Like them, she鈥檚 part of a Latino family from East Tulsa and wanted to give back to the community she loved. She kept her word. The new charter middle school quickly performed among the best schools in Oklahoma with an A on the state report card. 

But on a recent sunny morning in May, she sat in a conference room in the former paper mill the school purchased and renovated and spoke words uttered by countless school leaders since 2020: 鈥淭hen the pandemic happened.鈥�

The school鈥檚 ranking fell. Chronic absenteeism spiked, and instead of being two or three grade levels behind academically, some students arrived as much as four years off track. Even as she worked to expand the network, Pollock that she would be able to fulfill her commitment to get kids in and through college. Students went to work to help their families during the crisis or cared for younger siblings.

鈥淭he mindset of school being a top priority had shifted,鈥� she said.

But there are signs that recovery is now underway. All 74 seniors in last year鈥檚 graduating class were accepted to at least one four-year university, and the small network鈥檚 two middle schools for growth in reading and math from a national charter school organization. 

As the network prepares to take its next major step, opening an elementary school, Tulsa Honor Academy is 鈥渂ack on an upward trajectory,鈥� Pollock said. 鈥淥ur goal was to get back to a level of excellence, both in terms of academic growth and school culture.鈥�

The new school will open as a Spanish-English dual language program. It鈥檚 something parents have wanted for a long time. Roughly half of the students Tulsa Honor Academy serves are not only first in their families to go to college, they鈥檙e also the first to graduate high school. 

That means some students鈥� 鈥渉ome language skills are not fully developed at home, and our kids also need to learn English,鈥� she said. 鈥淏y the time they get to middle school, they will be completely fluent in both languages.鈥�

Teachers at the school already use strategies that build fluency and new vocabulary among English learners. On a morning in May, sixth grade science teacher Miguel Ramirez led a lesson on the nervous system. In their matching uniform sweatshirts and khaki pants, students read aloud definitions of terms like nucleus and dendrites and turned to a partner to repeat the material.

鈥淐onstantly hearing people say the words gets them to internalize it,鈥� explained Justine McGovern, the school鈥檚 development director. 

The academy celebrates Latino culture by being the only one in Oklahoma, as far as Pollock knows, that offers full courses for elective credit in , cultural dances from Mexico. In authentic dresses that represent the regions of Mexico 鈥� white for Vera Cruz or vibrant colors for Chihuahua 鈥� the students perform all over Tulsa, and many compete nationally.

鈥楿napologetically college prep鈥� 

Inspired by her mother, an engineer who moved from Mexico to Tulsa to pursue a career,  Pollock originally planned to become an immigration lawyer. At a time when there weren鈥檛 many Latinos in Tulsa, her mother advocated for a Spanish mass at a local church and started a free GED program.

But Pollock abandoned the idea of pursuing law to join Teach for America, and developed the drive to launch her own school while working in St. Louis and Chicago. 

From the beginning, Tulsa Honor Academy has been what she calls 鈥渦napologetically college prep.鈥� College campus visits start as early as fifth grade. Juniors work on personal statements in class. They research different careers and share their insights with sophomores, and because navigating college life can be overwhelming, staff in the school鈥檚 college readiness office encourage alumni to return for one-on-one help.

鈥淚f we want more Black and brown, first-generation, low-income students to eventually become teachers, lawyers and doctors,鈥� Pollock said, 鈥渢hen we need to make sure that they’re being educated to be able to go to and graduate from college.鈥�

with hospitals, nonprofits and city agencies are another hallmark of the school鈥檚 model. After his semester interning with Reading Partners, a tutoring organization, Oscar Gutierrez was convinced that teaching wasn鈥檛 for him. 

鈥淚 don’t want to work in the education field whatsoever,鈥� said Gutierrez, who graduated this year. 

The experience still gave him a glimpse of behind-the-scenes operations like scheduling and recruiting volunteers. It eased anxiety over finding his way around an unfamiliar place and interacting with people he hasn鈥檛 met.

