Ponca City has experienced booms and downturns. We have seen industries rise, technologies evolve, and generations pass the torch to the next. And through every season, one truth has remained: when change comes to Ponca City, we adapt, we innovate, and we grow stronger.
We are standing in another one of those moments.
Across Oklahoma and across the nation, public education is at an inflection point. Artificial intelligence is reshaping the workforce. Career pathways are evolving faster than ever. Demographics are shifting. Fewer families are having babies. Expectations for schools are changing. The horizon is not something to fear, it is something we must prepare for.
The question before Ponca City is not whether change is coming.
The question is whether Ponca City will shape it or let it shape us.
The Ponca City Board of Education has begun a major initiative to develop a five-year strategic plan for our district’s future. We are partnering with the Oklahoma State School Boards Association (OSSBA) and the K20 Center at the University of Oklahoma to guide a process grounded in community voice and clear-eyed analysis.
The major theme:
If a third grade student walks into our elementary school this fall, that child will graduate in 2036. When they cross the stage, what kind of graduate will they be?
Will they be adaptable in a world driven by technology?
Will they possess industry-recognized skills and certifications?
Will they be confident communicators and problem solvers?
Will they understand financial responsibility and civic duty?
Will they be prepared for their next steps in life?
Will they carry with them resilience, integrity, and pride in their hometown?
We believe they can.
Ponca City has never waited for someone else to define its future. We have built partnerships between schools and industry. We have invested in STEM facilities. We have passed bonds to modernize our athletic facilities. We have added secure entrances to all facilities. We have rallied around our students in academics, athletics, fine arts, higher education, and career tech.
Each time we have faced change in Ponca City, we have emerged more focused and more determined.
This strategic planning process is our opportunity to do that again with intentionality.
But we need your help! We have launched a community-wide survey, open through March 6, 2026, at https://www.pcps.us/page/strategic-planning-surveys. We have included a QR code that you can scan with your phone and you can complete in under 10 minutes. Responses go directly to OSSBA staff to ensure transparency. We want to hear from parents, business leaders, retirees, students, educators or anyone who believes in the future of Ponca City. This is a thought exchange, where you will get to enter your thoughts as many as you’d like, plus you can rank and evaluate the responses from others. Each of these will help us develop themes across our community.
Because the future of our schools is inseparable from the future of our community.
Change will require courage. It may require us to rethink how we deliver instruction. It may require us to prioritize new career pathways. It may require us to leverage technology in ways we have never imagined. It will certainly require us to focus and change our long standing operations.
But Ponca City has never lacked courage.
Our community is poised for transformation. We have the relationships. We have the work ethic. We have the belief in our children. What we need now is alignment around a shared vision.
The Class of 2036 will inherit what we choose to build today.
Let’s build boldly.
Let’s design schools that prepare students not just to graduate, but to lead. Not just to find jobs, but to create opportunity. Not just to leave Ponca City, but to choose to come back and invest in it.
Ponca City has always grown stronger through change and this is our next chapter.
Can you help us Ponca City?
Adam Leaming
Superintendent
Ponca City Public Schools
