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Rethinking Schools
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- Lets just turn all our schools into clean power plants ... - specialmaggic
- I agree that LEP high is the best and by ... - Dana4949
- Why on earth would you even contemplate closing a school ... - artichoke
In his first major speech on education policy, President Obama called for a broad rethinking of the U.S. education system. He advocated for a range of improvements from “better standards and assessments” to the end of state caps on charter schools. The Northwest has many examples of innovative education, but also, critics argue, much room for improvement. What are successful models of schooling in this part of the country?
In his education speech, President Obama said:
One of the places where much of that innovation occurs is in our most effective charter schools. And these are public schools founded by parents, teachers, and civic or community organizations with broad leeway to innovate — schools I supported as a state legislator and a United States senator.
Oregon has plenty of examples of schools already rethinking the structure and model of the school day. At Ashland High School, for instance, students can apply to participate in the Wilderness Charter School. It's an alternative program within the school where children spend a year learning in a straw bale classroom. They study permaculture and green building; they participate in backpacking trips and on-site gardening.
What does innovation in Oregon schools look like? What schools in your neighborhood have embraced dynamic reforms? Are you a teacher, parent or student in one of these schools? What sets it apart? Are you working to implement creative changes in the educational model in your community?
Guests:
- Michele McNeil: Staff writer, Education Week
- Jonah Edelman: CEO and founder, Stand for Children
- Jerry Wilks: Principal, Oregon Connections Academy
- Tricia George: Director, Sojourner School
- Stevie Newcomer: Principal, Pauling Academy of Integrated Sciences, John Marshall Campus
Tagged as: education · high school · school
Photo credit: Photo credit: squarepants2004j/auntyhui a / Flickr / Creative Commons
COMMENTS: (105 total)
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I don't know exactly who this is, but I too do a lot of work at New Urban High School and I have to say that as soon as I started reading your comment I knew it could only come from someone who works in an enviornment like NUHS. That school should be the model for how education actually works. I have witnessed some of the most amazing conversations and breakthroughs at that school. I work with Bevin Smith for the Healthy Kids Learn Better research project.
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A teacher in the USA school system should have the chance to visit schools in Europe where parent participation is infinitely greater than here and teachers are never allowed to let the students pull their chairs together and sleep through the class, as is allowed in the local Waldorf School. And they throw 30 lb book bags across the room.
This tolerance for lousy practices leads to low acceptance into decent colleges, something that plagues many private schools in this country. There seems to be a tendency to let things go because the parents have enough money to set their kids up in business.
(I am not available for further comment because practices I dont accept in schools where I may have to teach would never review my application.)
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I was so pleased to hear this speech from President Obama - acknowledging the complexity of the education process and calling for innovative, cooperative solutions. Imagine my heartache when 2 days later, we received word that Lep High in Portland may have its charter renewal denied by the Portland School board.
Lep High is a dynamic, diverse, innovative program. It serves children who have failed in other settings but also provides a place for academic achievers who are looking for learning that fits their needs and society's needs for the future. Using project based learning with a focus on leadership and entrepeneurship, the school has high standards of performance, no social promotion, more class time, internships, and college prep mentoring.
The program at Lep High is exceptional, the student body diverse, the staff inspired, and the families involved. Lep faces the same financial concerns that all schools - including PPS - face. Lep faces - and continues to overcome - additional challenges that are heightened by decisions of PPS. Challenges that could be eased by a more full partnership with the school district.
Lep High is the sort of place that President Obama could point to as a model for the future. Unfortunately, it may not be given a chance. The Portland Public School board will meet on March 30th to make their decision on Lep High. This program works academically and socially and can work financially. I sincerely hope that there is sufficient community outcry to demand that, the school board step up, renew the charter, and assist Lep High by distributing to them the full measure of funds allocated for students attending the school.
And to the board, if you won't help Lep High, will you at least not stop us from helping ourselves?
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Yippee! Our President supports Charter Schools!
PPS Board ~ Please renew LEP High School's Charter.
My son is a sophomore at the Leadership and Entrepreneurship Public Charter High School on Burnside. He is focused on achieving grades of 90+, which he is doing. He tells people he likes school. He's benefitting from the special relationships he has with his teachers due to their commitment and care to each student's success in a small school environment. He is looking forward to interning in 2009. As a parent volunteer, there are plenty of ways for me to get involved in the school community, which I enjoy. Thank you for considering my special request for a special school. -
What does innovation look like in Oregon schools? Look at LEP High School, 2044 E. Burnside, Portland, OR. LEP (Leadership and Entreprenuership) High is a charter school. Only in its third year, this school is changing lives. You have to experience it or talk to the students and staff there to really 'get it'. This is a college prep school and yet it attracts students who are some of the highest at-risk youth in the city. It attracts students with learning disabilities who still dream of going to college. It attracts students who had dropped out of school because they didn't fit in but in their hearts still wanted to finish high school. It attracts students who for whatever reason got lost in the traditional school setting. It attracts students who have much to contribute to this world if only given the right educational setting. What sets this school apart? Imagine this: a school where 65% of the students live at the poverty level, but have hopes of attending college; where 20% of the students have learning disabilities but do well in regular classes because the extra help they need is integrated so they don't feel singled out; where the students all know each other and respect for one another is the rule not the exception; where the teachers work an extended school day and extended school year and can still be found on campus working with students after hours. Sound too good to be true? Well, you may be right, because Portland Public School Board wants to close the school this year because it is "not financially viable". Curious statement coming from the board that has withheld state funds that it had the option (and the responsibility) of passing on to this school.
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My husband and I worked on Model Cities effort to make schools ones that our children -- on any level -- could excel... that was over 40 years ago and the best bet yet towards that goal are charter schools.
How many times do you find a high schooler excited about going to school? Well, our grandson found the LEP Charter school by accident, stopped by, and enrolled the next day. He is thrilled and excited about his schooling, the teachers, the format, and is busy making business plans for his future. Now he tells us that LEP is on the "chopping block!" What a shame. This school provides a beautiful mix of our population, not only in color, but in societal levels..creating an atmoshphere of personal and general acceptance for who you are and what you want to be -- not on artificial status markers.... we can only hope for more of these types of school...not less. The LEP school needs to survive..
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Leadership and Entrepreneurship Public Charter High School, http://www.lephigh.org/, is a place where students are allowed to thrive and gain real-world experience when in a public school they might slip through the cracks or even drop out. Young adults get experiences in the real world with a project driven education and attend a school that makes sense to them. Why would the school board allow such a great resource to close? It would be a loss to our community.
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When I moved to NoPo 15 years ago I thought that Jefferson would pull it together by the time my kids went to HS. It hasn't happened. Nobody seems to know what to do with the school which has many fewer students than it was built for, but the district pays to keep it open, heated and lighted. My daughter went to a big high school, Grant, and got lost by teachers who have too many students to keep track of. We went to private school and it didn't work. Now she is at LEP charter school and she loves school the way Kx3 kids do. She gets herself up to go, and talks on and on about the day's discussions and lessons. LEP pays its own lease, and gets little to no support from the district. It is obvious to me that the district has little or no interest in our school or maybe charters in general. I have always been a proponent of small schools and continue to hope that the school board will have an epiphany and decide to vote to keep LEP open. What a waste of time and energy this process has been. If only our Principal, teachers and volunteers had been able to use it for the school and not the school board. Imagine what could happen!
Indraknits, NoPo
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Too bad for PPS. Schools like LEP will soon be the norm. The old traditional high school is such a manifest failure that change must come and must come soon. But PPS is too hide-bound to figure out a way to keep LEP open. They lack the imagination to put their power and money behind a working experiment. Instead of being in the vanguard of high school innovation, PPS will stay in the rear ranks. They will lose bragging rights for what could have been a jewel in the city's education system.So much for innovation in education. I guess it is OK only for the rich and powerful.
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Two days after President Obama called for more charter schools, The Leadership and Entrepreneurship Charter High School www.lephigh.org received the news that the PPS school board will most likely deny their charter renewal.
What I have seen at LEP is a community of educators, students, families and community members that care more deeply for their school then you could imagine.
I have seen the transformation of students who, when they started at the school believed that they were dumb, unable to be successful and certainly didn't believe they could ever attend college.
After two years I have seen so many students find that they can learn, that they can be successful in school and begin to envision a future that includes college. What a tranformation! I can't imagine where the majority of these students will end up if the School Board decides to close the school.
Many of these students have been homeless, in foster care, overcome unbelievable family situations and have found in LEP, a place where they can put those things in the background, and bring their hopes and dreams to the foreground. Many of these students have found a life-line that they would not find at a large traditional school.
At LEP, the staff know the students names, not just the ones in their classes. The staff meets regularly and finds ways of helping students that they see falling behind. Students are taught about college in every grade. Students create projects where they have the opportunity to put their ideas into action. They learn about a commitment to community service through projects that help community partners. Students are empowered to be creative, innovative and themselves.
How will we create a new generation of innovators, of innovative schools, of inventors and entrepreneurs if we kill the hope that these students have even before they graduate from high school?
Speak to any student at LEP and you will hear about a tranformative experience. Ask them what type of student they were in middle school or at their previous high school. You will find that this a truly unique school that must not be closed.
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LEP High is an innovative public charter school that provides an 21 century curriculum and real world learning to a diverse group of high school students. Leadership classes, internships, project based learning,and the small class sizes make this school unique. It is the personal relationships that the students forge with the staff that sets it apart. Teachers at LEP HIGH are able to provide a personal connection to students and are able to form a meaningful curriculum that engages and excites the students . They have an impact on their students lives that is transformative. Each teacher at this charter school is able to create a curriculum and are empowered to be creative and inspiring. LEP students feel like the school is their home, and a place they are eager to go to. It is a school that is already creating showing traditional PPS schools that you can excite and challenge students, close the achievement gap, so that students succeed no matter their ethnicity or household income. LEP HIGH is a place where miracles happen each day. The PPS board is short sighted in denying LEP HIGHS charter due to fiscal problems . LEP HIGH is achieving what the PPS system hopes to accomplish as it looks at paradigms for the future structure of public high schools. The educational innovations at LEP HIGH provide a beacon of light that PPS should support not extinguish.
