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.
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Drive for Safe Medicine Disposal
To protect both fam ilies and
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Prescription drugs no longer
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All unwanted medications (con
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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
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p o sa l by th e C la rk C o u n ty
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This year’s medicine turn-in is
sponsored by the U.S. Drug En
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