Introduction to the springboard option and start of coalition workshop

Click to see:
Meeting agenda
Sept. 24 meeting notes
Springboard Proposal packet
Five new scenarios packet
Springboard Proposal Q&A
Springboard Proposal feedback
Video of meeting
Main slideshow
Dual Language Immersion slides

Check-in and Calibration -- Surfacing Themes to Cohesion

Click to see:
Meeting agenda
Revised scenarios
Breakout session notes and scenarios, Oct. 8
Springboard Proposal feedback
Springboard Proposal Q&A
Main slideshow
Video of meeting

Scenario Development and Refinement Session

Click to see:
Meeting agenda
Feeder path scenarios
October 22 meeting minutes
Online survey summary
Phone survey draft report
Scenario workshop slideshow
Video of meeting

Scenario Development and Refinement Session

Click to see:
Meeting agenda
Data guide
Scenario summary
October 29 meeting minutes
Main slideshow
Video of meeting

Scenario Development and Refinement Session

Click to see:
Meeting agenda
SEGC meetings evaluation
Phone survey results
Phone survey insights, summary
November 5 meeting minutes
November 5 Zoom chat transcript
Main slideshow
SEGC goals and emerging themes
Scenario 11 feeder path graphic
Video of meeting
Data guide
November 12 Zoom chat transcript

Focus Group Sessions

Session notes (translated into English when applicable)
•  Vietnamese
•  Somali
•  Spanish
•  Russian (notetaker 1), Russian (notetaker 2) 
•  Chinese (notetaker 1), Chinese (notetaker 2)
•  Teacher survey
•  Student survey

VIRTUAL OPEN HOUSE

Open House slideshow
Open House website
Open House summary report to Board and SEGC

Survey responses:
•  What people like about proposal
•  What concerns people about proposal
•  What people want to share with SEGC
•  Raw survey results

Zoom chat transcripts:
•  Organized by themes
•  Raw transcript

Language-specific open house notes (in English):
•  Vietnamese
•  Chinese/Mandarin
•  Spanish

Video recordings, main sessions:
•  English
•  Vietnamese
•  Spanish
•  Chinese
(Note: interpreters only in Russian, Somali sessions)

Video recordings, breakout rooms:
•  Room 1
•  Room 2
•  Room 3
•  Room 5
•  Room 6
•  Room 7
•  Room 8
(Note: Room 4 experienced technical issue and was not used)

Scenario Development and Refinement Session

•  Click for meeting link and call-in numbers for interpretation

Click to see:
Meeting agenda
Main slideshow
Kellogg recommendation options
SE 6-8 grade enrollment 
Video of meeting

Scenario Development and Refinement Session

Click to see:
Meeting agenda
Evaluation for Dec. 3 meeting
Minutes for Dec. 3 meeting
Kellogg recommendation options
Kellogg feeder options map
Kellogg timeline
Main slideshow
DLI and equitable access brief
Zoom chat transcript for Dec. 3

Final Phase 1 Recommendation

Recommendation packet
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Click to see:
Meeting agenda
Evaluation for Dec. 10 meeting
Minutes for Dec. 10 meeting
Recommendation appendix
Transportation document for Kellogg and feeder schools
Zoom chat transcript for Dec. 10
Main slideshow
Clackamas breakout room video
Columbia breakout room video
Willamette breakout room video

Phase 1 Debrief

Click to see:
Meeting agenda
Main slideshow
Meeting packet
Meeting minutes
Clackamas breakout room video
Columbia breakout room video
Willamette breakout room video

Feedback Jamboard on Creston options:
• Clackamas room
• Columbia room
• Willamette room

Orientation to virtual meeting platform
Introduction to the enrollment and program balancing process

Click to see:
Meeting details and agenda
Virtual Orientation Slideshow presentation
Video of meeting
Meeting minutes

Introduction to data, maps, and the Phase 1 springboard option

Click to see:
Meeting agenda
Data packet
Springboard Proposal first draft
Slideshow presentation
Video of meeting
Notes from breakout sessions 
Final Springboard Proposal
Meeting minutes

Racial Equity and Social Justice

Click to see:
Meeting details and agenda
Notes, maps, comments, materials from meeting
Video of meeting
Meeting minutes

Update: Because of the coronavirus pandemic and its impacts on PPS and district communities, the process in 2020 will focus on:

• Enrolling Kellogg Middle School
• Identification of a second comprehensive middle school in Southeast
• Conversion of current K-8 schools to K-5

Original answer: 

1. To help support the eventual redesign of PPS Middle School programs that includes reconfiguration of identified K-8 neighborhood schools to K-5 elementary schools and 6-8 new comprehensive middle schools while maintaining regional K-8 school options to support program pathway continuity (for example: IB PYP to MYP and dual immersion language pathways).
2. Optimize use of facilities at PK-12 to address under-enrollment and over enrollment, and to begin phasing out portable classrooms when possible to create connected, safer schools.
3. Minimize program co-locations of facilities between co-located programs and neighborhood schools at K-5, K-8 and 6-8 schools.

