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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 25, 2012)
April 25, 2012 W Fortiani» (Obstruer Page 7 Actress to ‘Adopt’ King School White House picks northeast school for added resources M artin Luther King Jr. School in northeast Portland has been selected to participate in a new arts education initiative that will include the support o f actress Sarah Jessica Parker, a star from the hit TV series Sex and the City and other films. King was nam ed on M onday as one o f eig h t e le m e n ta ry and m id d le “tu rn a ro u n d s c h o o ls ” across the county in an announce ment from President O bam a’s Com m ittee on the Arts and the Humanities. Developed in cooperation with the U.S. D epartm ent of Education and the W hite House Dom estic Policy Council, the new public- private partnership is designed to narrow the achievem ent gap and im p ro v e stu d e n t e n g a g e m e n t through the arts at low perform ing schools. “The President’s Com m ittee is delighted King School, under the inspired leadership of their princi pal Kim Patterson will be partici pating in Turnaround A rts,” said M argo Lion, co-chair of the com mittee. “Ms. Patterson and her team have an exciting new vision for their school, a vision that acknowl edges the vital role of the creative arts — art, music and m ovem ent — in building a school culture of engaged learning and academ ic success,” Patterson said. Research shows that when stu dents participate in the arts they are four times more likely to be recog nized for academic achievement, have higher GPAs and SAT scores poverty, low-performing schools, officials said. The President’s Committee and its partners will provide training and resources to M artin Luther King, Jr. and the other participat ing schools, including an Aspen Institute sum m er leadership pro gram, in-school professional de v elo p m en t, p a rtn e rsh ip s w ith com m unity arts education and cultural organizations, art sup plies and musical instruments and com m unity engagem ent events. “W orking with King School over the next two years will be an amazing honor,” said Parker. “I have seen the pow er of the arts transform the lives o f students Actress Sarah Jessica Parker has pledged to help arts education at and I’m excited to help create an King Elementary School in northeast Portland as part of an initiative engaging, inspiring place for King by President Obama to turn around low-performing schools. children to learn. I look forward to helping Principal Patterson build and show significantly higher lev teachers and peers and are more m om entum and create a well els of mathematics proficiency by self-confident and better able to rounded arts environm ent, an es grade 12. They are also more likely express their ideas. These benefits sential com ponent o f a com plete to be engaged and cooperative with are particularly pronounced in high- education for every child.” No Reprieve for liibman, Humboldt School board votes to close low enrollment schools The Portland School Board af firmed Monday the closure of two north Portland Public Schools for the upcoming school year. The board voted 6-1 to close Humboldt and transfer its students into Boise-Eliot School, and voted 5-2 to close Harriet Tubman Young W omen’s Leadership Academy. The closures were recommended by Superintendent Carole Smith because of low enrollment, and pro posed as a way to address a $27.5 million funding gap after reductions in state and federal funding and lower-than-expected local property tax revenue. Smith also proposed to fill the gap with $9.5 million in cuts to cen- tral academic and operational sup ports; the use of $7.2 million in re serves, and $10.4 million in school staffing reductions, which translates to 110 teaching positions. “W e’ve heard state legislators tell us that they provided stable funding for education, but not ad equate funding,” said Board mem ber Greg Belisle, who expressed concerns over the speed of the pro cess affecting both schools this year. Although he supported the deci sion to close Tubman and consoli date Humboldt, he saidPPS wouldn’t be talking about the closures if there were better answers to the bigger question of statewide school fund ing. Board m em ber M att M orton voted against the resolution. “We have had a number of people come forward to offer support,” he said. “We should allow time to explore w hether these partnerships can help.” Tubman students now must make the decision of where they will con tinue their education. The young woman will have the option to con tinue at the Jefferson Middle Col lege for Advanced Studies or at tend the community comprehensive high school in their neighborhood attendance area. Middle school stu dents at Tubman would attend their neighborhood K-8 or middle school. School district staff are working with families to explore transfer op tions, and the school board said yes to an amendment to also allow the Tubman middle grade students to attend a school together as a co hort. Humboldt students will attend Boise-Eliot school for 2012-13. The school district said it plans to continue to hunt for solutions for over- and under-enrolled schools in the city, including the Jefferson Cluster next fall, when a long-term proposal for the Humboldt and Tubman buildings will also be de veloped. THE LAW OFFICES OF Patrick John Sweeney, PC. Patrick John Sweeney Attorney at Law 1549 SE Ladd Portland, Oregon Portland: Hillsoboro: Facsimile: Email: Avalon Flowers 520 SW 3rd Ave., Portland, OR 97204 • 503-796-9250 A full service flower experience Drive for Safe Medicine Disposal To protect both fam ilies and the environm ent, a m edicine dis posal event will be held for resi dents o f V ancouver and Clark County. Prescription drugs no longer needed and left in hom es increase the risk of dangerous and inap propriate uses. Proper drug dis posal also is an environm ental issue, and unused m edications should not be flushed down the toilet or dum ped down the drain. All unwanted medications (con trolled and non-controlled) will be accepted at the c o llectio n event, held Saturday, April 28, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Clark C ollege’s Purple Parking Lot #1 (by the soccer field), 1900 Fort Vancouver Way. During last y ear's drug turn-in events, m ore than 380 people brought in alm ost 700 pounds of unw anted m edications for dis p o sa l by th e C la rk C o u n ty Sheriff’s Office, and more than 200 pounds o f paper, cardboard, glass and plastic containers were collected and recycled. This year’s medicine turn-in is sponsored by the U.S. Drug En forcement Administration, the Clark County Sheriffs Office and the Clark County Department of Environmen tal Services, in partnership with PREVENT! The Substance Abuse Prevention C oalition o f C lark County and Clark College. (503) 244-2080 (503) 244-2081 (503) 244-2084 Sweeney@PDXLawyer.com •Birthdays • Funerals »Anniversaries • Weddings Open: Mon.-Fri. 7:30am til 5:30pm Saturday 9am til 2pm. 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