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I would strongly recommend looking at Forest Grove Community School to see one alternative that contrasts rather strikingly with most other schools.
From their web site: "The Forest Grove Community School is a free public charter school that engages students in scholarship, stewardship and citizenship with the goal of educating for sustainability. We provide a caring, smaller school environment that challenges students to reach their highest potential through learning rooted in the local community." (www.fgschool.org)
This is a relatively new school, and still trying to match the idealistic goals they placed in front of them with the realities of implementation, but they are doing a wonderful job. The emphasis on meeting the individual students where they are and on striving to develop a lifelong love and yearning to learn is something that I think is missing in most schools these days.
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At Village Home Education Resource Center www.villagehome.org, education innovation is alive and well! We have turned traditional schooling on it's head. As a result, learners at Village Home are engaged learners, taking responsibility for their own education, with guidance from their family, at a very early age. If a learner isn't motivated internally to learn, the best teacher in the world, or the most innovative school model won't have much impact.
Our learners are eager to learn, and so it is no surprise that they are shining in the community. Just this year, we have TWO Lego Robotics teams competing nationally or internationally, a Destination Imagination Team going to state, and the latest Scripps-Howard Regional Spelling Bee champ heading to DC this spring (another Village Home student went to DC for two years in a row a couple of years ago). Last year, Village Home sent competitive teams to national competition in Lego Robotics, Destination Imagination, and Sally Ride's Toy Challenge.
Key reasons we have kids who love to learn and who are succeeding are that (1) parents are honored as the primary educators of their children (2) learners CHOOSE the classes they want to take (3) grades and testing aren't part of the equation (4) teachers were allowed to develop their own courses, and are geniuinely personally fascinated by the subject matters they teach (5) the focus is on learning, not on standardized content.
Village Home is a learning community, and doesn't really resemble what we think of as a "school". Perhaps real reform lies in our willingness as a society to really get out-of-the-box and try something very different, like we are doing at Village Home.
I am so happy to hear that Obama is addressing education, and I hope that we are willing to let the learners have a say in the process - if we listen, they will tell us what they need and want. And, it is interesting to note that Village Home has been around for 7 years now, and began as a publicly-funded program, but we are now private because the public-system was unable to support our model for learning, and we were unwilling to conform to the system's requirements. I see that LEP, another truly different place is also on the chopping block. It's a sad indicator of the education system's resistance to real reform. Hopefully, a new age is dawning.
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Innovation in schools requires a delicate balance between being open to lthe latest latest brain and pedagogical research while maintaining a degree of scepticism based on in-class experience. It flourishes when teachers and parents work jointly to demonstrate a passion for life-long learning and to provide the students with the skills they need to take intellectual and emotional risks in order to achieve their own goals.
Oasis School, in Richland, WA, is such a school. We have small (12 student maximum), multi-age classrooms to maintain a low student-teacher ratio. We allow children to accelerate by skill level (math, reading, writing) according to their abilities, but recognize that their maturity level means that, socially, they should generally remain with their age peers. Subjects are taught in a way that encourages students to make connections between science, social studies, math, and literature. The arts are an integral part of the curriculum because we have only truly learned when we can translate our new knowledge into a different medium.
We also try to develop and maintain a sense of community because children learn best when schools are not seen as separate from the rest of the world, but an integral part of it. That is why, whenever possible, schoolwork is tied to real life problems that our students can work to solve. With fewer than 30 students in the entire school, we consistently are among the largest contributors to the local foodbank during our Halloween fund drive (writing and public speaking.) Our students are also in the process of cleaning up and developing a native plant garden at a local public park that was neglected by the city due to lack of funds (science, civics, writing, art, math.)
A satisfied parent
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The Northwest Academy is a visionary educational model that combines rigorous academics and the arts. An independent school, grades 6 through 12, The Northwest Academy offers a college-preparatory program where students benefit from both small class sizes and the mentorship of master teachers, including former college instructors, and arts professionals active in their fields.
With its urban campus in the heart of Portland’s cultural core, The Northwest Academy (NWA) is still a bit of a secret gem in Portland. Not everyone knows that a school exists where middle and high school students get the chance to do college-level work with college-caliber instructors while utilizing Portland’s finest cultural and academic institutions—like The Multnomah County Library, PSU, and The Portland Art Museum—as an extended campus.
Over 25% of NWA students receive scholarship support, higher than most independent schools in the Northwest. Nearly 100% of NWA students go on to college; most are admitted to their first and second choice colleges; many receive merit scholarships from colleges and universities, some for full tuition.
Research proves that an arts-infused, academic education gives students the tools of self-expression and the ability learn almost any subject effectively. With its outstanding combination of academics and arts, exceptional faculty, and dynamic student community, NWA feels like a liberal arts college for middle and high school students.
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I cannot believe that Portland Public Schools is considering closing what may be the only hope for many kids who have not been able to fit within the mainstream education that PPS offers. This is a place where many kids have thrived to say the least when they could not motivate themselves in the traditional educational setting. As a parent who has made every effort with the traditional setting we have turned to LEP with the hope that our son would actually be motivated by the innovated curriculum and teachers at LEP High.
It would be a tragedy and a great loss to the many students that have found a place at LEP to excel.
PPS Please renew the Charter for LEP High
Bob Grummel
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If you want to see an educational model that prepares students for a 21st century world then visit the International Community School in McMinnville, Oregon or visit www.mac-ics.org.
The International Community School (ICS) is a private, independent, co-educational day school comprised of international and community students in both the upper elementary and middle schools. ICS has a rigorous educational program with high academic and achievement standards serving fifteen local and fifteen international students for a maximum total enrollment of only thirty students. The international diversity of ICS along with individual and small group instruction maximizes a student's potential and global perspective.
ICS is dedicated to the advancement of cultural awareness and understanding in order to build positive personal and professional relationships. By having a variety of cultures represented in our enrollment, and by exploring cultures on an intellectual basis, gives the students at ICS a personal insight into the differences and similarities of today's cultures, and better prepares them for the demands and requirements of the 21st century.
In addition to a rigorous educational program, and the advancement of cultural awareness and understanding, the International Community School uses the exploration of viable and sustainable solutions to global issues within its instructional framework. ICS offers its students the chance to work on real issues affecting our world within the context of authentic learning. This type of learning affords our students the unique opportunity to better understand the issues, the solutions, and their impact on the world's cultures and societies.
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When People I know start talking about what to do about a School for a child I ask how old, what grade would the child be in? What goals would you like your child to reach & how would you like him/her to reach them?
From the above questions I tell them that they have three choices in PPS that I would recomend & that they need to ge check them out & see which would be right for their child. I'm very active in the Boy Scouts so I talk with many parents from all over the city.
The 3 schools that I recomend, are LEP High Charter Schhol, Trillium a K-12 Charter School & Creative Science a Magnet School.
I have had sons in all three of these programs as well as 1 son who went the route of traditional public schooling. All have done well in there owen individual path but the 2 that have gone to special programs have found out a lot more about our world & the possibilities that they have in their future endeavors. The Special programs all talk with their students about College & about getting ready for the work force. My son that went the traditional school route found that the only futures brought to the forfront were Military or Work force upon graduation. Mostly due to income. My other sons have been told that they can do anything that they can make a difference in our Community & the World. ALL students are Encouraged to seek higher Education if they so desire & are helped along through the testing, application & acceptance process & financial process, through the Charter schools they attend.
Trillium started long ehough ago that they have had their Charter Reviewed & accepted by PPS many times & have even now bought their own building!
LEP High is newer & having some financial difficulties, due to their curriculum standards & innovative approaches to training Future leaders & entreupeneur's which is more expensive, to get started as they need much more community support & technology to get started.
Shame on PPS for not Supporting All Charter Schools & helping them to flourish.
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You ask the wrong question: "I ask how old, what grade would the child be in?"
It is harder to measure where kids are than just grouping all by weight, height, or age. In order to place a kid in math class, for example, you should probably look at some math test.
Not all 5-year-olds find algebra easy, and it is a horrible waste when those who do have to wait years before other kids their weight catch up.
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Let's see....my daughter was reading at a 12th grade level by the time she was in the 6th grade and is now an 'A' student in college. My son who is now a 10th grader is reading at an 8th grade level, BUT in the past year has progressed from reading at the 5th grade level to this 8th grade level. Which high school deserves more credit? Oh, yeah, the one that PPS wants to shut down, LEP High School. We can rethink the structure of schools and remodel what the school looks like all we want but if PPS has the power to shut down such a school how can we ever progress?
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I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who has worked in community mental health and schools. I now integrate movement into my work with youth and have found this creative and innovative approach to be highly effective. I had the fortunate experience of facilitating a movement workshop at LEP high school several years ago. What I was particularly struck by was the personal connections that each student seemed to have there with the staff. Having worked in many settings, I know that connecting with kids is critical - and the kids at LEP have come from lots of places where they had not succeeded...and at LEP they seemed to find a connection, a home. The workshop I did was really innovative and the kids were totally open to it. LEP seemed to have programming that was cutting edge in a lot of ways. It is so refreshing and I would hate to see it go.
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Education at its very core is about the students that it serves. I have been fortunate to be in education for over 15 years, serving as a teacher and now as an administrator. I have had the opportunity to see first hand how different models of education "meet" the growing individual child/student. Over the last decade, I have taught at Swallowtail School, a local Waldorf school in Hillsboro, Oregon. The roots of Swallowtail school, are to give the students the experince of outdoor classroom, with an emphasis on environmental education. One way we are meeting this part of our mission is by giving the students from Preschool through 8th grade the opportunity to farm and garden on our 26 acres of property. This curriculum, will allow each student, parent volunteer and teacher, to breathe fresh air, exercise/ work and gives the awareness of how to see our food grown from seed to harvest.
