four professional development days in Oklahoma City throughout the year for all teachers and instructional leaders; annual two-day administrative retreats for all administrators and staff at an Oklahoma venue for the purpose of team building and strategic goal setting; and an annual Faculty & Staff Appreciation banquet and awards ceremony, which this December will be held at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Norman for all faculty and staff and featuring author and motivational speaker Alton Carter, who wrote the award-winning book "The Boy Who Carried Bricks."
Building leadership capacity also is a unique aspect of EPIC's work culture. Being an organization with an annual growth rate of 40 percent, EPIC has engaged in a year-long leadership initiative to build the leadership effectiveness and capacity of its central office administrators and its principals. With 1 in 2 teachers and staff being new to the organization, EPIC's senior leaders recognize the need for a coordinated leadership program tied to best practices and mission-building. Facilitated by GIANT Worldwide (see giantworldwide.com for more information), all supervisors, as well as those they manage, have taken a modified form of the Myers Briggs personality assessment, as well as the 5 Voices assessment. Results are being used to executive coach the organization's senior management and drive content for monthly half-day leadership intensives for all employees who supervise at least one other employee.
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