Oklahoma City’s Crossroads Mall officially shuttered to shoppers in 2017. But over the past decade, local leaders have launched a groundbreaking effort to revitalize the complex as America’s largest community school, where thousands of predominantly low-income students would not just attend class every day but also have access to food, health care, social services and work experiences.
The $37 million effort is the brainchild of Chris Brewster, founder of the popular Santa Fe South Schools, a charter school network that has already opened classrooms in former big box retail stores that anchor the mall.
The 74’s James Fields visited Crossroads this spring to see the work firsthand and to film the progress being made towards raising funds to scale available seats for families across the city.
