Beyond The Bell: U.S. Grant HS A Model Recovery - News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports |

Once known as the dropout factory, U.S.Grant High School is now recognized for its success. A national education consulting firm calls it a "remarkable turnaround."

Chris McKinnon takes us inside the new culture at Grant in Friday night's Beyond the Bell report.

It's 11 a.m. and U.S. Grant High School students quickly make their way from one class to the next. Just a few years ago, these hallways would have descended into chaos.

Freshman, now seniors, lived through the failures of Grant, deemed a turnaround school.

Work began, focused on getting the students to believe in success, even though these students come from the notoriously violent neighborhoods around Grant.

For seniors, school became their safe place as change happened.

Now, these students strive to succeed hoping to break a cycle of poverty and violence their friends and families grew up in.

These students all admit, the changes in school changed their lives and it goes beyond the walls of U.S. Grant.

The school used government funds to partner with the independent consulting firm Solution Tree, in order to implement professional learning communities. The firm deemed Grant a Gold Star School after data showed three years of measurable improvements.