Now that students who chose to do hybrid learning are physically back in the classroom, the focus is shifting to graduation and summer.
Tuesday night at a Portland Public School Board meeting, district leaders discussed some big plans.
First let’s talk about graduation. Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero announced high school graduation will be held at Providence Park thanks to a partnership with the Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns.
After graduation, the district also has plans to offer extensive and free summer programming called "Create, Learn & Play" after an especially tough year for students.
“We’re really excited to host what we’re calling Summer Acceleration Academy, and it’s a joyful academic summer program for students, rising second through eighth graders. We’re using a hub model so we’ll have programming at sites all over the city,” said Dana Nerenberg, director of learning acceleration for Portland Public Schools.
The district is hoping 3,000 teacher-selected students will be able to participate in the academic programming that’ll start in mid-July and run for three weeks.
“In the next few weeks our school teams are going to identify students who would most benefit from the program […] students whose attendance and engagement was not as high as we had hoped this past year, or maybe students who already receive interventions or students who may have some academic gaps," Nerenberg said. "And our intent is to provide instruction to support some of those gaps but most importantly provide an on-ramp to the fall."
She said the academic summer program will run from 8:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. and there will be a partnership with SUN Community Schools. SUN stands for Schools United Neighborhoods, and the program typically offers supports like free meals, culturally specific services and after-school activities.
Nerenberg said parents whose kids are participating in the academic summer program will have the option to choose whether their child goes home after the academic portion of the day, or stay to participate in SUN programming that’ll offer more activities and enrichment opportunities.
Running at the same time as all the academic programming, will be other programs intended to keep kids engaged in learning while having fun.
“We anticipate that our enrichment activities will have strong ties to academics. It’s just the approach is a little bit different. It’s more creative, it’s more fun, it allows for exploration,” said Dani Ledezma, senior advisor for racial equity and social justice for Portland Public Schools.
Enrichment activities may encompass things like robotics camps, art or employment opportunities for older students to explore career paths. The district is working with other community organizations to come up with opportunities.
“PPS has about $10 million available in funding, up to $10 million, and we’ve asked organizations to submit their plans for summer activities,” said Ledezma.
That $10 million is a big, one-time increase coming from state and federal dollars. The activities and enrichment portion is expected to run all summer. The hope is there will be enough space for about 5,000 students to participate.
She said the district is fortunate in that it works with a large network of organizations committed to supporting kids, including some that are culturally specific and multiracial. Ledezma said research has shown that fun enrichment opportunities do have a positive impact on academics.
At the high school level, there will also be more help for students who need to recover credit. High school students will also have additional learning enrichment opportunities.
Portland Public Schools’ youngest students entering kindergarten and first grade, some of whom may not have ever stepped into a classroom, will also get to participate in a program meant to give kids a taste of what it's like to go to school in person. The hope is that once school starts in the fall, they'll feel welcome and ready.
Right now district leaders are still in the middle of planning, but say they expect to have plans finalized so they can share information with parents by mid to late-May.