The Program. Class Updates. How to Get Involved. Let's Go. This site uses cookies: Find out more. OM High School, which enrolls 85 students at any one time, regularly has 60 young people applying for the 20 available slots each six weeks when new students are admitted. Although there are no eligibility requirements, the school does require an interview and often turn away many interested students due to limited space. Open Meadow Students, Rodney and Sarah met with participants to discuss their experiences in the high school program.
Rodney, who is 18 years-old, is working on a work study packet and plans to graduate soon with more credits than required for a high school diploma. The CRUE high school program, a partnership between OM and the Wetlands Conservancy, enrolls 42 students ages in a crew specializing in integrated marketing and communications, natural resources, or human services for field-based learning and community service projects.
The mostly hands-on curriculum emphasizes a positive work ethic and marketable job skills while using community project sites as classrooms. Participants are expected to complete project work for external project sponsors two days per week in crews of eight.
Upon completion, students are eligible to apply on a priority basis for career-track jobs with the partner corporations. Trip participants enjoyed an evening reception with members of the Coalition of Metro Area Community-based Schools C-MACS , a loose but highly effective coalition of 16 community-based organizations working with PPS to comprise a comprehensive education system accessible to all students.
In addition to running their own schools, many of these community-based youth-serving organizations cooperate closely with nearby public schools. The product of this collaboration is a system offering attractive, student-focused options for students, with programs and paths to meet their varied needs. The 19 programs offered by C-MACS range in size from 10 to students annually and are all evaluated externally on a regular basis. Located throughout Portland, they include drop-in, GED, small diploma-granting, and community college programs.
They also provide specialized services for homeless youth, teen parents, recent immigrants and English language learners. The mayor has been committed to providing a space for youth voice in city government. The Bill of Rights for Youth grew out of a need to agree on what youth need. Kennedy-Wong articulated the goals as placing children as a priority of the city and its administration and educating the public on the available services for young people as well as highlighting the lack of service, motivating city officials and the public to work in this area, and addressing the gap.
This initiative entitled Connected by 25 is a collaborative effort among Portland Public Schools, alternative education providers, business, advocacy organizations, the state, city, county governments, and Worksystems, Inc.
Portland is one of only five cities in the nation to receive this funding. The data helped the group target one area for their work: the 8th to 9th transition.
Connected by 25 is working with its partners to effectively address this transition period and will measure its success based upon improvements in student transitions. The process, which took just over a year, solicited input from young people and adults in the city of Portland and surrounding Multnomah County. The Youth Commission has been and will continue to be the lead organization around youth issues and will continue to serve as a joint advisory council to the city and county.
Both co-chairs commented on how they are beginning to see youth voice including in many policy and planning conversation. It is evident that the Bill of Rights for Youth has been excellent leverage for including young people in these conversations. During the question and answer session, panelists were asked to identify the state and federal measures that have aid the city and county in its effort to reconnect and engage young people.
The panelists commented that in Portland the conversation about secondary school redesign has always included out-of-school youth since many of the same organizations have been collaborating. In addition, community development block grants and federal youth violence prevention block grants have been used to fund this work. Portland Community College PPC has been committed to creating access and alternatives to youth through a variety of different programs.
Students enter the Gateway to College program after an application and admissions process that screens them for academic ability to succeed in college-level coursework as well as desire to participate in the program.
An average Gateway to College participant is between the ages of 16 and 20, out-of-school or on the verge of dropping out, behind in high school credits average 7. During their first term, students participate in Gateway Foundation, a cohort learning community with classes focused on reading, writing, math, counseling and guidance, and an academic lab to prepare students for the challenges of college-level work.
The purpose of this foundational semester is to help participants learn how to see themselves as a different kind of learner.
After this initial semester, students transition into traditional classes at PCC, but continue to receive additional support from the Gateway to College staff. This includes a Resource Specialist who serves a case manager, assisting students academically and directing them to other support services.
Students remain in the program until they earn a high school diploma or until age In addition to their outcome data, Gateway to College has been collecting information from students on their experiences with the program.
Funding is based upon a formula for average daily attendance, which covers the cost of courses books, wrap around student support, program, and administrative costs. Portland Community College does have financial aid available for qualified students. Huddle shared with the group some student success stories, but also highlighted policy changes at the federal, state, and local level necessary for programs like Gateway to College.
Following the formal presentation, the group has an opportunity to dialogue with Gateway to College students. Students spoke about what caused them to drop out of school and how they came to Gateway to College. For many students, traditional schools did not meet their needs either academically or socio-emotionally. In comparison, the Gateway program provided them the flexibility to maintain a job and the support they needed to overcome the obstacles that previously had made them unsuccessful in school.
Students talked frankly about the stereotypes of a dropout, the reasons for leaving their previous schools, and why the Gateway to College program worked for them. To reach struggling students and out-of-school youth, Portland Public Schools PPS has created a broad array of programs of its own and works closely with community-based organizations and Portland Community College to offer a wide-range of options to retain and reconnect students.
The district in the process of taking what it has learned about providing multiple options to struggling students and out-of-school youth and making this a central strategy in its high school redesign efforts.
Superintendent Vicki Phillips told the group that the district is working to make sure that all young people are successful by age 25 and that the system provides high-quality options grounded in the curriculum but eclectic in their delivery. With the Connected by 25 initiative, there is a move to look beyond schools to a whole community-wide system of services for young people.
In addition, the community-based organization and in-district education options programs have recently been moved into the PPS organization chart as a core piece of academic programming for that group of students.
The concept of education options is part of the PPS high school plan. The value of the community-based organization alternative schools has been stressed by leadership so that now everyone in the district understands their importance. The district is analyzing where the supply and need are in order to assess what changes need to be made. The goal is a portfolio of small schools, with options which are all equally valued so that the system has the best possible match for every student and provides some fluidity so that students who need to make a change mid-stream can do so without losing credits and falling behind.
One area where the district is thinking of making changes is in the 11th and 12th grade programs, where they are considering offering more options for internships, dual-enrollment, and real-world experiences.
As Portland is beginning to experience a labor market crunch, the business community has concerns about their ability to find skilled workers. As outlined in the purpose of the trip, the goal of the trip was to have participants understand practices and policies in Portland and the state of Oregon that facilitated both dropout prevention and reconnection of out-of-school youth. In the words of the participants, here are some lessons learned:. Portland, OR Tel. Attend Orientation to learn more about PAVE services and eligibility and to ask questions about the program.
Open to youth for employment- and school-related needs, including job searching, resume writing, applying to college, and other support and resources. JRT is an online, self-paced program that participants attend to learn about job-search strategies, resume building, cover-letter writing, interview skills, and career exploration.
Visit our program webpage for more information.
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