Millwood Public Schools students walked into a completely reshuffled campus this week, with elementary, middle and high schoolers all landing in different buildings than the ones they left behind last spring. The northeast Oklahoma City district's youngest students are now housed in a brand-new elementary school building, while middle schoolers moved into what used to be the elementary campus, and the high school expanded into additional space to offer students more programming.
Superintendent Dr. Cecilia Robinson-Woods laid out the new arrangement in a district Facebook video, explaining that Millwood Elementary Learning Academy now occupies the southernmost building on campus, Millwood Arts Academy's middle school has moved into the central main building, and the high school has expanded into the east campus, according to Millwood Public Schools. Students returned to class Monday morning, and as first reported by KOCO, the district opened the year with an entirely new campus layout built around that new elementary school.
Robinson-Woods asked families for patience while the district works through new arrival and drop-off locations tied to the reshuffle, per the station's report. The middle school's move into the former elementary building is one of the more visible shifts for parents accustomed to years of familiar routines, and district officials have acknowledged the adjustment period will take some getting used to.
New Building, New Names Behind It
The new elementary school building was designed by Renaissance Architects and built by High Definition Construction, a firm led by Millwood alumnus Mario Long, according to the district's Facebook announcement. Bringing in a graduate of the district to oversee construction of its newest facility gives the project a distinctly local imprint, tying the physical rebuild to the community it serves.
The reshuffling of buildings comes alongside new academic leadership. Ahead of the school year, the district appointed Candice Hamilton-Greene as Director of Teaching and Learning and named Zolunda Greenwood-Walker as the new principal of Millwood Elementary Learning Academy, per the district's live feed. Those hires coincide with the physical moves, pairing new administrators with the newly configured spaces they'll oversee.
Federal Dollars Fuel Athletic Upgrades
Beyond the classroom buildings, Millwood's athletics program is also getting a boost. The district received a $273,000 grant through the American Rescue Plan Act, and Robinson-Woods said the funding will help create better spaces for students across campus, per KOCO. County records show the exact figure was $273,333.35, committed through Oklahoma County Commissioner Jason Lowe, with the county board approving a $23,333.35 addenda increase for the project in October 2025, according to Citizen Portal.
That federal funding builds on a long run of voter-approved investment in Millwood's facilities. District voters passed a $14.69 million bond election in April 2018, part of an $18 million long-term capital plan, to construct a multi-sport facility and renovate existing elementary and middle school infrastructure, according to Wikipedia. That bond laid much of the groundwork for the campus overhaul now taking shape.
A Small District With a Long History
Millwood serves roughly 1,026 PreK-12 students spread across a compact 10.5-square-mile district boundary in northeast Oklahoma City, with facilities concentrated along North Martin Luther King Avenue. The district's roots trace back to the 1898 Deep Fork School, built on a 168-acre plot donated by J.M. Cramer that had originally been intended for a South Carolina cotton mill. When that mill was never built, the heavily wooded land and the school on it became known as Millwood.
Robinson-Woods has led the district since 2013, and in January the Millwood Board of Education voted to extend her contract through June 2029. Under her direction, Millwood became one of Oklahoma's first charter-conversion school districts, a status that gave it operational flexibility credited with helping remove all of its campuses, including the elementary school, from the state's academic at-risk list by early 2026, according to The Black Chronicle.
District governance rests with a five-member Board of Education representing Oklahoma County Independent School District 37. Seat 5 board member Andre Coleman won election in February 2025 alongside Board President LaToya S. High, giving the board that will oversee continued capital spending its current makeup as the campus transformation moves forward.