鈥淵ou had to talk to the kid,鈥� said Gutierrez, who plans to study accounting at Tulsa Community College and then transfer to the University of Oklahoma or Oklahoma State University. 鈥淚t teaches those communication skills and just being confident within yourself.鈥�

Kimberly Perez, part of the first graduating class of 2023, landed an internship at Miller-Tippins, a leading construction firm in Tulsa. She learned how to prepare bids for projects and estimate the cost of materials. Now a rising senior on a full-ride scholarship to Oklahoma State University, she鈥檚 already received job offers from companies in Dallas. 

She still remembers when Pollock visited her home in 2016, sat on the couch and promised her mother that Tulsa Honor Academy was a better option than the district middle school. She was in fifth grade at the charter at the time, but only reading at a first grade level. 

鈥淚 would come crying to my mom, like 鈥業 don’t want to be in that school,鈥� 鈥� Kim said. Her mother considered pulling her out. 鈥淏ut Elsie said, 鈥楽he just needs extra time.鈥欌��

鈥极惫别谤别虫迟别苍诲别诲鈥�

Those were the years that Pollock was still leading just one school. In 2019, the high school opened, housed in a trailer on the same property. In early 2020, just as schools shut down because of COVID, Tulsa Honor Academy of a building for the high school, an accomplishment in a sector where schools often face challenges securing facilities.

Financing for the project, however, required enrollment to grow, so Pollock and her board fast-tracked the opening of a second middle school in the fall of 2021 鈥� three years early. The expansion to three schools, in some ways, marked a temporary setback. The challenge, Pollock said, was managing a major renovation while also responding to families鈥� needs in a community by the virus.聽

鈥淒uring the critical years of growth that other schools get to methodically establish network systems and structures,鈥� she said, 鈥渨e had to pivot and start to focus on surviving the pandemic.鈥�

Student behavior worsened, turnover rates among staff increased, and the principal hired for Flores Middle quit just after the new school opened. 

Brent Bushey, CEO of Fuel OKC, a nonprofit that provides financial support to charter schools, has watched Pollock鈥檚 journey from the beginning and recognized where the network stumbled.

鈥淭hey overextended, and that came through in the academic results,鈥� he said. 

Since 2021-22, the original middle school hasn鈥檛 earned higher than a C. Flores, the second middle school, has been stuck at a D since it opened. But those are 2025鈥檚 scores, and Pollock is hopeful about where Tulsa Honor Academy is headed. Last year, Flores Middle saw the highest fall-to-spring growth in reading and the third highest in math on NWEA鈥檚 MAP assessments among the 60 schools that submitted data to , a national nonprofit formerly known as Building Excellent Schools. Tulsa Honor Academy Middle was second in both reading and math.

Overall, the high school earned a C from the state, but was graded a B for postsecondary opportunities, better than the state average 

Overcoming the pandemic hasn鈥檛 been the only crisis Pollock has had to weather. In March, a former middle school teacher following accusations he texted a 12-year-old student and inappropriately touched the child. The school fired him in January and released a of the steps taken to report the situation to police. According to Tulsa police, the investigation into whether other students were affected is ongoing.

鈥楾ipping point鈥�

As she focuses on Tulsa Honor Academy鈥檚 growth, which is expected to reach nearly 1,800 students with the new elementary school, Pollock also has a larger goal of inspiring and supporting more Latino educators to start charter schools. She helped to launch , Latino Educators Advancing Leadership, a word that also means loyal in Spanish. 

She was the first and remains the only Latino charter school leader in the state. It鈥檚 both a point of pride and what she calls a 鈥済ross disservice鈥� when the majority of students attending brick-and-mortar charter schools are Latino. She鈥檚 encouraged that another Latino leader, Robert Ruiz, will open a in Oklahoma City in 2027.

The biggest barrier, she said, is the lack of educational attainment among Latinos in Tulsa. data shows that less than 20% of Latino adults have a bachelor鈥檚 degree or higher. Pollock sees that void in her own work. Two years ago, she knew of four Latino charter school assistant principals in Oklahoma, two of them in her own schools.

鈥淭he tipping point is going to be once our scholars graduate from college and we can start hiring them back,鈥� she told 社区黑料. 鈥淢y biggest dream is for one of our scholars to eventually sit in my seat.鈥