Founder's Welcome

Thank you for your interest in Orenda Education and Kingsland School.

My name is Richard N. Rickey and I am the founder and C.E.O. of Orenda Education, the not-for-profit sponsoring entity for Kingsland School. For almost 20 years I was employed in the healthcare field as a hospital C.E.O. and most recently as a multi-facility executive overseeing hospitals and clinics in multiple states. Prior to my healthcare career I was in the education field developing and delivering public health curriculum and programs to several school districts in Oklahoma. I come from a family of educators and have also been a volunteer in the classroom and coach youth sports. In the mid 1990’s I began to research public charter schools, and while a hospital C.E.O., I formed Orenda Education in 1995.

In 2016, under our Orenda Education umbrella, we opened Kinsgland School to meet this need for a smaller, local school. The idea behind the school is to offer another public school choice for those students who want a smaller school experience that may be a better fit for their academic, social, physical and moral development.  Kingsland School is designed to serve about 250 students in Grades K-12.

All of our schools offer what I call the “Essential R’s”:

Relationships
A small school allows our students the opportunity to feel like they really “belong”, can get the help they need, and have ample opportunities to be involved in extracurricular activities. It is more difficult to get “lost” in our school. Everybody knows your name and how you are doing.

Relevance
We employ a "blended learning" environment that incorporates teacher led instruction with off-site e-learning that is available to our students twenty-four (24) hours a day. In this model, we have groups of students working together with the teacher as coach, not just a lecturer. Blended learning also allows us to use the latest in technology to match the instructional content and delivery tools to the unique learning styles and interests of each student.

Rigor
At Kingsland School we only offer a rigorous college prep curriculum with Advanced Placement (AP), Pre-AP and dual credit courses for college credit. We also have a mandatory advisory period each day so we can stay on top of student progress. 

The Vision for the Future
Our vision is that our Kingsland School will be a premier public school of choice for families looking for a smaller school environment that prepares their child from kindergarten through high school graduation for success at a top tier college or university.

Whether you are a potential student family member or an interested community citizen that cares about quality education, I encourage you to attend one of our periodic informational sessions to meet us and to learn more.