Banking on KC- Ugur Demircan & Cetin Demir of Frontier Schools
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Kelly Scanlon:
Welcome to Banking on KC. I'm your host, Kelly Scanlon. Thank you for joining us. With us on this episode are Ugur Demircan and Cetin Demir. Ugur is a superintendent at Frontier Schools and Cetin is the assistant superintendent. They'll be sharing what makes Frontier schools unique among charter schools in Kansas City, and highlight the school's contributions to student education and the broader Kansas City c ommunity. Welcome to both of you.
Ugur Demircan:
Thank you.
Kelly Scanlon:
Ugur, let's start with you. Tell us about Frontier School's vision of being a vibrant and innovative educational leader and how that mission shapes the school's approach to education.
Ugur Demircan:
I started working at Frontier in 2014, and when I look back to compare where we were 10 years ago and now, I see tremendous changes. One of the area that we improve is in the curriculum area. As a small school, it is difficult to prepare your curriculum, write your curriculum. But we started seven, eight years ago, we hired curriculum directors in our school district, and we built a website for the curriculum. Now our core teachers, they can access to curriculum materials, they can see what we have over there. When you start a new school, you want to have resources available for you, especially our new teachers when they look at the curriculum resources and everything, so they appreciate that.
Other than the curriculum website, I want to mention we are technologically advanced school, so we provide technology to our students and staff. Giving as an example, during COVID time, when we close the school just before the spring break, mostly schools were trying to discuss what to do during COVID and what needs to be improved during the COVID time. As Frontier schools, immediately after we closed the school, we invited parents to come to school and pick up a Chromebook. During spring break, we trained our teachers for the virtual instruction, and immediately after the spring break we started virtual instruction. Basically, I think we were the first school in Missouri starting the virtual instruction immediately.
Kelly Scanlon:
So you were way ahead of the curve on that one.
Ugur Demircan:
Yes. After spring break, so we explained our best practice to some charter school sponsors, how we did, what was our plan. So-
Kelly Scanlon:
So you became a model for some of the other schools during that period. When you talk about the curriculum, when you talk about the technology, you have a really strong focus on STEM education, so how do you integrate the STEM, the science, the technology, engineering and math into your curriculum to prepare students for the workforce?
Cetin Demir:
Before start to talk about the integration, I would like to specifically talk about the importance of the STEM education. STEM education is more than memorizing the facts. It's about cultivating a foundation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, working together to create well-rounded learning experience. Imagine these disciplines as the building blocks of the powerful structure, each contributing to a unique strength.
This collaboration approach places students at the center, allowing them to tackle real world challenges that demand the combined power of science, technology, engineering, and math. For example, think about the classroom, teachers asking students to work on the quality, the lake next to our building. What they need to do, they need to use the science to collect the data, and then they will use the technology to analyze this data and they will use the engineering principles to design the solutions for how to get a better quality of water, and they will use the math to see how effective that they are using and all these principles while working together.
Kelly Scanlon:
Do you ever integrate STEM into the basic academics?
Cetin Demir:
For example, Mr. Demircan mentioned that we have curriculum directors and they're working to kind of having those STEM concepts into our curriculum, align them with the Missouri learning standards. We have certain outcomes for that. For example, we have our students to do the science fair every year, and in order to have a successful completion of a project, they need to have all their steps written properly and it's kind of required their writing skills. If they are going to a competition or robotics or other competitions, they have to prepare their journal with all the steps and explain procedures and steps, that require them to have the writing skills and language skills.
Like beyond the classroom, in terms of the STEM education integration, beyond the classroom, we offer a variety of STEM-focused clubs after school, like robotics, coding, science Olympiad, HOSA, which is Health Occupation Students of America, TSA, Technology Students Association, and Solar Car. We have our students there working on the Solar Car after school with their instructor. This club provides students with opportunity to compete other schools at regional and state level. That's kind of a unique approach because we believe that they can have the knowledge, they put that in the practice and then take it to, kind of as a showcase they take it to at public level.
Kelly Scanlon:
Talk to us a little bit about students who may be enrolled at Frontier Schools who aren't necessarily interested in a STEM career. And given your mission to empower students to develop their gifts and their abilities, if it's not STEM, how do you still work with those students to fulfill that goal to develop their gifts and talents?
Ugur Demircan:
Yes, there is a misunderstanding by parents. Sometimes they think that we only offer STEM subjects. So we offer non-STEM subjects as well, ELA, social studies, music, art, foreign language, PE, character education. So those are some classes we offer as like non-STEM. And we have a band in one of our schools. We have several sport teams, girls and boys teams. And when students come to high school. Also, we offer pathways to them like biomedical engineering pathway, but there is also one non-STEM pathway for the students who are not interested in STEM, so they can continue with a non-STEM option.
