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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 24, 2016)
Polk County Education Polk County Itemizer-Observer • August 24, 2016 13A WOU: Building made possible thanks to donation Continued from Page 14A The 58,000-square-foot building was part of former Gov. John Kitzhaber’s wood products initiative, and is one of the only projects in Oregon to use cross-lami- nated timber as a structural element, Girod said. Much of that timber is exposed. “It’s beautiful,” Girod said. Almost 100 offices and 23 classroom spaces are housed in the new building. Classrooms were designed with teaching teachers in mind, and took tips from other departments to create the best use of space. “When we thought about instructional spaces, we thought through the lens of our American Sign Lan- guage classes where every- body sits in a round because you want to be able to see everybody,” Girod said. “The result is our rooms are just a little bit bigger than they might normally be.” Classrooms are equipped with two-way broadcasting equipment, a collaboration w i t h t h e Sa l e m - Ke i ze r School District. “We’ll be able to flip a switch and eavesdrop into what’s going on in real class- rooms,” Girod said. Other rooms are packed with boxes of hands-on sup- plies where WOU students will learn how to teach STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) classes. Girod said STEM is more than just taking a math or science course, it’s the inte- gration of disciplines spurred by business and industry. “The industry folks have really pushed it,” he said. “They want kids who have learned in an integrated fashion to solve problems re- lated to the real world — an engineering-type mentality.” The large empty walls will soon be covered with work from local artists. “As with all publicly fund- ed projects, we had to pro- tect 1 percent (of the budg- et) for art,” Girod said. Most of that was spent on a large outdoor art installa- tion that will go up in early 2017, but some will be used to purchase pieces from local artists. “We also secured a donor who is contributing to an arts fund for this building,” Girod said. “Across the next 10 years, they will donate in a recurring manner, and we will use that money to pur- chase student art.” The building was made possible in part from a $1.4 million donation from Richard C. Woodcock and his family — the third largest single donation in the uni- versity’s history. Woodcock was a professor at Western from 1957 to 1961, Girod said. The money was the last that was needed for the $18.6 million facility. In addition to the building itself, a special room bears his name: The Woodcock- Munoz language lab. “Richard Woodcock was one of the first ones to really push for the translation of cognitive assessments into other languages,” Girod said. Perrydale to replace one faucet after lead testing By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer PERRYDALE — Lead test- ing at Perrydale School found one classroom faucet that needs further testing or repair due to high levels de- tected. The school conducted eight tests at the school on July 20 and received the re- sults on Aug. 9. In a letter sent to parents on Thursday, Perrydale Su- perintendent Eric Milburn noted that at this time, lead testing is not required of schools. (See related story page, 14A) “However, some school districts in other locations have found that water sam- ples from their drinking water fixtures have con- tained relatively high levels of lead,” Milburn wrote. “Be- cause of this information, Perrydale School District de- cided that testing would be in the best interests of the children, parents, faculty, and other citizens served by our district.” The tests included: the FFA sink, the high school drinking fountain, the kitchen sink, the old gym fountain, elementary hall- w a y f o u n t a i n , k i n d e r- garten modular, elemen- tary school room six, and the middle school drink- ing fountain. The Environmental Pro- tection Agency recommends schools take action at .020 parts per million — also list- ed as 20 parts per billion. The only test to exceed that level was in room six at the elementary school. It tested at .0227 parts per million. The sink has been discon- nected and will not be used until further testing con- cludes the tap is within ac- ceptable levels for or repair has been completed to fix the problem. “It is the intention of the district to have a second sample drawn and have the results analyzed before school starts,” Milburn said. To see full test results, go to www.perrydale.k12.or.us or go to the school’s office during business hours, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Dallas School District named ‘target district’ by ODE By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer DALLAS — The Dallas School District has been des- ignated as a “target district” after the Oregon Department of Education released its an- nual English Language A Pleasant Place to Buy or Sell Your RV CALL TODAY FOR A NO-CHARGE EVALUATION. OPEN WEEK! A 7 DAYS • Sat 9-5 i 9-6 Mon-Fr un 10-4 S Rick 503-437-5398 Ruben 503-915-2080 4075 NE Three Mile Lane, McMinnville, OR www.macrvsales.com Next to the Spruce Goose Aviation Museum macrvsales@gmail.com Learners (ELL) report. Target district status means the state has deter- mined Dallas’ ELL program is in need of assistance, though not to the extent “transformation districts” re- quire. Dallas will be listed as a target district for four years and receive assistance during that time. “We are a target school, we’re not a turnaround school,” said Steve Martinelli, the district’s curriculum di- rector. “We’re the school that they give advice to basically, as opposed to being directed on how to make improve- ments.” Just how Dallas became a “target district” is unclear to Martinelli. He said looking at the criteria for the designa- tion, he isn’t certain how the district qualifies, partially be- cause with only 52 ELL stu- dents in 2014-15, there isn’t enough data in certain areas. “I’m still waiting on some clarification on how we made that list,” he said. “I’m a little bit of a data geek, and as I look at it, I really could not tell you how we made that list.” He said the district won’t object to the designation be- cause it comes with benefits: technical assistance, recom- mendations on how to im- prove and possibly more funding. “We are not expecting a lot, but potentially some,” Martinelli said. According to the report, the district spends signifi- cantly more on providing ELL education than it re- ceives from the state, $282,782 and $141,937 re- spectively. He added the state doesn’t see the designation to be punitive, but an opportunity to help make programs better. “We are looking forward to what they have to share with us.” To see the full report, go to: www.dallas.k12.or.us- /#!english-language-learn- ers/chde. In other business, the dis- trict: • Was awarded $4,485 in grant funding to replace a cooler at Whitworth Elemen- tary School. Food service employee Debe Castang helped secure the funding.