Jefferson Smith
on Police Issues
Joyce Washington J oyce W ashington
Classic Tournament
Candidate assures
voters o f his liberal
credentials
lineup fo r annual # 1 * 1 * ,
#\*\*
basketball tournament
20124
High school all stars
See Local News, page 3
See souvenir program, inside
ALL STAR CLASSIC
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Read back issues of the Portland Observer at www.portlandobserver.com
‘City fl/Roses’
Volume XXXXI, Number 18
W Wednesday • May 2, 2012
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
of
otnmunitv service
No Longer Neglected
King School
rebound draws
neighbors in
by M indy C ooper
T he P ortland O bserver
After hard work and determina
tion from parents and educators.
King Elementary in northeast Port
land has finally begun to capture
attention as a successful school
serving its diverse neighborhood.
Heather Dugas was an active
volunteer through the Smart Read
ing program at King School, even
before her children were old enough
to attend. As a resident of northeast
Portland, she had heard horror sto
ries about King, located at4906N.E.
Sixth Ave., the closest educational
center in her neighborhood.
“I heard people talk about it,” she
said. “But then I realized this was a
beautiful school, with a lot of tal
ented and involved teachers, who
want to see the kids succeed.”
According to Dugas, parents
decisions on where to send their
child to school is often based on
what they have found online or heard
by word-of-mouth, without ever tak
ing a step through the doors to see
the school first-hand.
“But if I had based it on those two
things, my daughter would not have
ended up at King,” she said. “I
wouldn’t send my child to a school
that was notorious for gangs.”
Opposite from any past notions
of King being a school of “gang-
bangers,” violence and children un
able to learn, she has found King
children performing at their best both
inside and outside of the classroom.
“More research is often times
necessary, and sometimes you have
to take a chance,” Dugas said. “If
you believe in your child and your
neighborhood and where you live,
you can help make your school suc
photo by M indy C ooper /T he P ortland O bserver
ceed.”
A sustained upward path for Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School in northeast Portland is
She has encouraged others to drawing praise from local residents and parents.
support their local schools as a part
of the solution to educational dis
parities.
In the early 90s, Dugas remem
bers when her neighborhood was
hit with a high level of violence.
“I lived here. It was a dangerous
place to be,” she said. “You cer
tainly still hear about crime, but I
think it is a lot less.”
But throughout the past several
years, Dugas said she has watched
the sch o o l beg in to b lo sso m
through the hard work o f parents
and educators at King.
“Our whole motto is ‘It takes a
village’, but it really does. I know
there is a group of us that we are not
going to give up. We are going to
see this through.”
According to Karen Werstein,
also a King parent, there is a plethora
of reasons to why the community
should support King School, where
she sends her son Max and daugh
ter Ruby every day.
She said King students are the
ones who welcome her with a hug
each morning, hold hands with each
other to walk safely to the bath
room, and perform the most beauti
ful African dances, with giant smiles
on their faces.
As a Title I School, King, which
is largely comprised of African
American and Latino youth, pro
vides free breakfast, lunch and
snacks to students every day.
“It is rich with culture and diver
sity, and the King teachers and par
ents have really pulled together to
create a school that is looking for
equity in our school district and our
community,” Werstein said.
A cornerstone of Portland’s black
community, King was just selected
by the White House to participate
as a Turnaround Arts school, which
recognized the school for making
strides in student achievement with
innovative initiatives with the arts.
“This grant is a really big deal,”
said Dugas. “And new principal Kim
continued
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