Kelly Scanlon:
You have one offering that's particularly interesting, it's called Project Lead the Way. Talk to us about that program and how it benefits students that are interested in the biomedical and engineering field.
Cetin Demir:
PLTW is a fantastic program we offer that perfectly complements our focus on STEM education. Unlike traditional science and math courses, PLTW dives deeper into practical applications. Students get to work with the same tools and technologies professionals use in the lab, and engineering firms that they use. PLTW offers a variety of courses. We have our PLTW biomedical and engineering CTE certification that we got through the DESI. In those classes, students, they explore topics like human disease, medical diagnostics, DNA analysis, robotics and sustainable designs. This targets learning provides a strong foundation for future studies and careers in their field. And also the PLTW goes beyond memorization, emphasizing critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and communication. Students, they took those courses exactly in these programs and they may receive college credits and in those fields, like biomedical and engineering.
Kelly Scanlon:
You talked a little bit about some of the extracurriculars earlier, Cetin, how you go out into the community and you showcase that publicly. So you're fostering relationships within the community that help enhance student success, how do you foster relationships with the families? I know that's a very, very big important goal for you as well.
Ugur Demircan:
Yeah. There are many opportunities for the parents to come and learn our programs: orientation days, parents academy, pastries with parents, muffins with moms, donuts with dads, family literature night, [inaudible 00:08:45] nights. So those are some of the events that we organize in the school. We also organize a big multicultural festival and invite parents and community to join this event. And we know that sometimes parents have difficulty to come and join these type of events, so that's why we organize the home visit program. So our teachers and staff visit our parents in their homes and discuss about our programs and their child's progress in the parents' home, and some parents even they are not available to invite us to their homes and for those parents, also, we organize virtual home visits. So we meet with them virtually.
Kelly Scanlon:
Leveraging that technology again.
Ugur Demircan:
That's right. And for the community, we offer school tours, invite them to our programs. Just to give you an example, we had a big STEM Fest in Union Station just recently last week. And with the help of our education foundation, we organized a breakfast for the community so they can join the breakfast first and then later on they join our STEM Fest and learn more about our schools.
Kelly Scanlon:
Another one of your core values is character development, so how do you incorporate lessons on things like integrity, responsibility, and really importantly, appreciation for diversity into your students' learning?
Cetin Demir:
First, we offer character education classes, all grade level. And it's kind of dedicated classes addressing concepts like integrity, responsibility, and appreciation of diversity. These classes provide a structured environment for students to explore these values through discussion, activities, and role-playing scenarios. Another one is PBIS, Positive Behavior Intervention and Support System that we use for in our schools. In this program, the program reinforces positive behaviors and creates a predictable and supportive learning environment. By acknowledging positive choices and offering clear expectations, we help students to develop accountability and a sense of responsibility of their own actions.
The last part that I want to mention about it is the school of character. That's kind of an initiative we want eventually all our schools to be school of character in the state and in the nation. We apply for getting that designation. Last year all four our campuses, they received emerging school of character designation in the state level in 2023.
Kelly Scanlon:
Let's talk about Frontier Schools itself. It's tuition-free, it's a charter school, and it serves about 1600 students. And as you've mentioned, four locations. Talk to us a little bit about the age levels each one of the schools serves. The fact that you have it across four locations makes it accessible. What kind of an impact does that have then on families that are seeking quality education?
Ugur Demircan:
We serve all the grade levels, pre-K through 12, so we have all the grade levels in our schools. So we are one of the high-performing charter schools in Kansas area. The data proves that. In 2022 there was 553 districts and LEAs in Missouri taking the MAP assessment, state assessment. On that year, Frontier Schools ranked third in the state map assessment for MET academic achievement growth and sixth for ELA out of 553 districts. In 2023, our APR score was 86.3%, so we were the second out of 20 charter schools within KCPS Boundaries. Frontier Schools stands out as a top performer among charter schools within the Kansas City public school system.
Kelly Scanlon:
Along with all of those great stats and the great success that you have achieved in all of those areas, you also have a 100% college acceptance rate. What programs or practices do you think are responsible for being able to achieve that stat? A hundred percent college acceptance, and then all of the other achievements you just mentioned.
