JANUARY 13, 2017, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A5
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McNary hosts AVID open house
KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley
McNary High School 11th graders solve a math problem during an AVID tutorial in the college and career center at an open house
on Tuesday, Jan. 10.
During the open house, Mc-
Nary freshmen AVID students
showed visitors how they orga-
nize their binders. Sophomore
and juniors gave tours and then
seniors were on a student panel,
where they answered questions
and described how AVID had
impacted them.
Visitors also witnessed
AVID tutorials, where students
worked at solving problems in
groups.
“One thing that I think is
really neat about it is when you
have orchestra kids, they prac-
tice harder because they have
a performance on this day so
they can preform well and stu-
dents will do that too,” Rhodes
said. “Being a National Demo
School, the school’s we’ve been
to, our own feeder school here
at Claggett, the kids performed
well when we were there. They
were proud of themselves and
we could tell that they had
worked hard academically so
that they could. So we feel like
our kids will get a lot of ben-
efi ts from us being an AVID
demo school.”
The open house was just
one of many steps McNary
must take to become a demon-
stration school, which it hopes
to do by 2020.
“You have to show a certain
area and profi ciency and prog-
ress to even have the right to
have the open house,” Jespersen
said.
MHS had to submit met-
rics to document school-wide
growth and performance in
order to become an AVID
National Site of Distinction,
which is a step before becom-
ing a demonstration school and
would take McNary to a whole
new level.
“It’s the fi rst real designation
that puts us above everyone
else,” Jespersen said.
The metrics haven’t been a
hold up for McNary.
For example, AVID has a
benchmark that a minimum
of 60 percent of 11th and 12th
graders must be enrolled in an
AP or dual enrollment class.
At McNary, that number is 82
percent. Eighty percent of se-
niors must complete the state’s
college entrance requirement.
McNary has 90 percent. Sev-
enty-six percent of McNary
seniors were accepted to col-
lege, over the AVID bench-
mark of 70.
And 60 percent of teach-
ers on campus must be AVID-
trained. At McNary, 66 percent
have received AVID training,
which Jespersen plans to grow
to 100 percent in the next
three years.
“We want our staff to feel
like they’re part of this jour-
ney,” he said.
McNary can apply to start
an 18-month coaching cycle
next fall.
“It’s like getting your PHD,
Rhodes said. “It’s a long path.”
McNary isn’t the only
PURCHASE 1 ENTREE + 2 DRINKS
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
Principal Erik Jespersen
wants McNary High School
to be a giant laboratory where
people come from all over the
country to see what his teach-
ers and students are doing.
On Tuesday, Jan. 10, Jespers-
en got his wish as 50 Oregon
educators attended an AVID
(Advancement Via Individual
Determination) open house at
the school.
The open house was anoth-
er step in McNary becoming
the fi rst AVID Demonstration
high school in the state, a goal
Jespersen and his staff set in
2015 while at NIKE headquar-
ters in Beaverton.
“It’s one thing to say you
want to be world class,” Jes-
persen said. “The natural next
question is what does that look
like? Part of what that looks
like is being a National Dem-
onstration School because to
be a National Demonstration
School you have to be really
good at a lot of things. This is
just providing a concrete road
map for us to be the best.”
MHS had a site visit in De-
cember, where AVID person-
nel came to tour the school and
sit in on AVID classes. McNary
has 200 students in eight AVID
electives—three for freshmen,
two for sophomores and ju-
niors, and one section for se-
niors.
“They do things that kids
wouldn’t think to do and par-
ents wouldn’t think to do, like
review a kids transcript and
then really work on choosing
their classes based on strengths
and weaknesses,” Assistant
Principal Rhonda Rhodes said.
AVID students are also
taught how to take notes and
be organized, encouraged to
try AP (Advanced Placement),
honors and dual-credit classes,
and get help with fi lling out
college applications and fi nd-
ing scholarships.
school in Keizer on its way to
becoming an AVID Demon-
stration School. Claggett Creek
Middle is already in its coach-
ing cycle, hosted around 100
educators from across the state
in December and has a valida-
tion visit scheduled for March
15, where Claggett will fi nd
out if it has become just the
second demonstration middle
school in Oregon.
“We’ve got some great feed-
ers,” Jespersen said. “It’s a Keizer
thing, not just a McNary thing.
Having one of our middle
schools that is also seeking to
do this is huge.”
At McNary, AVID strategies,
like WICOR (Writing, Inqui-
ry, Collaboration, Organization,
Reading aren’t being taught to
just the 200 students in the
eight electives, but to all kids.
MHS is also working on rolling
out a weekly advisory period
next fall for students who aren’t
in AVID classes.
Since a minimum of 60
percent of teachers must be
AVID-trained, one key piece
to becoming a demonstration
school is holding on to good
instructors.
“We think we have a stable
group of awesome teachers here
at McNary and they’re helping
us showcase AVID strategies in
our classrooms, they’re helping
us hit those metrics,” Rhodes
said. “And when they get here,
they stay here and they’re awe-
some here and provide great in-
struction to our kids long-term
and that’s how you achieve and
maintain that demo school
goal. Because once we achieve
it in 2020, that’s the beginning.
That’s when we start hosting
showcase days.”
“I think that’s really impor-
tant to highlight, too, is how
great our staff is and how happy
we are with our staff and that
they want to be here,” Jespersen
added.
“We want people knocking
down the doors to get into Mc-
Nary and work here because it
is such a good climate here.”
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