FeATUReS
8 • The Southwest Portland Post
April 2008
Place-based learning key to new Southwest Charter School
By Polina Olsen
The Southwest Portland Post
When they walked around John’s
Landing looking for obtuse, acute and
right angles, each child kept a clipboard
and took two photos for the classroom
wall. In fact, the place-based learning
program at the Southwest Charter
School takes kids into the neighborhood
every day.
“The idea behind place-based learn-
ing is that if kids understand their
immediate surroundings and commu-
nity then ultimately they’re going to
care about it and turn into concerned
citizens,” said Anne Gurnee, education
director.
A former director of “OMSI-like” mu-
seums in Albuquerque and California,
Gurnee lives in the Ashcreek neighbor-
hood and worked for a Portland science
education consulting fi rm before com-
ing to the school.
“It’s great to learn about the Amazon
Rainforest but it’s abstract especially to
younger children,” said Gurnee. She
thinks Portland children should fi rst
understand the temperate rainforest
where they live and then gradually
broaden their knowledge.
Southwest Charter School opened in
Fall 2007 after winning approval from
the Oregon State Board of Education.
They found a building two weeks
before classes began. Built in 1954,
the 3,500 square foot warehouse once
belonged to a clock repair company.
Now, children, books and drawings fi ll
the one story building one block west of
Southwest Macadam Avenue.
*DUGHQ+RPH
+LOOVGDOH
Enrollment increased since opening
and now stands at 40 students. “We’ve
had a surprising number of mid-year
transfers,” said Gurnee. Kindergarten,
combined grades fi rst, second and third
(123), and combined grades fourth,
fi fth and sixth (456) make up the three
classes. Ultimately, they hope for grades
K-8 and 200 students. Their charter lim-
its class size to a maximum of 22.
Today, the staff wears green, and
paper shamrocks hang on the walls.
It’s St. Patrick’s Day. The kindergarten
class chats loudly as they head out the
door. They’re on their way to Physical
Education class at the nearby Easter
Seal Society building, where the school
rents extra space.
“I want to teach you one that was
new for me,” said the young instructor.
A Kung Fu expert, he sticks to agility
and balance with kindergarteners but
teaches Kung Fu to fi rst through sixth
graders.
“It’s called the Angry Gorilla,” he
continued as children get ready to jump
across the room. “First I face this way,
and then I turn all the way around.
Your knuckles will touch the ground.”
Back in the 123 classroom, the chil-
dren shouted “We’re making a lepre-
chaun city full of traps.” Haunting Irish
bagpipe music plays softly in the back-
ground. According to legend, a trapped
leprechaun must reveal the location of
his treasure. One girl holds up her paper
house complete with bed, pillows and
blanket. “If the leprechaun falls asleep,
you can grab him,” she explained.
Meanwhile, the teacher, Mike Mar-
tin, works with one boy on an essay
“My Weekend at the Zoo.” A corner of
+LOOVGDOH
Lisa Colombo ( who teaches fourth, fi fth, and sixth grades) supervises while Matt Lewin-
sohn (left) and Lexie Pansky work together on a project. (Post photo by Polina Olsen)
the room designated as The Wetlands
displays a paper kingfi sher and bald
eagle.
“At the beginning of the year, the
kids built a whole village,” Gurnee
said. “They were learning how a com-
munity works.” Every child had a job
and owned property. They even gave
out tickets for speeding.
According to Gurnee, the innovative
curriculum’s backbone lies with basics
-- reading, writing and mathematics.
“It’s a mathematical thinking curricu-
lum. It’s not a drill and kill where kids
are just memorizing,” she explained.
The math program, Bridges, is used
by several local districts. Reading and
writing are built into every day. “Chil-
dren choose books beyond their read-
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ing ability if they’re interested in the
subject. We encourage kids to follow
their reading interest area.”
Kindergarten begins the morning
with journaling. “They draw a picture
about something that’s going on in
their life or that they’re interested in,”
Gurnee says. The 123 class uses Writer’s
Workshop also common in many lo-
cal schools. “There’s a group of boys
writing a series of books on dragons,
-- they’re up to 12.”
Molly Cooper, of John’s Landing,
sends her daughter, Juliet, to Southwest
Charter School’s kindergarten. “She
learned to read within days of attend-
ing,” Cooper said. She originally sent
Juliet to Capital Hill Elementary but
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