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OCTOBER 11
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LINCOLN CITY - A GREAT PLACE TO TRY NEW THINGS
PHOT° by D onovan M. S mith /T he P ortland O bserver
Ushering in a year-round school year for Rosa Parks Elementary in north Portland are Principal
Tamala Newsome (left) and assistant principal Reiko Williams.
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School Jump Start
h a lf o f the kindergarten through 5 th
g ra d e s tu d e n ts a t R o s a P a rk s
said.
u n d erperform ing in the subjects o f
T he sw itch com es after testing reading and m ath. In an effo rt to
w ww.oregoncoâst.org
several years ago show ed m ore than address those academ ic shortfalls,
the school leadership at R osa Parks
an d the P o rtla n d S ch o o l B o ard
signed o ff on the calen d ar change.
N e w so m e say s i t ’s p rim a rily
a b o u t p ro v id in g m o re re so u rc e s
fo r le a rn in g . W h ere it w o u ld ta k e
A Division o f S. Brooks & Associates, Inc.
fo u r to six w e ek s fo r m an y s tu
d e n ts to re -le a rn in fo rm a tio n th e y
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A L L IA N C E
S. B ro o ks & A s s o c ia te s is a n O re g o n -b a s e d ,
m in o rity -o w n e d s ta ffin g a g e n c y w ith d e e p
ro o ts in the P o rtla n d c o m m u n ity .
It is o u r m ission to p ro v id e o n g o in g e m p lo y m e n t
s o lu tio n s to e m p lo y e rs a n d a p p lic a n ts th a t
e n h a n c e a n d d iv e rs ify the w o rk fo rc e . W e h o p e
to a lw a y s p ro v id e the h ig h e s t le ve l o f s e rv ic e to
o d r e m p lo y e r clie n ts a n d jo b se e k in g a sso cia te s.
W e p r id e o u rs e lv e s in b e in g a v ita l p a r t o f the
P o rtla n d , O r e g o n c o m m u n ity , s u p p o rtin g lo c a l
businesses, a lo n g w ith m in o r ity e n tre p re n e u ria l
e n d e a v o rs .
Think Jobs, Think Brooks
OÂMt
GSA Schedule
Contract Holder
Amenta» Sotting Aiwx
Commitment to Diversity
B R O O K S S T A F F IN G
RESPONSIBLE, C O LLA B O R A TIV E , DIVERSE
113 0 N E A lb e r ta Street • P o rtla n d , OR 97211
sb ro o ks.co m • jo b s@ b ro o ks.co m • 8 0 0 .5 4 0 .7 9 3 0
5 0 3 .2 8 4 .7 9 3 0 [o ] • 5 0 3 .2 8 4 .7 9 7 7 [ f ]
SE R VIN G THE PACIFIC N O R TH W EST FOR 3 0 YEARS
s u m m e r v a c a tio n , the h o p e h e re is
th at re p la c in g th at d o w n tim e w ith
c la s s tim e , k id s w ill h a v e a b e tte r
sh o t at su cc e ss.
R o s a P a rk s is c u rre n tly th e
d istric t’s new est school and one o f
the m o st cu ltu rally diverse. It’s also
serves a high p o p u latio n o f low er
incom e fam ilies, w ith 9 6 p ercent o f
the children en ro lled taking ad v an
tage o f free and red u ced lunch.
L iving at o r b elo w th e poverty
line can pro v e a b arrier in the w orld
o f academ ia. D espite this fact, the
p r in c ip a l s a y s s u c h ‘b a r r i e r s ’
sh o u ld n ’t serve as a “m ark er o f a
stu d e n t’s ability to su cceed .”
“ K ids w ant to be en g ag ed ,” says
N ew som e.
It took a bit o f a ro u n d u p to get all
o f R o sa P a rk s’s students b ack in
s c h o o l f o r s u m m e r c la s s e s .
N ew som e adm its that som e kids did
in fact ditch the classro o m in the
opening days o f the new school
y e ar to instead head to the b ask et
ball courts, o r hang around the B oys
and G irls C lu b right next d o o r to
R osa P ark s’ cam pus in the N ew
C o lu m b ia neighborhood.
“ O n ce y o u p la y fo r a w h ile [ ... ]
th a t g e ts o ld q u ic k . T h e y ’re re a d y
to h a v e a little b it m o re stru c tu re
n o w ,” sh e say s.
T h e first p a re n t-te a c h e r c o n
fe re n c e s j u s t w ra p p e d up an d the
first o ffic ia l v a c a tio n b re a k fo r
R o sa P a rk s w ill c o m e S ep t. 19.
E v e n th e n , p la n s c a ll fo r g iv in g
e x tra , in d iv id u a liz e d a tte n tio n to
s tu d e n ts th a t fa c u lty id e n tify as
n e e d in g m o re h e lp . C a llin g it ‘in
te rv e n tio n ’ k id s s tru g g lin g in the
g ra d e d e p a rtm e n t w ill be se e in g
th e ir te a c h e r fo r o n e w e ek o f th e 3
w e ek b reak .
W illia m s, w h o h as been at R o sa
P ark s fo r tw o y ears now , is p le ase d
w ith an in c re a s e in th e n u m b e r o f
p a re n ts a n d g ra n d p a re n ts w h o
h a v e b e e n e a g e r to a ss is t in the
c la s s ro o m . C u rre n tly , th e v o lu n
te e r re g is try d a ta b a s e is n e a rin g
4 0 w ith m o re b e c o m in g re g u la rs,
sh e said .
“ W e d o n ’t d o th is b y o u r
s e lv e s ,” say s W illia m s , “ W e n e ed
th e p a re n ts to b e s u c c e s s fu l.”
P rin c ip a l N e w s o m e say s e v en
h e r c u rre n t a s s is ta n t is a p a re n t
w h o h a d c o m e to th e sch o o l re g u
la rly to v o lu n te e r h e r e ffo rts.
N a m e d a “p rio rity s c h o o l” by
th e d is tric t, e s s e n tia lly m e a n in g
R o sa P a rk s w as in g ra v e n e e d o f
e x tra a ss is ta n c e , N e w so m e say s
h e r s ta ff in te n d s to tra d e th a t title
in fa v o r o f a c a d e m ic e x c e lle n c e .
A s fo r th e p ro g r a m ’s su c c e ss,
N e w so m e say s w h ile th e “ n u m
b e rs w ill tell th e sto ry , ” te a c h e rs
w ill be e sp e c ia lly v ig ila n t on s ta y
in g o n to p o f th in g s w ith th e ir
m o n th ly s tu d e n t r e v ie w s a n d
m e e tin g s a m o n g st s ta f f .lo o k in g
o v e r stra te g ie s a ro u n d c o m m u
n ity an d p a re n t e n g a g e m e n t.
A ll o f th is, th e p rin c ip a l says
b e c a u se , “ W e h a v e to d o rig h t by
o u r k id s .”