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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 23, 2019)
FROM PAGE ONE A16 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM Center Continued from Page A1 In 1994, the city pur- chased the building and two small adjacent proper- ties for a total of $544,000, according to the Herald’s reporting at the time. A special section adver- tising a grand opening cel- ebration held Sept. 9, 1995, noted that a fundraising committee, led by Hermis- ton residents Bryan Wolfe Report Cards Continued from Page A1 third-grade level, and is behind slightly on eighth- grade math at 35%. “That dip is frustrating to me,” said Hermiston High School Principal Tom Spoo. Spoo said that as an administrator, he’d been helping the district focus in on math. He said that math improvement over the past four years had been signifi cant. “We’ve spent many pro- fessional hours cross-walk- ing, so that we’re teach- ing what should be taught,” he said. “We’re working on teaching to the essential standards, and those stan- dards are aligned with the Smarter Balanced tests.” Math profi ciency BTW Continued from Page A1 contributions, have a visible commitment to the well-be- ing of the town, state, nation or world, possess exemplary character and be supported by strong references. The 2020 Distinguished Alumnus will be revealed at the Hermiston Distin- guished Citizens Ban- quet held in February 2020. They will serve as a mentor for students throughout the school year and be a speaker at the high school’s 2020 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2019 and Tim Mabry, raised $665,000 in donations from nearly 500 private and cor- porate donors to pay for a remodel of the city-owned building. “Your city offi cials were willing to step forth and say, ‘Take a look, friends of Hermiston, do we need such a facility?’ The answer was a resounding yes,” the Herald quoted Wolfe as saying during his speech at the grand opening. For most of its exis- tence, the center was run by the Greater Hermiston Area Chamber of Com- merce, but in 2017 the city council voted unanimously to end its contract with the chamber and move the parks and recreation depart- ment into the building to run it instead. Citizens who showed up to oppose the move were told by city staff and city councilors that the center would still be avail- able for community events under the new management. During that time the city conducted a study of available event space in the area, noting that there were 689 total events held in the Hermiston Commu- nity Center in 2016, includ- ing chamber of commerce meetings. The city did not have an updated fi g- ure for 2018 immediately available. The report listed the city-owned Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center, the National Guard Armory in Hermiston and the Pendle- ton Convention Center as the other alternatives in the area for an indoor 300+ per- son event. Alternatives for smaller events included the Maxwell Siding Event Cen- ter, the Port of Morrow’s offi ces in Boardman and the Oxford Suites in Hermiston. Assistant City Manager Mark Morgan reported to the council before their 2017 vote on the cham- ber contract that it took $198,700 in gross expenses to run the center, paid for by rental fees and tran- sient room tax funds. He said that rental revenue for the community center had decreased since EOTEC had opened its event center in 2016. The community cen- ter is in the city’s urban renewal district, meaning tax revenue generated from increases in the property’s value would go toward the district for improvements to the downtown area. dropped by 11% for eighth- grade migrant students and 9% for Hispanic and Latino students. Assistant Superintendent Bryn Browning said this might have to do with the infl ux the district has seen in recent arrivers, or students who are new to the United States. Some of those students, she said, don’t yet speak English and their fi rst lan- guage might be something other than Spanish. “A lot of what we’re focusing on for those stu- dents isn’t necessarily aca- demics at this point,” she said.”We know the data isn’t going to give us the answers, but it helps us identify what questions we need to ask.” She said the district uses the “accountability details” reports released by the ODE to determine what changes might need to be made to structure or curriculum at the different schools. “It’s only the second year we’ve had this kind of dis- trict report card,” Browning said. “We’ll be able to com- pare this year and last year so we can start tracking cohort trends going forward.” Mooney said that for the district, tracking each cohort of students as they progress through the school system is more valuable than taking