Innovative education, meets the needs of the students (artistically and developmentally), builds a relationship with the local community and the schools, and makes them realize that they can better serve humanity by working together.
I am thankful for our sister schools, pulic, private and charter.
I am equally proud of Swallowtail School, its students, and who we collectively help them become. Our graduates speak for themselves, and they shine...
come check us out...www.swallowtailschool.org
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My child is a sophomore at LEP High. I watched her as a young student struggle at elementary school. She mostly had given up.
When she began to attend LEP I watched her attitude and achievement increase. She began to thrive and is doing well.
The project based real life application environment at LEP provides the students with options to grow and learn in a way more suited to many learning styles. The sense of respect and community among students and staff is wonderful. It contributes to their success.
I think LEP deserves a chance to continue what has been started and carry these students through. Also future kids who may just slip through school system and settle for less deserve a school that shows them that they have the potential to achieve more.
Yes, money is important but the bottom line is PPS going to let these kids down who are thriving at LEP and be forced into a school environment that won't meet their needs.
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This year, I switched my 2nd grade son to Trillium Charter School in North Portland after I was dissapointed in the educational model I observed in our neighborhood school. At our old school, he was parked in his desk to spit out worksheets for hours each day. At Trillium, he in engaged and challenged. Trillium uses the constructivist model of education - a more creative and project-based model that has been widely shown in research to better educate kids. Schools around the country have been adopting this model with great results. Apart from a few charter or nontraditional schools, I find that most Portland schools are behind the times in the way they educate their students. I hope we can move beyond those out-dated models. I think community support for charter and nonstandard schools will be very important in the coming years.
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Yes, let's remember that our kids need to be prepared for 'the real world' in a different way than we were 30-40 years ago. Just think how different our world has become. Our kids will not work in the same model we do. They need to learn 'global' skills and collaberation. We need to think ahead.
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I shouldnt be surprised I am facing this dilemma with the poor thinking from district board members for these children regarding the future of LEP.I was ridiculed from family about my above average child going to a charter school- but I trusted my faith & the people at LEP with the most precious gift I have.With trust from the school,patience &some learning myself-I have a child thats almost college ready,working an internship with a medical center currently to prepare the desire to become a psychologist.The hands on experience with reviews for summer employment is given &my child has the high school credits & plans for college.Now my child &others have nothing holding them back but the clear thinking people who are PPS DISTRICT.they have given and helped with this school so far,NOTHING.What was I thinking?Portland help these kids because I can tell you this-you let this school close &close these kids off from a diploma they worked 11 years to get,close the future for them as more than half these kids will quit.What you should be concerned about is that these kids will not go to another school nor should they have too.They & those teachers have vested themselves & for once someone needs to ensure that they get what they have coming.Open your eyes up PPSDISTRICT look at the budgeting of other public schools that have maintenence people hanging up school banners 15 hours a week instead of fixing buildings or routine maintenence needed racking up un-needed costs.Imagine if we had the funds paid out in excess to this Texan whom evaluated our buildings & recorded maintence/repairs for the district-how many hundreds of thousands of dollars that was desperately needed given for that evaluation.Those whom throw stones about finances should also not live in glass houses.Instead of fighting each issue and not checking our own backyards-all your doing is hurting these kids when your on a 'better than thou' trip, so really step off & step up to these kids .You have no idea how truly detremental & indefinate mistake for the children that have ONE year left to graduate,to close this school.This is not an at-risk school nor about race or differences on education-its about the kids whom deserve to be just like you& me &graduated ready for college or a business-hoping to fulfill the dreams with the skills they received when you help them achieve.
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The exact model that Pres, Obama is speaking of exists here in Portland on 20th and E Burnside, yet is in grave danger of being closed by the extraordinary lack of vision and seemingly anti-charter bias of the PPS. LEP High is everything a modern, nurturing, and efficacious school should be, yet its future hangs by a thread. It is a scandalous outrage that PPS wants to revoke the LEP High Charter yet withholds funds and holds LEP to a different standard than other PPS Charters. These are kids who have gone thru other PPS options and have found them sorely lacking.
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My son who has just a touch of autisim went to Cleveland Hi for his fresh. and half of his softmore years. We couldn't have been happier with the great teachers and counselors that made up his IEP team. They worked really hard with us to help with his unique attitude. (He's not real big on authority.) It was truly a team effort of 6 or so workers.
Mid way through his softmore year he switched over to LEP high school which is a charter school. There methed is different. They actually have a much higher level of expectation. A C is failing and gets you manditory study hall after school. But they also plan mentor time as part of the school day. So the kids get the support they need to succed.
My son has thrived there. He is not on an IEP and has only one C. (so he's staying after for study hall and not complaining about it.) He has started looking into colleges and is doing great just like all the other kids.
It is a shame that the Portland Public School board can't seem to understand that the kids at LEP would cost the disctrict much more to educate with all the support staff at a regular H.S. Economically they are really misssing the boat.
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Alice Waters, the so-called mother of slow food, was interviewed on 60 Minutes last night. She helped introduce a program in a Berkeley middle school where students learned to grow, harvest and prepare their food. Search cbsnews.com for more detail. Oregon should institute similar programs to create synergy with the existing farm-to-school program.
LEP sounds like the kind of learning environment that should receive support from Portland Public Schools. I attended MLC (Metropolitan Learning Center) for eighth grade and I believe that experienced saved me.
Bored out of my skull at public grade school, I begged my parents to send me to MLC where my primary teacher encouraged me to develop a curriculum that interested me. I especially recall trumpet lessons; volunteering as a tour guide at OMSI; getting into computers which eventually became a profession; and practicing yoga which helped shape my life's outlook. I only attended MLC for one year but the experience provided a profound break from boredom and conformity.
I grudgingly re-embraced conformity and discipline at Benson High School. Benson offered an excellent opportunity to gain well-rounded college preparation in addition to auto mechanics, machine shop, electronics, carpentry, welding, drafting, biology, chemistry, physics, etc.
I understand Benson is being dismantled as a trade school and this is disappointing. Our so-called "knowledge society" is missing an essential ingredient: people who can innovate and build stuff. We've lost too many craftspeople and their good paying jobs. We're losing the path from a school like Benson to apprenticeship to professional.
The first four or five jobs I had after college involved mentors and apprenticeship, but as I progressed through my work experience, training and mentoring disappeared. This should not happen in a knowledge-based society which relies on the constant updating of skills to remain competitive. I believe competition has been over-emphasized at the expense of cooperation but that's an issue for another TOL.
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I go to L.E.P. I believe it is exactly what Obama was talking about with better standards and assessemants, So now they want to close it!!!!!!!!
I want to keep my school open because its the school for me. The teachers care more about you. They have higher expectations as a school. And they provide a school that is meant for the future. And by this I mean, it is business and entrepreneurship oriented. It helps people get ready for the future. LEP High also has more to offer. They feel that a classroom setting is not the only way to go. They incorporate an internship program that is not offered in any other high school. Come junior year you begin to apply for internships and feel what it is like to be in the real world. Once you get your internship you have a half day of school and a half day of interning at local businesses. LEP also has a higher standard then normal high schools. It sets a standard of C or above instead of the PPS High Schools D or passing scale. I love this school and to see it shut down after i just switched would be a disaster. Supposedly the district has kept money that the state has rightfully given us. Our teacher totaled up the calculations for how much we should have and we are missing and it came to $525,000 dollars that was supposed to be given to us from the district. Now on top of that amount they also have given less to our school on a whole because a charter receives about 60% of what a pps high school receives on a per child basis. And that number is not included in the amount totaled.
Now the reason they say that don't want our charter renewed is due to financial instability? How does this work? How can a system trying to help our children be so unjust? Why is it that when I go to Cleveland I am worth more then if I go to LEP? Did you know a person who goes to Cleveland, Cleveland gets roughly $10,000 to $12,000.When a person who switched to LEP, LEP only gets $6,000. Why and How can our school board be this corrupt to put a price tag on a child?
Oliver
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I want some one at the school board etc, to explain to the media and everyone ,, in simple terms,where specifically does,our,$$$ for schools go!?
Please ,I do not need another costly survey,that puts words in my mouth,,,,D.M.
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Part of rethinking schools is rethinking how teachers are trained and mentored. Teaching is a profession where novice teachers are put in the same position as 20-year veterans. We need to support our new teachers, which will, in turn, impact student achievement.
I am one of the project coordinators of the Forest Grove and Hillsboro School Districts’ joint mentor program. Our goal is to build better teachers faster and keep them in the teaching profession, with the goal of greater academic gains and we are all about student success!
New teachers get a veteran mentor who does collaborative planning and co- or model-teaching, observes the new teacher and provides meaningful feedback, and allows opportunities for the new teacher to observe their colleagues.
As new teachers face drop-out rates higher than any high school in the state (50% quit in the first five years), we must be committed to teacher mentoring to improve quality instruction and student achievement! We definitely encourage funding of a state-wide mentoring program for beginning teachers (and administrators)!
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Teacher quality impacts student success more than any other in-school factor. The Chalkboard Project is an independent, non-partisan organization formed in 2004 by Oregon's leading philanthropic foundations to explore the challenges facing our K-12 public schools and seek solutions. Five years later, Chalkboard has invested in an innovative project--CLASS. CLASS stands for Creative Leadership Achieves Student Success. Three school districts in Oregon are piloting the project--Tillamook, Sherwood and Forest Grove. The project allows teachers to take the lead in creating an approach to compensation and performance that is not merit pay yet prioritizes student achievement. CLASS is rethinking the approach to developing teachers career paths. Highly effective teachers are created and supported through the new career paths these pilot projects are building. To learn more about the CLASS project, check out: www.chalkboardproject.org.
