Urban Appalachian Community Coalition / March, 2023
Oyler School in Lower Price Hill has gone through a legitimate transformation over the years. From an elementary and middle school that largely reflected the struggles of a struggling neighborhood, Oyler School is now a paragon of student accomplishment. The Urban Appalachian Council, then located in the neighborhood, was involved in the advocacy leading to the school’s transformation into a neighborhood learning center that focused on student health as much as educational needs. Since that time, Oyler has become something altogether new. When we consider that one of the main goals of the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition has historically been to help urban Appalachians find opportunities through education, it is gratifying to see a school in an historically urban Appalachian neighborhood succeed. This year’s graduating class will set the bar for student achievement.
Student success is not a recent development for Oyler School in Lower Price Hill. As a community learning center and neighborhood anchor, Oyler has a great track record of placing students not just in college but sending them off with scholarships and honors to put them in line for continued progress. Thomas More University and Urban Appalachian Leadership Project graduate Elizabeth Fahey is one such example. But this year has shaped up to be truly remarkable. Six seniors from Oyler School applied to the highly competitive Berea College in the Appalachian region of Kentucky, and all six made the cut. Prior to this year, Oyler has only placed one student at Berea College.
Paulayzsa Kelly, a senior at Oyler, says in a Cincinnati Public School article, “It was hard to believe at first. I knew I was there academically, but actually seeing the offer made it all real. To have Berea acknowledge me as a top scholar they wanted was so validating.”
This senior class has stood out in every way. The acceptance of the six students to Berea is just one example of how students from Oyler School thrive. “We have four kids with scholarships to Xavier University. One student has a full ride to the University of Cincinnati. Another has received a full ride to Miami University,” Talbert said. These stellar accomplishments demonstrate the overall success of Oyler School. To have such academic achievement from any school is excellent. For them to have all come from our small neighborhood school in Lower Price Hill indicates that Oyler School is a leader in encouraging academic achievement in Greater Cincinnati. PBS News Hour highlighted Oyler School in 2015, and a documentary about the school was presented on Marketplace in 2013.