Cetin Demir:
Yeah. The college application process can be overwhelming for students. We start working with students to form their individual career academic plan as well as middle school, as I mentioned, and that's kind of a personalized plan for them in terms of their career pathway and academic graduation plan for the high school. We have a very dedicated college guidance. We have multiple college counselors at each campus dedicated to guiding and tracking each student's academic journey. These counselors, they are monitoring every single student's academic performance and ensure students stay on track for their graduation and successful college application. We also understand that the financial realities of college admission, that's why our college counselors actively work with students to find scholarship that ease the financial burden for them. This includes promoting prestigious scholarships like KC Scholars Grant. We are one of the schools that received a high number of students winning that award. Last year we had 40 graduating seniors. This year, 2024, they will basically earning pre tuition for five years.
Kelly Scanlon:
You work with the students from middle school on a career path, a curriculum that leads to a career path. You assist with college applications and you also assist with applying for scholarships. And so with all three of those is a three-pronged approach. With all of those in play, you achieve that 100% college acceptance rate. Again, that's quite phenomenal. Let's turn now to the larger picture. In education, there's a lot of challenges and opportunities as well in education. So how is Frontier Schools adapting its teaching methods and its programs to ensure that students remain engaged and that they continue to receive the high quality education that you've both about today?
Cetin Demir:
At Frontier Schools, we embrace the dynamism by continually adopting our teaching methods and programs to ensure students' engagement and high-quality education. I'll talk about the key approaches that we have in place. One of them that we earlier talk about the focus on STEM education, that's one of our focus and we prioritize STEM in our curriculum and education. We believe that that's preparing students for their future career. The second one is, as I mentioned earlier, also personalized learning. We have a plan develop at early age for each student, starting from their elementary, middle school until high school. Even after graduation, we kind of follow up our graduates to see if they are continue to succeed in their career pathway. And harnessing technology is another one. Technology when used effectively can be a powerful educational tool. That's why we know the importance of education, importance of technology and education in a proper way.
Another one is a social-emotional learning. We recently faced COVID issue. It puts education kind of fall behind, and we are in the recovery mode right now in whole education, not just the front end, maybe whole nationwide. And I believe we are very successful in terms of that. When we look at our records, post-pandemic and after pandemic, when we compare the data, we are very successful on that. And SEL, the social-emotional learning also plays a critical role on that. Not just have them to learn at the same time, make sure that their wellbeing is in place. That's important things, and definitely it's going to help them to grow their learning better.
And another one is a community partnership that we have. We believe strong community partnership benefits students. We actively partner with local businesses, organizations, and experts to provide real-world learning opportunities like guest speakers, mentorship programs, and internships. At Frontier Schools, we are committed to continuous improvement. We regularly evaluate our programs, solicit students and staff feedback, and adopt emerging best practices in education. This ensures we remain at the forefront of educational innovation, providing a dynamic and engaging learning environment that empowers students to succeed.
Kelly Scanlon:
The numbers that you're putting up in terms of your achievements and your rankings, many schools would give anything to reach those numbers. Are you being looked at as a model from other areas in the country? Are they looking at Frontier Schools as a model for educational programs?
Ugur Demircan:
I think we have many best practices. Of course, we have many things to learn from other schools as well. So we have partnership with some other charter schools out of state, with some schools in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, and several other states. I meet with their superintendents time to time and I share my best practices to them, and also I learn from them. So during those meetings, there's a great opportunity for me to learn from others.
Kelly Scanlon:
You've told us about Frontier Schools today, all the great accomplishments, your curriculum, and if any of our listeners are interested perhaps in learning more about Frontier Schools or enrolling their children, how would they do that?
Ugur Demircan:
They need to go to our website, www.frontierschools.org, and then they can apply online. So I am proud of Frontier parents, my two daughters at Frontier and as well as Mr. Demir, so his three daughters are at Frontier. So we are happy with the school system, so we would like to invite other parents to apply to Frontier.
Kelly Scanlon:
Okay. Thank you so much for all you're doing for the youth in Kansas City and for building them up so that they can have lucrative careers and give back to the community. We appreciate it.
Ugur Demircan:
Thank you. Thanks so much.
Joe Close:
This is Joe Close, president of Country Club Bank. Thank you to Ugur Demircan and Cetin Demir from Frontier Schools for being our guests on this episode of Banking on KC. Frontier Schools' innovative STEM curriculum, commitment to character development, and proactive community engagement, set a high bar for educational excellence. Their adeptness in integrating technology and personalized learning paths, not only help them navigate the challenges of remote education during the pandemic, but also highlights their forward-thinking approach.
The innovative and community focused approach of Frontier Schools aligns with our commitment to supporting the growth and development of Kansas City. By investing in our youth, we are banking on a brighter, more prosperous future for all. Thanks for tuning in this week. We're banking on you, Kansas City. Country Club Bank, member FDIC.