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If education is really going to be reformed we need to start talking and listening more to the people who are actually being educated. That would be the students! Students of every age have an opinion about what would work better for them. The minute we start asking students what they need then we will begin to truly educate them.
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We need excellence and flexibility in curriculum in all schools, and not just a few charter schools. Charter schools often exacerbate inequities that exist between programs and encourage parents to drive their children across town daily. We need more support for elementary schools to which children can walk or bike, schools that reinforce their neighborhood community by connecting neighbors of all ages.
What would be innovative in Oregon is more State money getting more teachers in front of students. We need more money going to pre-K, and full time kindergarten in all schools, and less money to administration and consultants.
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"Getting more money to get more teachers in front of students" ??? Isn't that what is wrong with our schools?
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The Oregon Virtual School District (http://orvsd.org) is a program funded by the State of Oregon to provide online learning tools and course content free of charge to any public school teacher in Oregon (including charter schools). It enables teachers to innovate through the use of Internet technology to extend learning beyond their classrooms and bring online tools in to enrich their existing classroom activities. Teachers can use tools like blogs, streaming video, online quizzes, discussion forums, online assignment submission, and podcasting to teach in new and innovative ways.
In these times of budget cuts, it is also important to note that this program enables teachers to do more without forcing them or their districts to spend scarce resources on things like servers and technical support. The ORVSD program enables educators do more without costing them any more.
The ORVSD currently serves approximately 250 schools and 17,000 teachers and students around the state - and is adding new schools as well as new tools and content every day.
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I think that "merit based pay" must be used carefully. Imagine, for a moment, a teacher in a largely ESL (English as a second language) district that has poor standardised test scores, not because they are a bad teacher or have poor students, but because many of the students have trouble with basic skills like reading.
How should this teacher be compensated? Their job is likely harder than it would be for teachers in an English speaking district, and learning tools and smaller classes would help tremendously. In a merit based system, this teacher would lose pay and possibly even resources - the opposite of what would work!
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What happens when a charter school opens up in a neighborhood where the neighborhood public school is going through difficulties due to low numbers? All the energy that goes into opening a charter school--imagine if that energy was infused in the neighborhood school.
If we all put our energy into our neighborhood schools, we would see such gross inequalities in our public schools--it is truly a disgusting thing. If you don't believe me, try visiting a school a school like Buckman in SE Portland, then take a drive to Woodlawn school in NE Portland.
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I am concerned we are so focused on learning the left brain material, that we forget to develop the right brain with art and music.
It is scary to hear my sister in law who teaches first grade say she does not have time to do Art with her students, because she is evaluated on if everyone is reading by the end of the year.
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The arts can be combined with 'left brain' learning. It has been done well in many schools. Unfortunately, each school and district seems to reinvent the wheel. While every school community does need to have its own identity, there are some things which are just 'universal'. And, the parents of those first graders should be reading with their kids 30 minutes a day, minimum. If each child received that one-on-one parental attention, they would all learn to read by the end of first grade.
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I am happy to hear that you will be talking with Jerry Wilkes of Oregon Connections Academy. This is an innovative online charter school that reaches many of the children who do not fit in the "middle".
ORCA works really well for many families. The fact that they have their own "learning coach" (usually a parent) who oversees their work and answers their questions makes it really effective for children with special needs.
My son is very quick to learn, and he can go through the curriculum at his own pace. There is immediate feedback on how he is performing, and he can check the status of his grades and assignments at anytime. Parents in my area are very frustrated that their children are not challenged or stimulated. The philosophy tends to be "they will all meet th requirements at the same time".
ORCA is at risk of losing it's charter because of the 50/50 rule, which I'm sure Jerry Wilkes will address. Some of the rationale seems to be that even though ORCA costs about $4000 less per student than a bricks and mortar school, most of those kids come in from homeschooling, and so actually cost the state more money. I am offended that my child is not considered worth state funding.
I do not live in Portland, so my children can not take advantage of LEP and other options. An online education allows my son to get a quality, individual education.
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The 50/50 rule merely requires charter schools to serve primarily the district which granted their charter. It does this by requiring them to maintain a minimum 50% local student enrollment. The rule does not threaten ORCA's ability to serve students in the Scio district, it only works to prevent them from taking students and their dollars from districts who did not invite them in to serve their students.
Let's not forget that the company that runs ORCA Connections, Academy LLC, is a for-profit corporation. Their primary purpose is to make money for their stockholders, not education. They make money by enrolling students and taking their enrollment dollars from the student's home district. The more districts they can take money from, the greater their profits.
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I agree with you 100%. I put a comment down below. My boys are in Connections this year,and if it's shut down, there are no good alternatives. Just the public school, which failed them.
Emily
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I think the greatest influence President Obama could have would be to his best to influence parents to take more responsibility for their children's education. As a parent volunteer, I see the teachers in my daughter's elementary school doing a fantastic job...giving 110%. However, that doesn't have much of an effect on the child who had Skittles for breakfast, or the one who was allowed to stay up late watching an R-rated movie. And these are kids from 'good' families. We need community leaders, starting from President Obama at the top, to help educate the parents along with our kids. And although it's unpopular to say this, the parents of ELL kids need to understand that if they want their kids to suceed, they too need to learn English. We need to recapture the sense of working together to create educational communities in which no child, or family, is allowed to fail. There is really no time to lose.
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Bravo! You're absolutely right. Our main focus for "educational" reform should be to reform parent behavior.
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Yes, I agree with you - BUT - I have always been heavily involved with my kids, volunteering in the classroom, doing extra activities at home, ensuring good nutrition and sleep - and public school was NOT working for them. They are in Connections Academy this year and thriving.
Emily
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Two of my children attend Oregon Connections Academy (ORCA), a virtual charter school that very successfully meets their educational needs. Oregon legislators are considering legislation that threatens ORCA's existence. If ORCA closes, we'll homeschool again, as will many, many other ORCA families. Our local school districts, which currently get a percentage of the allotted tax dollars for each ORCA student, seem to want our kids to enroll locally so that they can get all of the allotted tax dollars. They may be surprised to find that they will actually lose money if ORCA closes.
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This is disingenuous of ORCA, falsely claiming this will "close" ORCA. The legislation is not a threat to ORCA's existence as a charter school for Scio. Rather, it is preventing ORCA from skimming the easy-to-serve students and their enrollment dollars from the other districts around the state. Scio has invited Connections in, so they're free to serve that district unencumbered. The 50% local enrollment rule prevents out-of-state corporate schools like ORCA from inflicting their predatory business practices on districts that do not want them.
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Grigorpdx-
ORCA serves students accroos Oregon. There is no district in Oregon where 50% of (or even close to) ORCA's families reside in. ORCA is unable to even move to a district that has 50% of their students. This would force ORCA to close.
Take a look at ORCA's student body before claiming that it "skims" students. I also don't think it's fair to refer to students that work hard and take pride in their work as "easy-to-serve."
-kj
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Sitting
Waiting
Not knowing
MY future in the hands of others
Hands that are tightly compacted in anger
In hatred
Not understanding the root
What brings us together
A common thread weaves all supporters
All champions
The KIDS
The KIDS that walk through school doors
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
They are
Learning
Reading
Writing
Computing large tables
They are growing and understanding
Like a sapling becoming a large oak
The kids are grown into adults that become the leaders and the future of our nation
The KIDS are the future
Your hands are holding the future
And you’re making a fist
Squishing all hope
Destroying all praise
Making it impossible for the tree to grow
For the future to succeed
A punch to the face a blow to the gut
The door of opportunity is closed
All we can is hope that a crack is left open
A crack can let light in
So the kids are not left in the dark
With NO where else to go
We need someone to lead us
Teachers that are guiding
Teachers that are caring
Teachers that see us as PEOPLE
With a future
They hold our hand
They do not make a fist
Unclench your fingers and hold our hands
This is a poem I wrote about my school. I love my school so much. It is more than a school it's my home. I love my teachers I love my peers. Please read this on the air. Please read this OPB. Please read this to the public. This is a plea to read this.
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Hey, I am a student from LEP. I used to go to cleveland. In a year and half there I learned a grand total of nothing. Cleveland was supposed to be one of the best buisness programs in the PPS system. In one week at LEP I learned tons about buisness and thinking.
I auctually get a chance to be involved in this school, when i say something I am not ignored because of my youth. I auctually WANT to learn. This school is the best thing that happened to me and I am not alone when I say that if this school goes down I am done with High school.
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Here's the Data Quality Campaign, which assesses states' assessments, and which Jonah Edelman mentioned earlier in the hour:
http://www.dataqualitycampaign.org/
David Miller — Mon March 16th 9:39a.m.
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In my opinion, the biggest problem with schools is the society from which the children come. Parents are not doing what needs to be done to develop their children's intellects and behavioral skills.
The children are coming from a tv-watching (f not tv-saturated) toddlerhood which does not develop attention spans, does not develop creative thinking, does not develop social skills (taking turns, sitting without talking, listening, sharing), and actually changes the structure of their little brains (proven in research).
Interestingly enough, the kids who come from structured preschools and whose tv time was limited when they were toddlers are much better prepared for "real" school.
I volunteered in my grandson's classroom (in Corvallis! but please don't mention on air), and what I observed is that a large percentage (as much as 50%) of kids are not prepared for school by their parents. They are hyperactive, jumping on tables, climbing on each other's backs, yelling when the teacher is trying to get their attention, throwing pencils at each other. What I observed is that this very good and dedicated teacher had 24 students, 12 of whom were out of control before they ever started kindergarten.
As a grandparent and not a teacher, my problem with teacher merit pay (especially based on test scores) is that teachers would have to bear all the responsibility for the children's intellectual development and parents none. Teachers can only teach if parents do the proper child-rearing before the kids start school.
What I observed is that the teachers are incredibly dedicated, talented and eager for their students to do well. However, they get an enormous range of children -- from those who have never had a book read to them and never had to sit still for a game of Candyland (learning to take turns) to those are reading before they start kindergarten and need all sorts of advanced enrichment and stimulation (because their parents have done their preschool job well).
