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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.

posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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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 30^th 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. 

posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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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.

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posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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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. 

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posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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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 21^st 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---

posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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