Nov. 6, 2025 — What helps or hinders students as they strive for a high school diploma? Through the voices of students, families and educators over 13 years in Oregon’s public schools, the new one-hour documentary “Class of 2025: Growing Up in Oregon Schools” from Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) explores these questions and their answers.
“Class of 2025: Growing Up in Oregon Schools” – the capstone of the award-winning multimedia reporting project led by executive producer Rob Manning and education reporter Elizabeth Miller – premieres on the OPB and PBS apps Friday, Nov. 7. OPB will pair upcoming live screenings at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Ore., and The Redd in Portland with community conversations about how Oregon’s education system can better serve its students.
Lofty policy goal inspires ambitious reporting project
Conceived by Manning in 2012, the project was a response to then-Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber’s ambitious goal for all students entering kindergarten that year to graduate from high school by 2025. At the time, only about seven in 10 students made it to graduation. Rather than focusing on test scores and policy debates, Manning chose to follow a group of more than 25 students who had just begun their K-12 journey at Earl Boyles Elementary School in the David Douglas School District in Portland.
After earning the trust of students, families and an ever-changing series of school administrators, Manning and Miller remained steady touchpoints for the cohort over a dozen years of rapid societal change, including when COVID-19 forced students into remote learning. With Oregon’s graduation rate now at 82%, “Class of 2025: Growing Up in Oregon Schools” highlights key lessons about what drives students’ success, what holds them back, and the profound impact the reporting project had on many students’ lives.
“Reflecting the humanity of these children and parents was a high priority. At the same time, the project’s purpose was always to connect the students’ experiences with more universal issues in our schools. That balance was a constant challenge,” said Manning, who transitioned to become the project’s editor in 2019 as Miller became the main reporter.
“In ‘Class of 2025: Growing Up in Oregon Schools,’ we dive deeper into the lives of students and families while tracing through lines (such as attendance) that emerged from 13 years of filming,” Miller adds. “There’s more depth in this documentary than there has been in the past.”
Creative team
“Class of 2025: Growing Up in Oregon Schools” was produced by OPB and made possible by the generosity of OPB members. The creative team includes:
- Executive producer: Rob Manning
- Reporter, producer, host: Elizabeth Miller
- Editor, co-producer: Dan Evans
How to watch
The documentary will be available to watch Friday, Nov. 7 at opb.org/classof2025, on YouTube or on the PBS app. It will also air on OPB TV on Thursday, Nov. 13, at 9 p.m.
Public screenings: Ticket and event information
The community is invited to two screenings of the documentary, each followed by a discussion led by Manning and Miller: at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham on Sunday, Nov. 16, and at The Redd in Portland on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. Tickets are free for both events, but registration is required. For details, visit opb.org/events.
More information about OPB’s “Class of 2025” multimedia series – including news reporting, student profiles, podcast episodes, videos and photos – is available at opb.org/classof2025.