It isn't fashionable, but I really believe that kids should be split into classes based on their completion levels. My grandson, who is very intelligent and was allowed to watch only particular television programs, was in a classroom where 50% of the other students had tv-induced hyperactivity. It was very hard on him and in the end, we schooled him at home for two-thirds of the school year.
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Before you innovate, you need to equally and adequately fund existing schools.
I was told three years ago by a district manager in Portland that one particular outer NE school received slightly more federal funding than a particular inner SE school. However, the NE school suffers from overcrowding, and has poorer test scores, and visibly worse facilities.
The quality of education that my child receives should not depend on the neighborhood or city in which I live. I shouldn't have to send my kid to a "charter" or "focus option" school that's 60 minutes across town in order for my child's educational needs to be met.
Bottom line - If you want good schools, you need great staff, parent involvement, and quality education for students at all educational levels. All that requires Money.
Let's divert 800 billion dollars to education and see what happens.
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sethrh: "Let's divert 800 billion dollars to education and see what happens."
Hear hear! Let's do a little math here:
Take the $700 billion used in the initial bank bailout. Oregon has approximately 1% of the US population. 1% of $700 billion is $7 billion. Oregon has 1200 public schools. If the billionaire bailout had been instead spent on education, each and every school in Oregon would have $5.8 million.
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We have schools that are working. There is money out there. For every $10,000 that a regular high school student gets a student at a charter school gets $6,000.
Why at Lincoln High school did I get $10,000? Why when I go to a charter school am I worth less to PPS? Why do they want me to have less money because I made a choice? Why is PPS punishing me? All students should get equal funding. I am inspired at LEP. LEP is helping me become the best person I can be. I just want to stay at my school because it works. Please we just want to stay open. We have a program that works. We have teachers that want to teach. We have students that want to learn. We just want to learn. That's all we're asking for. Please let us learn. Let us become the leaders and the future of our country.
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One of the online commentators mentioned the typical 3rd grade class with kids operating at widely different levels.
Change THAT.
Let kids regroup as necessary to allow classes to be focused on level and rate of the kids in the room.
Strive for each kid learning something in each of their classes.
Budget neutral. Same kids go to same number of classes.
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I'm a white, half-Jewish sophomore girl, and I attend LEP Charter High School. I've gone to a different school every year since sixth grade. I've attended a variety of private and public schools, including a very large public high school. I know what I'm talking about when I say we need schools like LEP. We need unique environments that hit on unconventional topics, that encourage free speech and free thinking. We need enthusiastic, engaging teachers who still possess the initial excitement to teach, who reason with students and speek to them like equals, like the adults they're gearing them to become. We need incredibly diverse student populations, where we are all different but together, where there is no friction between races, where it is truly like a family. We need students who are being taught how to function in this society, in this crashing economy, which was brought into chaos because of human error. We need students who are eager to learn, who came here because they weren't thriving in their previous schools, who are willing to fight for their schools. I've never seen anything like the enthusiasm to keep a school afloat that I've seen in the past week. We need this sort of education. We need students to be exposed to classes called "Leadership", LEP's hallmark, where they're taught how to think beyond convention, where truth and questioning is encouraged, where we're taught how to create a business and be self-reliant, and where the term "escape the Matrix" is commonly used. I cannot, cannot, cannot stress enough how much LEP has benifited me, how much it has benifitied the lives of so many students who would be struggling to tread the waters of mainstream schools, and who would rather drop-out than return to their previous schools. We need an educated, a truly educated generation. We need to support schools like LEP.
Thank you.
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There are some things Jerry Wilks is glossing over when he talks about the Oregon Connections Academy:
First, they're skimming the easy-to-serve students off the top, taking the enrollment dollars from their local district, and then dumping the difficult-to-serve higher needs students back into the local district. They are absolutely taking money away from districts, despite his protestations.
Second, Connections Academy is not an Oregon school. It is an out-of-state corporation based in Baltimore, Maryland. They're skimming Oregon tax dollars out of our school system and taking them out of state.
Third, all-online content is not the best way to teach a struggling student. Online learning is very good for self-motivated, successful students who are seeking classes that aren't available locally. But for students having trouble, the less-structured impersonal nature of online learning makes it that much easier for them to fail and drop out.
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Regarding the first, Oregon Connections Academy actually has a very high percentage of students with special needs and students that have been expelled from their school. The majority of their student body is not the high flyers.
Regarding the third, online learning is for self-motivated students and parents. Oregon Connections Academy requires a high level of parental involvement.
I'm not sure about the second but I think sometimes it takes cooperation- in this case, of a private business and government program, to successful provide education. There is a lot of private partnership going on in the public schools.
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Skimming? Considering how much EXTRA $ a special-ed kid brings, you'd think the districts would be glad to load up on them and be rid of those low-value normal and bright kids.
Wait: that does describe public schools under No Child Gets Ahead (albeit an unintended consequence).
Districts should fish or get off the pot. If they were coming close to meeting the needs of their students, Connections Academy would not have any clients.
I almost agree with your third point. Online learning is very good for SOME students, but not all "self-motivated, successful students who are seeking classes that aren't available locally". Those for whom it is should be encouraged to use it. Wish them good fortune.
If a school has a hard time meeting the needs of a "self-motivated, successful student who is seeking classes that aren't available locally", they really do not deserve the business.
I have no connection with the academy, but I am happy to see some students being educated there (or where ever they go).
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BardlyG, the extra money a district gets for a special-ed student is less than the additional costs associated with providing that student with an education. By skimming off the low-needs students, companies like Connections are leaving a proportionally larger burden on the local districts.
I have no problem at all with charter schools. They serve a valuable role in providing alternatives to mainstream traditional schools in public education. They provide a source of innovation and act as an agent of change in our school districts. However, I have two very large issues with what Conenctions is doing that has nothing at all to do with charter schools:
1) They are a for-profit company. As with any corporation, their first (and arguably only) motive is profit for the shareholders. I have very serious ethical problems with seeing our public schools being delegated to organizations whose primary purpose is making money and not education. The education of our children is too important to our society to suborn to a profit motive.
2) Connections is trying to use Scio as a beachhead to go after those high-profit, low-needs students in other districts around the state. The Scio school board invited Connections into the district. Nobody outside of Scio should have grounds to challenge or question that decision. If they're happy with that decision, fine, it's their business. But when Connections starts poaching students from districts that did not grant them access, that's a whole different issue. If Connections wants to serve students in Portland or Fossil or wherever else, they need to get permission from the local school board - just as they did from the Scio school board.
Yes, our school system is fundamentally broken. Outsourcing our schools to corporations is not how we fix it. Charter and alternative schools are a great source of innovation and change. We need to give the innovators in our charter and alternative schools the opportunity and funding they need to change the system, not turn it over to someone else to run it for a profit.
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Thank you for your considered reply, grigorpdx.
It appears from the outside that the government-run schools are also in it for a profit. Teachers want to get paid, and they should be. Employees of outfits should get paid, whether they are govt. or commercial outfits.
Managers of companies and administrators in bureaucracies are also in it for the same reason: they get a salary. Stop paying them and see how long they keep up their good work.
I strongly disagree that administrators should have such control over whether their students can leave. They have an inherent conflict of interest. Do you really think that the prime motivator of the admin is the best interest of each kid?
This puts families in the dilemma of putting up with child mental-abuse, or moving to try to find better. We eventually took that step, and, not coincidentally, we are approaching bankruptcy. Our children are that important to us.
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BardlyG, government institutions (schools or otherwise) are absolutely not "in it for a profit". Having the funds to pay an organization's employees has nothing to do with profit. Nonprofit organizations and government agencies are legally prohibited from making a profit, but they still have to pay their employees. The difference is that a for-profit company takes any income in excess of its expenses and gives it to the stockholders as dividends, etc. while a nonprofit or government agency must reinvest any surplus funds back into service delivery.
As a long-time public employee, I am greatly offended at your implication that administrators in bureaucracies are primarily in it for a salary. If I were in it for the money, I'd be working in the private sector for a salary 30%-50% more than what I make here. Many of us who work in the public sector do it because we think the work we do on behalf of the public is more important than how much we get paid. Yes, we get paid - we have to eat and pay the rent, too - but money not necessarily the primary reason we do our jobs. While I do not work for a school district (I'm an IT geek), I know quite a few very dedicated and altruistic people who do work for our schools. It's a thankless job that pays poorly and results in an unending stream of insults and derision because they can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Underfunded and unappreciated, they still go you work every day and do their best to educate our children.
As to your other point, I don't think the administrators should have control over whether a student can leave. Nor do they. I think you're confusing policymaking with implementation. The elected school board of the community is the policymaking body has the power to grant a charter to a school, not the district administrators. The administrators can only implement the policy the school board dictates. If you're not happy with the school board's decisions about what options are available in your district, don't take it out on the administrators and teachers. Rather, take your grievance to the school board who set the policy.
All I'm suggesting is that an online charter school must get permission from the locally-elected school board to enroll students from the district exactly the same way a new brick-and-mortar charter school in the district would have to do.
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Charter schools, precision testing, parent involvement are critical to improved schools . . . BUT . . . when active parents flock to a few "good" schools, the proportion of uninvolved parents increases at the others. This exacerbates all the problems a classroom teacher faces: behavior, study skills, study habits, resources, hunger, social problems, fewer parents to accompany field trips, computer illiteracy, everything. It all boils down to the involvement of parents, and that needs to be addressed NOW!
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Having had elementary age children in both the East Coast (Virginia), and now here in Oregon, the main difference I have noticed (and there are many!), is that the academic expectations of both the schools and of the parents here are a LOT lower here. It is so much more of a "we want everyone to feel good" atmosphere here, even if the students haven't put forth the effort needed to excel.