a peek at how a single grade of students do each year. “This is great informa- tion, (but) we look so much deeper at our kids. We look, not just at the subgroup, we try and track on a more indi- vidual basis,” she said. The At-A-Glance report also showed a spike in grad- uation rates, but Mooney said this number is from the 2017-18 school year. The 2018-19 rate will be out in January. “We’re excited about that number, but it’s not new,” she said. Since the alternative pro- gram facility — the Inno- vative Learning Center — merged with the high school in 2016, the school has seen lower graduation rates. Before the merger, the school’s independent grad- uation rate, not counting students at the alternative school, was at 87.6%. It’s now at 74% with those stu- dents merged in. The Umatilla School District saw a rise in both math, from 5% to 16%, and English Language Arts pro- fi ciency, from 23% to 25%. “The only asterisk for us is that the Smarter Balanced tests are not what we uti- lize,” superintendent Heidi Sipe said. Sipe said she urges par- ents to instead examine stu- dents MAPS test scores, which is where the district focuses its curriculum. Umatilla High School’s college-going rate for seniors increased by 9% during the 2018-2019 school year, but still falls 13 points below the state average. But Sipe doesn’t see that as a bad thing. “Compared to similar schools, we have almost three times the going rate,” she said. “We’re really proud of how many kids we can get to go to college.” At the Stanfi eld School District, different indicators rose up and below from the year past. Attendance rose 8% from last year to 84%, surpassing the 83% state average. Math took a 27% plunge from last year, and English Language Arts Pro- fi ciency among third-grad- ers went down 12 points to 30%. The 2017-2018 gradua- tion levels also took a 10% hit from the year prior, while the amount of freshman stu- dents on-track to graduate increased to around 95%, surpassing the state average. Echo School District also saw a decrease in English Language Arts profi ciency, by 11% from last year, but math rose by 14 points, to 47%, surpassing the state average. Students, parents, and others can search for more information about local schools and districts at https://www.ode.state.or.us/ data/reportcard/. commencement. • • • The Hermiston Warm- ing Station recently expressed appreciation to Wildhorse Foundation, Good Shepherd Health Care System, Walmart Distribution Center, Uma- tilla Electric Cooperative and Tillamook Cream- ery for the generous grants received. HWS is 100% volunteer run and privately funded through donations and grants. Donations can be made to Hermiston Warm- ing Station, P.O. Box 433, Hermiston, OR 97838. The training schedule for the upcoming weeks at the warming station (1075 S. Highway 395) are: Friday, Oct. 25 from 9-10:30 a.m.; Saturday, Oct. 26 from 3-4:30 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 27 from 5-6:30 p.m.; Tuesday, Oct. 29 from 6:30-8 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 2 from 9-10:30 a.m.; Sunday, Nov. 3 from 3-4:30 p.m.; Monday, Nov. 4 from 6-7:30 p.m.; Thursday, Nov. 7 from 6:30-8 p.m. For other future dates, call 541-289-2150 or con- tact Adelaide Zumwalt at zumwalt.adelaide@gmail. com or search Facebook. • • • Local CASA program manager Jesus Rome recently said the Umatilla Morrow Child Welfare system is in crisis. However, the agency recently received a boost — a $50,000 Men- toring Grant from the National Court Appointed Special Advocate/Guard- ian ad Litem Association for Children. The money will be used to recruit, train and assign new volunteers to represent the best interests of chil- dren who have experienced abuse or neglect. Maureen McGrath, Umatilla Mor- row County Head Start executive director, said the agency currently has 204 children who need a volun- teer to take an active role in their lives — but up to this point, they only have enough volunteers to serve 104 children. For more information, including how to become a CASA, contact Rome at 541-667-6091 or jrome@ umchs.org. • • • Thursday’s menu for the Harkenrider Senior Activ- ity Center is beef roast, baked potato, carrots and dessert. Friday is turkey sandwich, green salad and dessert. Monday is salad bar, dinner roll and dessert. Tuesday is spaghetti, garlic bread, green beans, tossed salad and birthday cake. Next Wednesday is maca- roni and cheese, salad, bolo- gna and dessert. — You can submit items for our weekly By The Way column by emailing your tips to editor@hermiston- herald.com. NEW 2019 HIGHLANDERS IN STOCK $ 5000 OFF MSRP Select new 2019 Toyota Highlander gas models in stock. STK# 19H514. New 2019 Toyota Higlander XLE V6 AWD. 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