September 29, 2010 Minority & Small Business Week Marshall Benson High would see smaller focus fore student en ro llm en t and the tra n sfe r cy cle b eg in s fo r the 2011-12 school year. M onday’s presentation kicked o ff a co m m en t period w here the .public can learn m ore and offer feed b ack . S u perintendent C arole Sm ith p resented the P ortland School B oard M onday w ith an updated plan to m ake sw eeping changes fo r the d istric t’s high schools. U n der the rev ised proposal, C leveland, F ranklin, G rant, L in ­ coln, M adison, R oosevelt and W ilson high schools w ould o per­ A H igh School A ction Plan hotline is av ailab le during b u si­ ness hours at 503-916-2801, sup­ ported in E nglish, S om ali, R u s­ sian, C h in ese, S panish and V iet­ n am ese. C allers m ay leav e a voicem ail co m m en t for decision the M arshall C am pus - B izT ech, P auling and R enaissance A rts acad em ies - w ould close after the c u rre n t school year. PPS w ould go through a process to assess o p tio n s fo r use o f the M arshall C am pus. O v er the past tw o years, th o u ­ sands o f P ortlanders have p ar­ ticipated in the process to d e ­ velop a H igh School System , offering th eir ideas and hopes for better high schools. If ap proved by the school board, the district w ill engage affected co m m u n ities to review options and m ake reco m m en d a­ tions on new attendance b o u n d ­ aries and stu d en t a ssig n m en t options. T his w ould o ccu r be- Conference Set for MED Aware T he B usiness D iversity Insti­ tute, a training institute for co n ­ tr a c to r s , w ill c e le b r a te th e ach iev em ents o f m inority en tre ­ pren eu rs and busin ess leaders d u rin g the M inority E nterprise D e v e lo p m e n t (M E D ) W e e k A w ard s C onference at the O r­ e g o n C o n v e n tio n C e n te r on W ed n esday, O ct. 6 from 9:30 a.m . to 1:30 p.m . T h is y e a r’s ev en t — “S trate­ gies fo r G row th and C o m p eti­ t iv e n e s s in th e G lo b a l d istrict’s adm inistration building at 501 N. D ixon. Y ou m ay c o n ta c t th e P o rt­ lan d S c h o o l B o a rd by e -m a il, sc h o o lb o a rd @ p p s.k 12 .o r.u s o r te le p h o n e at 5 0 3 -9 1 6 -3 7 4 1 . T o s h a re y o u r c o m m e n t at th e m e e tin g s, sig n up in p e rso n b e fo re the m e e tin g s, o r e a rlie r by c o n ta c tin g th e b o a rd o ffic e . T h e m e e tin g s w ill be o n c ab le T V , C h a n n e l 2 8 , an d stre a m e d liv e on th e W eb at p p s .k l2 .o r .u s . Carole Sm ith ate as com m unity c o m p re h en ­ high schools, d ep en d in g on their sive schools w ith n eighborhood a d d re ss. b o u n d a rie s and an e q u itab le , T he H arriet T u b m an L ea d er­ w ell-rounded high school p ro ­ s h ip A c a d e m y f o r Y o u n g gram . W o m en w ould no lo n g er o ffer a B e n so n P o ly te c h n ic H ig h high school p ro g ram , but w ould School, Jefferson H igh School, b e c o m e a s ta n d -a lo n e fo c u s an d e x is tin g c h a rte r sc h o o ls m iddle school, in d ep en d en t o f w ould m ake up a netw ork o f Jefferso n H igh, serving g rad es 6 focus schools - open to students to 8. from across the school district. T he existin g sm all schools on B enson w ill co n tin u e to o ffer a fo u r-year p ro g ram o f career and technical education, serving ap p ro x im ately 425 to 850 stu­ dents full tim e on the cam pus, en ab lin g students to pursue one o r m ore in-depth caree r focused program s. Jefferson w ould build on a p artn ership w ith P ortland C o m ­ m unity C ollege to o ffer a m iddle college program that provides students the ch ance to earn c o l­ lege credits w hile pursuing their high