My daughter was in a "TAG" program on the East Coast, I was informed there was an active "TAG" program here in our district, only to find there is no such program. I finally had her current teacher be honest, and say they don't have TAG, as they want to focus on everyone. They cancelled the spelling bee, as the kids that didn't do well in previous years "were upset". Where is the motivation/drive to excel/exceed?
TAG aside, one thing that amazes me is the lack of consequences here for not completing homework/assignments/projects on time. The children may have been "doing video games", "going to dance class", "too tired"; some of the many excuses I have heard. There are no consequences! What are you teaching these children..? It's okay to slack off, not do your job, we just want you to feel good about yourself.
We do have an active parent participation level at our school, but it still amazes me how a lot of parents seem to put academics second to other activities.
I think WAY too much emphasis/blame is placed on the teachers, they are stuck with some of the ridiculous guildelines by the districts, almost all of the ones I have run into here are exceptional.
I believe it starts and ends at home, if the parents value and help their kids value education, responsiblility, and the idea that actions (or lack of actions/effort) have consequences, it would have a giant impact on graduation rates/academic standings.
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You make some very good points. I am also the parent of a TAG student and have had some struggles with getting any real challenges for my daughter. And, I could not agree more that parents need to be involved; they need to say 'no' sometimes; they need to realize that academics are more important than soccer and dance lessons. I heard a recent suggestion referring to why Asian families seem to have high-achieving kids.This idea was that Asian families value education and often promote academics at home by having a 'family hour' when the entire family sits down after dinner. The kids do their homework, or another 'academic' activity, parents read (not People magazine either). Can you imagine what would happen in our schools if even half the families did this?
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Good morning. I have been trying to call and not able to reach you. I am the principal of LEP High School, a public charter school in SE Portland.
I want to clarify that the money does not completely follow charter school students. We do get 95% of the state school fund, but get no city, county, other state or federal funds. When you add it all up, we receive about 59% of what district schools receive to educate their students. We also pay about $200,000 a year in rent on our building.
Our school is diverse and includes students from every corner of the city and 12 other area school districts. The majority of these students are low-income and students of color. They deserve equity in funding. These are public school students.
Our school has received a great deal of recognition for our program but is at risk of closing because of this funding inequity. Please address this issue.
Charter schools are designed to provide innovation in education, but the status quo may not allow that to happen, due to funding inequality.
Thanks for including this in the discussion.
--Lorna Fast Buffalo Horse, School Director, LEP High
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New teachers bring fresh, innovative ideas and welcome energy to our school systems. They are often pioneers with technology. They frequently bring connections from other careers. That being said, I have yet to meet a teacher who describes his or her first few years as smooth and efficient! Mentoring beginning teachers – supporting them during these early years - is one of the most cost-effective investments we can make for improving student achievement.
Our work through Oregon’s Beginning Teacher and Administrator Mentor Program is tackling the challenges of teacher retention and teacher quality head on. By pairing beginning educators with experienced mentors, we are speeding up the growth curve that characterizes a teacher’s early years. Participating teachers and their mentors collaboratively plan curriculum, analyze student achievement data, and brainstorm how to address challenges. Mentor teachers model lessons, co-teach, and provide valuable classroom observation feedback.
There is a growing body of research documenting the incredible impact mentoring programs have on teacher retention and student achievement. When you combine this with research on the impact of highly effective teachers, what we know about adult professional development, and the financial drain associated with losing teachers (37 percent of Oregon teachers leave the profession within the first five years), it’s clear that mentoring programs are an essential component of any innovative education system.
We're hopeful the Beginning Teacher and Administrator Mentor Program will be allowed to continue past its first year so that we can continue to learn, grow and support our teachers and students!
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I feel VERY strongly about this school, were ALL family. I used to go to Madison High School, and it sucked. I felt like the teachers that I'd had never cared about me. And they didn't really help me when I needed it the most.
So I wanted to start over; so when my grandparent told me about LEP, I was a little iffy about it.
I'm really happy that I'm going here now. All of the teachers that I've had in the last 3 years, they understand what my goals are in life and they know who I am they care. For once I'm caring about wanting to go to college, when I was at Madison I was just like forget about college thats not for me.But I want to go to college now. I want to be the frist person in my family to go.
My parents have even notice the change in my eyes about how I feel about my life to come, and I thank LEP so much to help me. I want to be a teacher when I get order or a fashion designer.I'm learning soooooo much from my internship. I don't think Madison couldn't do that for me. BUT LEP can, I KNOW they can.
I've been here snice the very begining. And now PPS dosen't want to keep us open. They DON'T understand how many student parents teachers dreams....ect... they are killing. I started crying. I DON'T WANT TO GO BACK TO MADISON!!!
This school is the best thing for students. Please help us.
I DON'T WANT TO BE AWAY FROM MY FAMILY!!!! WERE ALL FAMILY!
Thank you. <3
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(crossposted in a related discussion yesterday at www.dailykos.com):
IMO the discussion around standards and assessment must move to a point where we acknowledge the fundamental, fatal flaw in our assessment system:
what is easy to measure and easy to score is not necessarily what is important.
Picture any academic high-stakes assessment with which you are familiar. You're probably picturing a selected response (multiple choice) assessment. Such assessments are an economical way to assess knowledge. We use them because they are cheaper to administer and to score. We get more numbers back out of them--and the scores we get back are more reliable than, say, scores on essay exams, because there is no subjectivity required on the part of the scorer.
The problem I have with the elevation of any such test is it wrongly ascribes too much importance to a very small subset of the kind of skills and abilities that I hope our students are able to master. If we elevate some NAEP-like test to such importance, as we seem to be moving to do, I fear the tremendous negative washback effect in classrooms as we continue to focus our attention only on students' ability to perform a very narrow subset of more routine tasks (focusing on the what of factual recall or routine computation, rather than the why of applied learning).
I find that when we put so much importance on such tests, staring at the results of the same kinds of measures seventeen different ways, we are like the man standing on a street corner looking at the pavement. When asked what he was doing, the man replied, pointing to his left, "I lost a ten dollar bill a block away from here, and I'm looking for it." When asked why he was looking a block away, he replied, "The light's better over here."
We have a deep desire to continue to improve education for our children. But I fear that we're spending too much time scrutinizing the ground a block away--because the light's better over here.
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Cynic alert.
Does it even matter how we test if we are not prepared to act based on the results?
What good does it do a kid to show great results in 3rd grade? The answer is they get the same old stuff they were planning to feed next year in 4th grade regardless. Boring.
Cheap tests can be excellent diagnostic tools, but if no one is prepared to administer treatment based on results, why bother at all?
Look through this bag of comments and see the support LEP gets from its clients. I think that is a compelling "measure" of something worthwhile. Yet there is serious talk of cutting it off.
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I love Lep. This is the only school that will let people like me achive alot in school. I hate school but, LEP is diiferent. At other schools none of the teachers cared at all. The teachers at LEP care so much about the students. They try there hardest to get the students to be ready to go into the real world.
Alot of students agree with me. LEP has helped so many students that if it was closed they couldn't go back to their neighborhood schools. This school has hepled so many people find their dreams, their passisons and what they want in life. Why would PPS destroy this? This is the only place those people can achive their dreams.
I want to be a FBI agent or a doctor. LEP is the only school that will let me be what ever I want to be. They know what I want to be and try to help me be that person. They care so much about the students education that they will stay after school to help you. I love this school so much. Hopefuly PPS will open their eyes and see that this school Is good for kids.
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I am an LEP high student and LEP has been responcible for countless positive changes in my life and i will not let pps shut us down. Without LEP i would have never been inspired to working twards becoming a success in life. if LEP closes i would just drop out i cannot work with a regular high school.
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I write a technology in education blog. (www.biggreenschoolhouse.blogspot.com)
I had a post last week about Meriwether Lewis Elementary. This Portland school is using technology in innovative ways. You can read the post here:
http://biggreenschoolhouse.blogspot.com/2009/03/elementary-school-paragon-of-technology.html
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My children were victims of so-called innovation in the public schools. In the early grades, they wrote using "Guess and Go" and "Stretch and Spell," rather than actually learning spelling and grammar rules. They were trundled to the computer room to write essays when they could neither write an essay nor type. I rarely saw more than a line or two appear in a half-hour session in the computer room. To this day, the writing and spelling among most of their peers is atrocious. How can they be creative when they can't put their thoughts on paper in any coherent way?
In math, they were subjected to the first years of "Investigations," in which they learned lots of alternative ways to add and multiply, but never learned the actual math. To this day, my daughter says they just played with the little tiles called "manipulatives," never actually learning anything from them. They would tell you that, to divide a number in the hundreds, you had to subtract 100 until there wasn't another hundred to subtract, but they could never actually divide the amounts. Later, they had "Connections," which expected the students to figure out the math by looking at the applications. The books jump from subject to subject rather than building on a base of knowledge and contain a tremendous amount of reading to find just a problem or two -- very little practice to reinforce what the lessons are supposed to teach. Students who have had this method have huge gaps in their basic knowledge and then struggle mightily through high school math. If you don't know that 2 X 2 = 4, you can't apply it.
Group learning seems to be a popular method of "teaching." An occasional group project may be fine, but, when used on a regular basis, one student usually does all the work, while the rest do nothing.
Finally, who is teaching the teachers? I may scream if I hear one more teacher or principle say, "We're doing real good." Even your guest Michele McNeil said, "It depends on where you are AT." (My CAPS.)
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Thank you for defending standards of grammar! I recently saw an advertisement from the National Education Assoc. promoting reading week, and the word 'less' was used instead of 'fewer'! Arrghhh! I must say that in general, I think teachers are very hard-working and dedicated. But, let's keep our standards high.
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Porcella and Maggiet
I would imagine that the teacher's priorities are the kids- not their grammar. I would guess over 75% of all public school teachers work 50-60 hour weeks. However, it's always good to have an ideal commentary writer driving them to work harder and point out their mistakes. Checks and balances.
It's also good that your kids have you for roll models though... right?
