Page 8 The Skanner August 16, 2017
BACK TO SCHOOL
PPS Off ers Transitional Program into Kindergarten School News Briefs
Outcomes show higher literacy and attendance rates
Champions Barbering Institute
Holds Back-to-School Cut-a-Thon
By Melanie Sevcenko
Of The Skanner News
Champions Barbering Institute, Inc., will hold
a back-to-school cut-a-thon, off ering free hair-
cuts and styles for all students, as well as school
supply giveaways, food and fun, from 9 a.m. to 9
p.m. Aug. 29 at Champions Barbering Institute
at 424 NE Killingsworth. To make an appoint-
ment, call (503) 477-5616 or visit www.cbi.life.
P
Celebrate Reading at the North
Portland Library’s Children’s
Book Fair
PHOTO COURTESY OF PPS
ortland Public Schools is
making strides in attendance
rates and reading skills with
a program it started as a pilot
back in 2010.
Called Early Kindergarten Tran-
sition (EKT), the three-week sum-
mer program equips little ones
with the skills they need to settle
into kindergarten; from self-regu-
lation and social-emotional behav-
ior to building routines and get-
ting familiar with their new school
environment.
In addition, children learn how
to work with other students, play
safely outdoors and switch be-
tween activities.
“It’s not rocket science, it’s just
a very supportive way of welcom-
ing families to understand what
school is all about, before school
starts,” said Nancy Hauth, pro-
gram manager at PPS’s Offi ce of
Early Learners.
Since EKT launched, the data
has proved the benefi ts of being
prepared, as kindergarten can be
more rigorous than parents or
kids assume.
“What we saw was the atten-
dance and pre-literacy skills
bumped up over their peers,” said
Hauth. “Attendance in kindergar-
ten is really crucial for third-grade
reading benchmarks and gradua-
tion rates.”
Today, EKT has expanded to 13
schools, primarily in southeast
Portland. Eventually, said Hauth,
PPS would like to bring the pro-
gram to all Title 1 schools in the
district, meaning those with high
percentages of children from
low-income families.
So far, the program has zeroed
in on schools with steep pover-
ty rates, attendance issues, and a
high number of kids who have spe-
cial needs, or whose second lan-
guage is English.
The program works to fi ll the gap
for kids who have not had a struc-
tured preschool experience, or
who don’t qualify for PPS’s Head
Start program, which prioritizes
children of families that meet fed-
eral poverty guidelines.
With a lack of preschools in the
outer southeast region, Hauth told
The Skanner that kids were oft en
coming to kindergarten unpre-
pared and struggling, which only
added stress on their parents.
That’s why EKT also off ers a
parent component to the curric-
ulum. Twice per week during the
Amparo Garcia, kindergarten teacher at Rigler Elementary School, plays the ukulele during
Early Kindergarten Transition program, summer 2017.
program, mothers and fathers can
meet with teachers to better un-
derstand child development and
how to support their kids during
the school year. It’s also a chance
“
Any incoming
kindergarten
child could bene-
fi t from this kind
of program
to connect with other parents to
help build community around the
students.
Boise-Eliot/Humboldt Elemen-
tary School — which struggled
with attendance rates due to fam-
ilies living far out – is an exam-
ple of how EKT works with cul-
turally-specifi c agencies through
Schools Uniting Neighborhoods
(SUN). Each agency then tailors
the EKT curriculum to meet the
needs and demographics of its stu-
dents and its families.
At Boise-Eliot/Humboldt, Self
Enhancement Inc. (SEI) facilitates
both aft erschool programming as
well as its EKT program; at Rigler
and Scott elementary schools, it’s
the Latino Network.
“Any incoming kindergarten
child could benefi t from this kind
of program,” said Mary Merri-
weather, managing director of
SEI at Boise-Eliot/Humboldt. “Ev-
ery kindergartener, regardless of
their social or economic status,
has the same experience of tak-
ing the big step to being educated
away from home and away from
their parents.”
Kaveh Pakseresht, assistant prin-
cipal at Boise-Eliot/Humboldt, has
already witnessed EKT’s success
since he started his position last
summer. “When the kids come in
the fi rst day of school, there are
familiar faces for them to interact
with, and they already know our
building and our routines.”
For children to participate in
EKT, they must be fi ve-years-old
by Sept. 1 and plan to attend one of
13 EKT schools in the fall.
PPS’s Offi ce of Early Learners
recommends that parents register
their children for school by June
1, to ensure inclusion in outreach
about programs like EKT.
Foster
cont’d from pg 7
plete his associate’s degree
due to a combination of
fi nancial and emotional
challenges.
Specifi cally, he said, his fi -
nancial aid was suspended
a couple of times during his
community college years
due to poor grades.
“I’m responsible for fail-
ing those classes, but a lot
of youth go through col-
lege and don’t have to work
about not paying for food
because you failed those
classes,” Markley said.
He also suspects he strug-
gled academically in part
because growing up in abu-
sive environments lowered
his expectations for him-
self. He’s also the oldest in
his family and his concern
about his younger siblings
took higher priority for
setting goals for himself, he
said.
“A lot of people assume
that once you get to college
The 19th annual North Portland Children’s
Book Fair: Do the Right Thing and Read! will
take place from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 26 at 512 N.
Killingsworth St. Join us on the back lawn of the
library as we celebrate literacy with free activ-
ities, music and dance performances you don’t
want to miss. Every child or teen in attendance
will get a free book to take home.
Performances:
1 p.m. - Hip Hop Soulsation
3 p.m. - Chata Addy & Shi Dah Discover the
Rhythms of Ghana
Balloon twisting with Batman and Wonder
Woman
Face painting by Mystique
Arts and craft s tables
Button and book making
This event is free and open to the public. For
more information, call Multnomah County Li-
brary at (503) 988-5123.
as a foster youth, the battle
is won and that’s just not
the case,” Markley said.
Feinics said some stu-
dents also may need advice
about navigating a bureau-
cratic system, or help with
life skills, as well as emo-
tional issues that may arise
from past trauma.
McDonald said it took a
long time to connect with
others and to set down
roots.
A ‘fear of becoming vul-
nerable’
“Coming out of the foster
care system, there’s a fear
of becoming vulnerable,”
McDonald told The Skan-
ner.
Fostering Success pro-
vides a point of contact for
assistance, but also allows
students who’ve experi-
enced foster care to meet
others with similar experi-
ences. Many foster care ad-
vocates are young, Feinics
said, and students oft en tell
her she’s the fi rst former
foster youth they’ve met
over the age of 35.
McDonald said Foster-
ing Success has allowed
him to connect with other
students to help them get
a sense of what’s possible.
McDonald, who is Black,
also said he works directly
with former foster youth of
color to help them navigate
college life.
“For students of color, we
already have a diff erent
navigation path and for
students coming out of fos-
ter care, that’s complicat-
ed,” McDonald said.
Markley has been a vocal
advocate for foster youth
at the state and national
level, testifying for a Foster
Youth Bill of Rights in May
2013 and a Foster Sibling
Bill of Rights in May. He
connected with those op-
portunities through Foster
Club, a national nonprofi t
based in Seaside that holds
conferences for current
and former foster youth
and connects them with op-
portunities for advocacy.
Read more at TheSkanner.com
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