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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 16, 2017)
August 16, 2017 EDUCATIONCAREERS Special Edition Page 9 Showdogs is a full service salon. We do baths, M ark W ashington /t he p ortland o bserver Faubion School Principal Jen McCalley and Concordia Dean of Education Sheryl Reinisch share one of the many spaces inside the new school which fosters and celebrates diversity and community. photo by ‘From 3 to PhD’ c ontinued froM f ront students will be interacting with Faubion students on a daily basis. Retired PPS leader Dr. Harriet Adair, a prominent advocate for the importance of early learning from Portland’s African Ameri- can community, played an instru- mental role in bringing Faubion’s holistic educational approach to fruition. “It really does take a village to raise a child, and this is that saying in action,” she told the Portland Observer, in describing the new Faubion in a recent interview. To bring an all-encompass- ing educational atmosphere to the school, PPS worked exten- sively with community partners to supply a wide range of vital wraparound services. Students at Faubion will have access to a health clinic operated by Kaiser Permanente, a food club creat- ed in partnership with organic grocery store Basics and mental health care provided by Trillium Family Services. “We even have partnerships with different community organi- zations that are going to be teach- ing nutritious cooking for our kids and families that are interested,” McCalley said. She adds that the school empha- sizes the importance of diversity, and is actively working to have minorities represented throughout the school’s teaching and adminis- trative positions. “The thing I’m most proud of at Faubion is actually the diversi- ty of not only our students but our staff,” said McCalley. “We come from a very diverse part of Port- land that has historically been an African American community. With gentrification, that could be something that is shifting, but it’s not.” Throughout the process of re- imagining Faubion School, Mc- Calley says that a tremendous amount of community input was weighed and considered. She says that voices from the community shaped the new institution into what it is today. “It’s a community driven proj- ect,” she explained. “I could point to the parent in our school whose idea it was to have the food club.” Other aspects of the new school’s design and program- ming were also inspired by the 29 parent meetings that PPS host- ed throughout Faubion’s design phase. “The families have such a deep involvement in the design of the school,” said McCalley. “The health clinic was something fam- ilies asked for.” Even the school’s students played a role in the building’s fi- nal outcome. “All 500 students hand wrote letters to the architects about what they wanted,” McCalley said. “We were actually able to implement quite a bit of what they wanted. We did a lot of ar- chitectural features to make the building feel welcoming, and safe and inviting.” Preserving Faubion School’s generational nature has been an- other important part of the insti- tution’s rebuilding process, Mc- Calley says. “Grandparents, parents and kids go through this school,” said McCalley. “It’s that kind of a leg- acy that instills such a deep sense of pride within the community in a local school.” By recycling parts of the old Faubion School into the new building, McCalley says that PPS has been able to preserve genera- tional continuity for the school’s alumni and their children. “We had a non-native sequoia tree on campus that had to come down,” said McCalley, “but in- stead of getting rid of it, we had it manufactured into benches and tables.” She adds that by incorporating community voices and involve- ment throughout the design and construction process, Faubion is a school that everyone in the community can be proud of. “We want this school to be the heartbeat of the community, and that’s something that we’re really proud of,” McCalley said. “It’s a huge source of pride for our fami- lies and for our communities.” all over hair cuts, tooth brushing, nail trims, soft claws, flea treatments, mud baths, and ear clean- ing. We also have health care and grooming prod- ucts to keep your pet clean in between visits. Show Dogs Grooming Salon & Boutique 926 N. Lombard Portland, OR 97217 503-283-1177 Tuesday-Saturday 9am-7pm Monday 10am-4pm Yo dawg is gonna look like a show dawg and your kitty will be pretty.