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My children atttend a small school called Class Academy. Each class only has 10 children in it. It is a year round school, children go to school almost 60 days more a year. The classes are age blended learning groups based on the working level of the child not the age of the child. The school teaches mostly with an multisensory approach.
I am thrilled with the school. The teachers are amazing, happy and extremely attentive to each child. It is apparent how only having 10 children in each class affects the child's learning and the teacher's ability to teach.
Class Academy works for us because of the intimate learning environment, the small size of the school and the teaching methods. I have a child with some learning difficulites who would not recieve many supports in the pubic school. She needs a smaller class with lots of one on one with the teacher. This is something that is simply not an option in the public system with 26 kids in each kidergarden class. Additionally the year round schedule works for us because we are a two parent working family.
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Yes, we also think Class Academy is a hidden jewel in Portland. In addition to the very high quality personalized education, the school is amazingly reasonably priced (around $700 per month with all before and after care included 7am-6 pm).
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Please read the messages from LEP.
Look how much the students and parents care about this school. That strong love. <3
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The Major difference between LEP and PPS schools are in PPS the teacher's primary goal is to teach while at LEP the goal is for youth to learn.
This school has everything everyone needs to become what they want to be when tehy want to be it. It teaches creative thinking, dissent, debate, Leadership, and entrepreneurship. When you dont understnd something, they stop and explain. There is time before and after to study with teachers
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My friend and I attend LEP High, and the curriculum in our opinion is the best so far. It's an easy transition from middle school to high school. The school is more of a community than any other school. There are small classes, and everyone knows each other. Conflicts between students are very rare, and quickly resolved. LEP High was sad to hear that our school may be closed. Some of our students are devistated, and we are trying to do whatever we can to prevent our school from closing. The reason we may be closing is because of financial instubility. We are planning soon to hold a fundraiser to raise money for our school. Many students plan to do art, and are very excited. All we are saying is give LEP high a chance.
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The caller Carl is right about motivation parental involvement being key. But the public school system does need significant innovation and change. Old school teaching and parenting has a lot to learn from the latest research on behaviour and mental health.
Children do not fail to learn when they drop out of school. They are doing exactly what they have been taught by parents and teachers. Parents and teachers fail when children drop out because they have failed to seek and find a teaching method that reaches that child.
Proactive, reasearch based approches such as "collaborative problem solving" and "Second Steps" can be integrated into lesson plans by giving children choices in the way they learn a particular lesson. Maybe it is ok for johnny to sit at his desk and doodle while he listens in on the group discussion of the book that has been read in class instead of sitting on the rug with the rest of the students.
I hear a lot of these skill sets reflected in the comments of guests on the show today. However they are avoid saying quite bluntly that many if not most teachers will be offended by the expectation that they relinquish their "plan A" control of their classrooms to a "plan B" collaboration with their students and parents to discover a teaching/learning method that works.
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I'm the mom of two 6th graders who are in Connections Academy this year, a virtual online school. They were in public school from 1st through 5th grades and were languishing. They are very bright boys and there were NO programs for gifted children. They hated school. They were frustrated, bored, and depressed. They did not fit in with the other kids, for the most part, and were teased if they showed any interest in learning. This last year, when they have been in Connections, they have BLOSSOMED. The curriculum is very rigorous and interesting, and they have grown so much academically and psychologically. Great progress, happy self-directed kids, IT's WORKING!!! I have always been a very invoved parent but this is the first time things clicked for my boys. Now, Connections may be shut down because of political pressures or other reasons - I am stunned - why take away what is manifestly working, and force children back into a system that is NOT working - this must be stopped.
Emily from Talent, OR
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I just want to point out that the voices missing from this discussion are the public school teachers who are at work doing actual teaching while this program is on the air.
I suggest that they ought to be recognized as a great source for numerous ideas that they have actual experience in using and/or being around.
Also missing are education research scientists and the educators who teach the teachers.
I think that other countries ought to be looked at for what they do, particularly Norway, Sweden, Finland, maybe Cuba, etc.
Also, I think that far too many children are screwed up before they even get to school and we ought to look into early childhood development and do whatever we can to make our childrens learning foundations better. Specifically, we need to change from the very old religious model of using fear and punishment, to the newer scientifically derived parenting models of positive reinforcement of desirable behaviors and no punishment type reinforcement of undesirable behaviors.
The potential of humanity is amazing, and there are no secrets about how to make progress towards producing better people.
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I have been a LEP high student for two years and I have poured countless hours into making my school a better place for myself and all those around. I used to do all in my power to avoid school when was at lincoln. I skipped school and would not do my work. I have now a 92 percentage for my attendence and I have also raised my grades and learned alot in my two years. I have had many troubles in my years of school I have struggled my way through and now that I am at LEP I can only go up. If they close LEP I cant go back to a regular high school. If LEP closes I would have to drop out and get my GED. Someday I hope to be a cook or a photographer. My education at LEP has taught me many things and the most important was to follow my dreams and that is what I plan to do. I WILL FIGHT TO KEEP LEP TOGETHER SO THAT OTHERS CAN EXPERIENCE WHAT I HAVE!
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I live in Newport and we are fortunate to have a great local charter school at Eddyville School. The principal, Don McDonald, has led a great team of teachers and administrators in providing an excellent educational resource for Lincoln County.
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In the recent news of Leadership and Entrepreneurship Public Charter High School possibly facing closure and having a close friend who's son attends LEP, I would hope that words like this from Obama will remain in the board members minds as they rethink about renewing the school's contract on March 30th.
Being a young person who understands the struggle of thriving let alone surviving a high school experience, if a school is working and better yet working WELL for a student, why take that away from them? The students at LEP love where they are and are motivated by going to school. It is rare to hear that "school feels like home" to a student and should be continued in order to enrich the lives of young people and keep the link between positive and high school in the same sentence.
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Want to know what can be done to mitigate the effects of poverty on school achievement? Here’s a must-read from researcher David Berliner.
“Berliner reviews a half-dozen out-of-school factors that have been clearly linked to lower achievement among poor and minority-group students: birth weight and non-genetic parental influences; medical care; food insecurity; environmental pollution; family breakdown and stress; and neighborhood norms and conditions. Additionally, he notes a seventh factor: extended learning opportunities in the form of summer programs, after-school programs, and pre-school programs. Access to these resources by poor and minority students could help mitigate the effects of the other six factors.”
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Jonah Edelman said that growth models should show where kids are relative to themselves, not each other based on norm-based benchmarks. This is a great suggestion.
He also said we need to do more than high-stakes testing, and portfolios were mentioned as were attempts to measure creativity. Also great suggestions.
But here's a big red flag: we need to point to very specific examples of this kind of big picture assessment, otherwise it's just window dressing for quantitative data and test scores. Randi Weingartner, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, served as the head of the NYC teachers' union before she became AFT president. She sold out on performance/"merit" pay, claiming that teachers would be measured on more than just test scores. Guess how teacher "merit" is measured in NYC? Test scores, the fill-in-the-bubble kind of tests that Obama excoriated in his recent speech on education. -
I must commend Emily and the TOL staff for another great discussion. The high amount of responses here in online reflect the great concerns about education.
I was a little dismayed that not until the final caller at the hours end, did the subject of importance of art come up. I must concur and wholeheartedly express the dire need for saving education with the arts and sciences. As an artist all my life since early childhood, teaching the science of Astronomy for a term as an adjunct professor at a local college, I took it for granted that I was covering the most holistic view of humanity and the universe and choosing to exercise it as simply self initiated for my entire life. No one told me to be an artist or astronomer. Yet my parents may have encourages it with a father artist and a very patient mother who nearly became a nun before meting our father. I won’t deny the great home schooled environment I now know was a very nurturing place to grow up. I attended public schools but breezed trough with little or no effort. Perhaps growing up in Portland is responsible for this?
It was not until my astronomy art began to show up on NASA web sites in the past two years, I am now age 54 and simi-forced retired by the current economic cutbacks, that I was previously asked to lecture about my art and am again now arranging this for classes in both high schools and colleges as a free service as teachers know the importance of art and science and that this should be mandatory teaching in all schools. Whether singing, dancing, writing poetry, sculpting, sewing, baking, creative reading and writing, making a painting or sketching from life’s observations employ both the scientific methods and the artistic process. This cannot be learned from a virtual TV or computer screen. It is simply not the same interactive process that is essential to life and learning.
It is essential to establishing our place in the universe and saving the culture that is necessary to human and all of life’s survival as we know it. It must be first in the home and then at schools that have shown the importance of the arts and sciences. Those institutions that fail to recognize this have been shown to perish.
Mark Seibold, Artist-Astronomer, Portland Oregon
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"Embracing dynamic reform" is a pie in the sky notion when you’re fighting tooth and nail to privately raise enough money to fund a librarian. PPS is faced with daunting budget shortfalls that puts many schools and children at risk. They could mitigate that shortfall by nearly 8.5 million by creating equity within its health care benefits. All PPS employees other than PAT union members are covered with a generous plan that costs the district $9,815 per employee. PAT members, through contract negotiations, receive their health care from a private trust that cost $13,303 per person. By standing for equity and providing PAT members (some 2,450) with the same plan as their colleagues, the district could save 8.5 million; saving jobs and schools from projected cuts. Maybe then we could think about reform.
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My daughter is newer student at LEP, she has been there for just 2 months. I am so thank ful we have finally found an environment in which she can thrive again! This is a result of her knowing the teachers and staff truly care for the students. These students were not having their needs met at their local high schools and do not want to return there, most say they will not. Closing this school is sending a message to 250 children, that they really don't matter as much as we say they do.
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Why on earth would you even contemplate closing a school that actually teaches our children what that actually need to know ?
LEP is not your average school it's a school that encourages our Children to learn cutting edge skills and uses new modern principles to achieve the highest possible results. Using project based learning with a focus on leadership and entrepeneurship, the school has high standards of performance, more class hours, college prep mentoring and internships,
The school is Brilliant, a breath of fresh air and just what the Dr ordered.
