Inside Grind Prep's non-traditional, 'college-style' school setup

Editor's note: This story is Part 3 of a four-part series offering an in-depth examination of Grind Prep, a new prep school in Oklahoma looking to change the high school basketball game. From the inception to the players to the viability of such a school, The Oklahoman will look at every aspect.

On days Shannon Bert doesn’t teach on campus at OU, Bert can often be found in the exposed-brick classrooms of downtown Oklahoma City’s Grind Prep.

Bert is a developmental psychologist and a professor in OU’s department of human relations. Bert graduated from OU in 2001 before earning a doctorate at Notre Dame and doing a post-doctoral fellowship at Georgetown.

To kids at Grind Prep, she’s Ms. Shannon.

Grind Prep was founded last year as a middle and high school aimed at preparing elite basketball players for the next level. To get there, they also have to succeed in the classroom.

That’s where Bert comes in.

Though technically not on staff at Grind Prep, Bert offers in-person support to students whose classes are entirely online through Oklahoma-based Epic Charter Schools and Florida-based Xceed Preparatory Academy.

Bert makes sure students are on task, keeping pace with their online instruction. She reminds them to log onto their live sessions, to keep their laptops charged and to maintain the right balance between school and basketball.

She’s more tutor than teacher.

If a student needs help with an assignment, Bert assists when she can. But her main job is to make sure the school day runs smoothly for the 35 middle-and high-school students at Grind Prep — where tuition runs $15,000, with financial aid available.

Bert has volunteered two days a week this spring semester, after also volunteering in the fall, because she believes in what Grind Prep CEO Carlos Adamson, a longtime friend of Bert’s, is building.

“It only makes sense for Carlos to mix his passion for not only basketball,” Bert said, “but also building up kids, giving them opportunities and exposure on a higher level.”

While Adamson, a former Eastern Michigan women’s basketball assistant, and director of basketball operations Marques Warrior do the coaching, Epic and Xceed handle the teaching.

With students spread across two classrooms and two computer labs, Grind Prep has elements of a normal school, but although they share a physical space, the students are in different online classes learning from different teachers all at their own pace.

“It's more like a cohort,” Bert said. “Instead of being independent on your own at home, they actually get to see they're working with peers in a classroom setting.”

It’s what Adamson calls “college-style learning,” which makes sense for a college prep school.

“Those who are provided an opportunity to play at the collegiate level, they won't have that transition period that many freshmen going into a university will have with trying to balance their school work,” Bert said. “They're at an advantage. They've done it. They know what it's like.”

More: How Grind Prep is changing Oklahoma HS basketball scene: 'You hope to be the trendsetter'

A day at Grind Prep

Grind Prep’s very own chef prepares breakfast before school starts at 8 a.m.

While the high schoolers tend to their studies in the morning, the middle schoolers practice at Oklahoma Athletic Center off Lake Hefner Parkway on Hefner Road — 12 miles north of Grind Prep’s Film Row location above Joey’s Pizzeria.

At lunchtime, the middle and high schoolers switch places.

The middle schoolers are transported back downtown where they eat lunch and begin their school day. The high schoolers are driven to the Oklahoma Athletic Center for practice.

The four-to-six-hour school days — four days a week from Monday through Thursday — are much more abbreviated than traditional school days.

“The way that we’ve scheduled our days is that students can almost have a 9 to 5 and they can have their cake and eat it too,” said Betty Norton, president of education for Xceed’s affiliate division, which partnered with Grind Prep. “They can be in school and train and travel and still have a life where they can sit with their family at 6 o'clock and have dinner as opposed to a traditional school that is based upon antiquated policies.”

Norton mentioned the amount of breaks in a typical seven-hour school day.

“It is a concept that’s difficult to grasp just because everyone has a concept of going to school,” Norton said, “and in their head it probably looks like sitting in rows and the teacher talks and you take notes and then you go home. But probably since the mid-‘90s there’s been a progressive movement to move away from that model.

“Now it’s smaller, more specific, more flexible.”

Flexibility is crucial for Grind Prep.

Its girls and boys teams travel across the country to compete in AAU-style weekend tournaments, where players are exposed to college coaches who might not otherwise travel to Oklahoma to see them play in just one game.

Students can do homework and reach their teachers from the road via email.

In a hyper-specialized setting like Grind Prep, Adamson and his team are conscious about letting kids be kids.

The school is small, but tight knit. Grind Prep hosts school dances and banquets in a large ballroom in its second-floor space overlooking Sheridan Avenue.

“As a developmental psychologist, I talk about how you need to be in socialized settings,” Bert said. “These kids are like a family. They enjoy being around each other.”

More: Who are the athletes? Meet the faces of Grind Prep Academy

How Grind Prep is accredited

Grind Prep’s mission is to turn high school basketball players into college basketball players, so meeting NCAA eligibility requirements is a must.

Is the school accredited?

That’s the No. 1 question Norton gets from parents at Xceed.

“That one to me is the most important one because if you have left a traditional school system to be a part of a sports program at this level, then you obviously are hoping to play at the collegiate level and I need to make sure you’re able to do so,” Norton said.

Xceed Preparatory Academy, which has physical locations in Florida in addition to its virtual programs, is fully accredited through Cognia. As is Epic, which is also accredited through the Oklahoma State Department of Education.

Some of Grind Prep’s students are enrolled in Epic while others are in Xceed.

While online education is often met with skepticism, Norton said it’s been an easier sell post-COVID.

“Parents got to see the benefits of having that flex schedule,” Norton said.

Bert graduated from Midwest City High School and has three children in traditional public schools, but she’s confident in the level of education kids at Grind receive.

“I've heard people be skeptical, but I can't understand why,” Bert said. “And maybe it's because I am familiar with the online instruction because that's what we do through OU.”

Bert said online instruction works best for kids who are self-motivated.

“That's what I like about Grind Prep,” Bert said. “Education is taken seriously because that does have an influence on whether or not they get to play, whether they get taken on trips.”

It’s all about getting to the next level.

“If they’re interested in going to college, well, you need to get used to being able to navigate athletics with your school curriculum,” Bert said.

Or as the kids call her, Ms. Shannon.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Inside Grind Prep's non-traditional, 'college-style' school setup