Independence Charter Ms, Oklahoma City OK

Original Research by School Decision on Independence Charter Ms

Independence Charter Middle School, part of the Harding Independence (Charter) district in Oklahoma City, serves grades five through eight. The school's student body is diverse, with families of Black, Hispanic, and White backgrounds each making up a substantial share of the enrollment. Asian and multiracial students are also present in smaller numbers. The school is a charter, meaning it operates with its own governance and a specific educational mission.

State test results from the most recent year show that the middle school's proficiency rates in math and English language arts, across most tested grades, are below typical benchmarks. In math, the share of students scoring proficient or above ranged from roughly a sixth to just under a third, depending on the grade. In English language arts, proficiency rates across grades five, six, and eight were similarly low. The seventh-grade English language arts result was suppressed for data reasons, a parent may want to inquire directly about that cohort’s performance. Science scores offered a different picture: while fifth-grade science proficiency was quite low, eighth-grade science proficiency was markedly higher, approaching half of the students tested. The school’s overall proficiency index across all subjects and grades sits above the midpoint relative to other districts in Oklahoma County. It is worth noting that the state changed its assessment cut scores for math and English language arts for this year, which means these results cannot be directly compared to prior years. A parent looking for year-over-year trends will need to wait for future data under the new scoring framework.

The school’s total enrollment is modest for a middle school of this grade span. The school sits in a vast and sprawling city. Oklahoma City is the state capital with an economy anchored by energy, aviation and federal employment at Tinker Air Force Base, and state government. The city has invested heavily in downtown revitalization through its MAPS programs, but outside the urban core the city remains car-dependent. Housing values in the school’s area have been modestly above the state average, and rents have been increasing gradually. For a family considering this area, the housing market is a mix of older neighborhoods and newer developments typical of a growing Sun Belt city.

A major recent development affecting this school is that the district has been adding grade levels in response to citywide restructuring. The middle school itself was expanded from a grades six through eight configuration to grades five through eight in 2022, in response to Oklahoma City Public Schools' "Pathway to Greatness" initiative. In 2024, the district opened a new elementary school, its first, offering pre-kindergarten through fourth grade. This means Independence Charter Middle School is now part of a full PK-12 charter district, a new reality. The district also recently rebranded all its schools under the "Harding Charter Preparatory" name. For a parent, this signals a district that is actively growing, adjusting its structure, and developing a more unified identity across its campuses. The student support services picture is incomplete here, as free and reduced-price lunch data, English learner data, and special education data were not reported. A family with specific support needs should ask the school directly about these resources.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 516%

School 16% · District 16%

▼ 4 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 615%

School 15% · District 15%

▼ 3 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 731%

School 31% · District 31%

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 815%

School 15% · District 15%

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 516%

School 16% · District 16%

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 614%

School 14% · District 14%

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 816%

School 16% · District 16%

▼ 2 pts below state median · even with county median

Science

Grade 513%

School 13% · District 13%

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 847%

School 47% · District 47%

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

This schoolHARDING INDEPENDENCE (CHARTER), same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 5Lower-income15%Higher-income42%27 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income29%Higher-income32%3 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income21%Higher-income47%26 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income29%Higher-income61%32 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income5%Higher-income29%24 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income27%Higher-income42%15 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income14%Higher-income23%9 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income16%Higher-income33%17 pp gap