Wow! A school that teaches our children what they actually need know going into the 21st century.
My son has only been at this school for a short period of time and we can already see the positive changes that have affected his life.
This school must stay OPEN ! It would be criminal to close such an asset for our future.
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As a parent of a LEP High sophomore I am saddened by the recent PPS Board sub-committee decision to recommend that the full Board deny the renewal of LEPs charter, forcing its closure on June 30th.
I am also perplexed.
The PPS Board subcommittee and PPS Superintendent, Carole Smith have publically acknowledged the excellent work that LEP High is doing. In fact, I attended the LEP High renewal hearing at PPS and during the hearing, PPS sub-committee chairs, Martin Gonzalez, Bobbie Regan and Dillafruz Williams commented a number of times about the excellent work that LEP is doing--even going so far as to ask our Principal/Director, Lorna Fast Buffalo Horse if she had engaged with PPS to inform their high school redesign stating that "we (PPS) could learn something from you (LEP High)". The Board members also focused on LEPs dissemination plans--in other words, they were asking how LEP planed to share their success with others so that the success at LEP could be replicated.
Then, a few weeks later, they voted to recommend closing LEP citing finances and a late audit report.
In a recent article, Carole Smith personally stated that the only reason that she concurred with the PPS Board sub-committee recommendation to close LEP was due to LEPs financial struggles, but again admitted what good work is being done at LEP.
What a short-sighted tragedy.
Creating an excellent, high performing, dynamic, engaging, and progressive 21st century high school is hard. It takes dedication, a lot of time and energy, and community support. Overcoming financial issues is not nearly as hard as the three years of preparation it took Adam Reid and Reese Lord and countless others to design LEPs successful high school model or the three years that LEPs staff and teachers have dedicated themselves to LEPs vision. What about the 250 students that have dedicated themselves to LEP and poured themselves into the curriculum and their education, believing this was their high school? This is the hard part and LEP has already done it.
---I'm running out of space, so my statement will be continued in the next comment---
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Finances are a challenge, but surely, through partnerships, awareness and innovation, these could easily be overcome. Don’t we owe it to these kids to do everything we can, to turn over every rock, to avail ourselves of every funding opportunity, to alert the community … to ask for help BEFORE we casually vote to close this school and turn our backs on the 250 students who sought out an alternative to the neighborhood high school? There is no other option like LEP so what happens to the kids who are succeeding here but haven’t elsewhere? Where do they go? Most of them have tried district schools, private schools and homeschooling. LEP is what worked.
LEP is recognized as an innovative, effective college prep high school serving a diverse population that spans every socio/economic background. We have 63% free & reduced lunch eligible students, but we also have upper middle class students, and students like my daughter who come from a white, middle class, single parent household. Every race, religion, academic ability and social group is represented (and accepted) at LEP. The teachers are truly dedicated to the education of these students but are just as dedicated to preparing them for life—teaching them real world skills. The curriculum is progressive, informative, engaging, and surpasses most high schools. The students are held to higher standards so that every LEP graduate is eligible to attend college in terms of grades and credits.
LEP students are required to earn a C or better to pass a class but are also given the support they need to accomplish it. The students are given every opportunity to succeed through daily ELO (Extended Learning Opportunity) which is an additional hour at the end of the school day when students are able to work with teachers to complete their homework or get additional instruction. At the end of each semester, if a student is not passing but is near passing and has been dedicated in their attempt, they are offered a week of ‘intercession’ during the semester break. The teachers will work with these students during the intercession week so that the students can bring their grades up to a passing C and progress to the next level. These teachers are dedicated and committed to each student’s success.
continued below...
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Another parent pointed out that we have two counselors at LEP. My daughter’s counselor returns my calls/emails the same day. She always keeps my daughter’s confidence but also keeps me informed. The Principal/Director, Lorna Fast Buffalo Horse is available and engaged with the students and parents alike. Teachers come in early and stay late to meet with students. The whole of LEPs staff, board and community volunteers are involved for one reason: the students. And the students know it, and as a result they love and respect their teachers and this school. These are high school students. Have you been around 250 respectful, engaged, positive high schools students? I have, I serve lunch once a week at LEP. I watch these kids and I can tell you that this is a community. These kids want to be at school. They want to learn. They have dreams and they actually believe they achieve them because their teachers have shown them they can aim high, reach high, LEP high and achieve. They can dream because dreams are attainable. They are taught how to implement their dreams, how to think critically and make good decisions and then they are given the opportunity to practice what they learn. These kids are encouraged to participate in their education, to demonstrate leadership and to succeed.
continued...
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Isn’t there a way we can partner with PPS to find solutions to the financial struggles that LEP faces? Can’t we work to solve the fiscal issues and keep this fantastic school open? With all the resources that are available to PPS there must be a way that we can save this valuable school. I can’t believe that closing it, giving up on the vision and success of this school and the students there is the best or only option. We are the adults, and we owe it to these kids to work together to find a solution. Quitting is the easy, lazy way out. Let’s not be lazy.
You can help and it doesn’t have to cost you anything but a few hours of your time.
Please support LEP and alternative public education by attending the PPS Board hearing on March 30th at 7pm. This is the night that the full PPS Board will vote on the LEP High charter renewal request.
Come show your support for the 250 kids that attend LEP. Show your support for the LEP High staff who voluntarily took a 10% pay cut this year and a 3% pay cut last year in order to keep this school viable. Show your support for alternative public education and innovation in the classroom that works. Show your support for LEP by coming to the renewal hearing. The hearing will be held at the PPS administrative office, the BESC, at 501 N. Dixon in Portland. It’s a big orange building just before the Broadway Bridge & across from the Rose Garden.
I invite every member of the community invested in the education of our young people to plan to attend this hearing. Education is everyone’s responsibility.
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Please visit www.lephigh.org to learn more about this school and how you can help.
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As you can tell, those of us involved in LEP High are truly dedicated to its success. It's about the kids, we can't help it.
I know it sounds like these kids are perfect, and I know they are not. They are normal teens but they are also extraordinary, and they are a community.
My daughter has a thriving cookie business at LEP (it is a Leadership & Entrepreneurship academy) and her first year, she was a bit naive and trusting and despite my warning, kept her week of sales in a bank bag inside her book bag. As a result, she had $160 stolen from her. It was truly devastating to her as you can imagine. She lost all of her profit and the money to purchase her product for the next week. It effectively shut her business down. In addition to the lost profit and debt to her supplier, the purpose of her business was to earn the money for People to People student ambassador trip to Europe that she was nominated for that year. The theft was devastating to her. But, do you know what the staff and students at LEP High did? When they heard what happened, they all emptied their pockets and over the course of a week they pulled together and donated back to her the entire $160 that was stolen from her. That response is absolutely indicative of the kind of community that exists at LEP.
So, yeah, the kids aren’t perfect, but they are extraordinary.
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Why on earth would you even contemplate closing a school that actually teaches our children what that actually need to know ?
LEP is not your average school it's a school that encourages our Children to learn cutting edge skills and uses new modern principles to achieve the highest possible results. Using project based learning with a focus on leadership and entrepeneurship, the school has high standards of performance, more class hours, college prep mentoring and internships,
The school is Brilliant, a breath of fresh air and just what the Dr ordered.not to mention Obama,and Carole Smith superintendent of schools?
R.M.Wow! A school that teaches our children what they actually need know going into the 21st century.
My son has only been at this school for a short period of time and we can already see the positive changes that have affected his life.
This school must stay OPEN ! It would be criminal to close such an asset for our future.
R.M.
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I agree that LEP high is the best and by closing it would be
really hard on the students. We are a country that should
be making education important for every student not just a few.
My daughter loves the school because she has made many friends
there and feels she gets so much support from staff and teachers.
Their school is dedicated to educating students from all
backgrounds. Many of the students get up early to ride the bus to
get to school on time, that is dedication because they love the
school that much.
Yes, some students come from low income families,foster care or
some have been homeless but that does not mean they are less
important then other students. We need LEP High for our future
and the future of Oregon and this country to educated our next
leaders to be building business that brings in more jobs. Yes
some could be our next President,you will never know if you
don't give them the chance.
I have appreciated LEP for all they have done for my daughter
helping her to stay in school and realize how important it is to
have an education. We need LEP High to stay open!!!!
On Monday March 30 at 7:00 at the main school building 501 N.
Dixion St. the school board will decide our fate. If anyone wants to
show their support we appreciate it.
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Lets just turn all our schools into clean power plants as a way to fund school teachers and activities. This can be accomplish with the same financing model that put 800+ KW on the PHC building in NE Portland. This would allow us to properly fund the education of our future leader regardless of their unique learning style.
With a sharp scissor to cut all the red tape we could create new jobs, secure our energy independence, increase real estate values, reduces our cities carbon footprint, and develop a basis for a locally generated clean energy grid.
As a side effect all of the schools would undergo energy remodeling which would make them all healthier cleaner schools which provide direct hands on educational opportunities in the green jobs of the 22nd century.
robert@arkpdx.org
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Innovation looks like love. There is no other way to put it. If you are truly involved in education it means you cry on a daily basis. It means you give your best because you cherish every single person around you and who may come after you. I am humbled by my students who have gone through more then I can ever imagine, and by the staff I work with who offer support when I can barely see my way. If I am truly aware of how I see the world and my place in it, I can offer a view that may spark someone else’s imagination and give them a sense of how their presence and art makes a difference in the world. Art is life it is a universal connection that we all feel. It is not only a drawing, a painting, a sculpture, or a poem, it is of our souls and how we translate our experience to another person. The place where I work is a connection, an umbilical cord where the ones who may feel few and far between save the most so at a time of readiness can give the most. New Urban High School is a community thriving on the outskirts making the impossible look easy. We are modeling every single aspect of what it means to be alive, sometimes it means starting with the individual threads to make a quilt.