school diplom a. S tudents residing in the current Jefferso n boun d ary could choose to attend the Jefferson focus school, or have g uaranteed en tran ce into G ran t, M ad iso n o r R o o sev elt m akers o r speak w ith a hotline staffer. E -m ail questions o r c o m ­ m e n ts can be sen t to highschools@ pps.k 12.or.us. T he P ortland School B oard w ill m eet W ed n esd ay , O ct. 6 for a high school d esign w ork ses­ sion follow ed by publ ic testi m ony at 6 p.m . at the M arshall C a m ­ pus, 3905 S.E. 91st A ve. O n T u esd ay , O ct. 12, a reg u ­ lar school board m eeting and p lan n ed vote on the high schools is p lanned fo r 5 :3 0 p.m . in the E co n o m y ”— will recognize co n ­ tractors in the co m m u n ity for th eir ex cellen ce p erform ance. T he U .S. Sm all B usiness A d ­ m in istratio n and o th er g o v e rn ­ m ent en tities w ill be on h and to m eet w ith c o n tracto rs fo r b u si­ ness opportunities. T he m orning w o rk sh o p s w ill be fo llow ed by an aw ards lun ch eo n and then conclude. T he co st is $85 a p e r­ son o r $ 7 5 0 for a table o f 10. F o r m ore inform ation, visit b d iw eb .o rg . diversity "Print K la b lis h c d in 1970 Volume XXXX. Nuniher B Wednesday • March 31. 2010 '-’—J - ..UKVII J.. hseruer H ousing Special Edition I, Set im id r, p a g ri 4-5 / Ç W / ü -/ ainimumn vertice Commuted to Cultur.il Diversity Young, Black Gifted Recognizing kids on right track ■v J a *» I h o m \ x T h i P« m h tSDOws»KtrM Pnuland’ s African- American youth aie often caught up in a nei o f negative public perception, brought by new# ot gang violence, the sobering achievement gap and achool drop out rate* But there s plenty of young black k id , in Portland who are on the light path, making good grade,, headed to college, and are making positive contribution, in die city A new photographic tribute recognize, the hard work o f some o f these student* and shows that there i , still reason to be optimistic Young. Black & G ifted.” a photo essay pulling the spotlight on the accomplishments o f high-achieving A f r i­ can-American students, opens to ihe public on Monday. April 5 nt Portland School Ihstrict headquarter, at 501 N Dixon St and w ill later be moved to the Lloyd ( enter Mall. The project is the brain child o f Reiko W illia m ,, the district'* fam ily and community engagement manager, who said she got the idea after having a conversation with someone who seemed shocked when she mentioned an A ft ican-A menean Modem dial w ane* celling A Berthe con* versal ion she worried dial all ihe attention on the problem , o f young black student, was drowning out the hard work o f other,. “ You hear so much about deficits and achievement gaps,“ she said W illia m , «ud the exhibit came together with a call for nominations o f black students doing w elldish ici-w ule, and the recruitment o f a photographer and web developer Skylar H olt, a freshman ai JetTerwn I ligh School n one of the I t student, featured in the exhibit llolikgcts A * , and R'ainsvtiool She doe, especially well m English classes, taught by Anne Novinger, one o f her favorite teachers, and chemistry is getting steadily easier Holt plans to go lo college and is thinking about law school down the road " I’m enjoying it a lo t,",h e said o f her high school "I like cuntínuril tm /Mge ZV rwrroav JsKt T a o M v /litr Povn v s O m m v m SKyt.v Holt excels a t freshman a t leffcrson High School in north Portland H er contribution a s one o f the city's “Young. Black Lloyd Center M all A G ifte d ' students is part of a new exhibit com ing to school district headquarters and To contact Thc Portland Observer C all 5 0 3 -2 8 8 -0 0 3 3 or email ads@portlandobserver.com