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We want to give you a final update on Enrollment and Program Balancing decisions that will go into effect in the 2021-22 school year in Southeast Portland. These decisions were finalized at the January 26 Board of Education meeting.

By a 5-2 vote, the Board approved Resolution 6236, which lays out the enrollment boundaries for PPS schools in Southeast Portland in advance of the opening of the modernized Kellogg Middle School in the fall. The decision completes the Phase 1 work of the Southeast Guiding Coalition.

Under the approved enrollment boundaries, the neighborhood programs at Arleta, Marysville, Creston and Lent will convert from their kindergarten-to-8th grade (K-8) structure to a K-5 structure. Students in grades 6-8 in those schools will move to Kellogg starting in the 2021-22 school year.

Read More

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When Kellogg Middle School re-opens in the fall, veteran educator Richard Smith will lead the effort as principal. Smith, who has been principal of Lent K-8 School since 2018, assumes his new position immediately to get a jump on the myriad of details involved in the opening of the fully modernized campus.

The opening the Kellogg is the driving force behind the current Enrollment and Program Balancing work being done for schools in Southeast Portland. Details of that work are available on this page.

Read the announcement naming Smith as Kellogg principal

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Dear PPS Families and Staff,

We want to update you on changes we have made to the Enrollment and Program Balancing proposal for Southeast Portland schools. The initial proposal (see a summary), drafted after months of Southeast Guiding Coalition meetings, was presented to the Board of Education at its January 12 meeting. 

After receiving testimony and feedback, the Board discussion included asking staff to consider options that would assure Creston 6-8 students would have access to comprehensive middle schools next year. 

The key changes to the proposed resolution are: 

• The Spanish Immersion program at Mt. Tabor Middle School will remain there instead of moving to Kellogg and will be considered in the Phase 2 middle school balancing. 
• Creston will convert to a K-5 next year. Staff will meet with Creston middle grades families starting next week to talk about middle school assignments for their students.

The Board will consider the modified proposal at its meeting on Tuesday, January 26, starting at 6 p.m. (meetings are being held virtually because of the pandemic). If you would like to offer feedback:

• Use the feedback form, available in all six of our supported languages, at net/enrollmentbalancing
• Email the Board at SchoolBoard@pps.net or send via mail to School Board, P.O. Box 3107, Portland, OR, 97208
• To offer public comment at the Board meeting, call 503-916-3906 or email PublicComment@pps.net. Guidelines for public comment can be found on the Board's meeting protocols webpage.

Thank you.

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Dear PPS Community,

As we begin 2021, we want to update you on the work that has been completed in the enrollment and program balancing process. On December 17, the Southeast Guiding Coalition (SEGC) held the final meeting of Phase 1 work that focused on middle school grades and finalized its recommendations. 

These recommendations will be presented by Deputy Superintendent Claire Hertz to the Board of Education at its January 12 meeting. The recommendations include an attendance boundary and dual immersion program assignment for Kellogg Middle School, which is set to re-open in fall 2021. Among the key points:

• The neighborhood programs at Arleta, Marysville and Lent will convert from their current kindergarten-to-8th grade (K-8) structure to a kindergarten-to-5th grade (K-5) structure. Students in grades 6-8 in those schools will move to Kellogg Middle School starting in the 2021-22 school year. The K-5 programs at these schools will become feeder elementary schools to Kellogg.
• The Spanish dual language immersion (DLI) programs at Lent and Bridger will convert from K-8 to K-5. Students in grades 6-8 in those programs will transfer to the Kellogg DLI program starting in 2021-22. The K-5 programs will feed into Kellogg.
• The Spanish DLI program at Tabor Middle School will move to Kellogg in 2021-22. 

After the Board of Education is presented with these recommendations, the SEGC will meet, if needed, on January 14 to respond to any Board requests. The Board will then vote on whether to approve the recommendations at its January 26 meeting.

Several existing enrollment and feeder patterns in Southeast Portland will remain in place in 2021-22. Changes for those schools and programs will be undertaken in Phase 2 of the SEGC work that will begin this February and focus on PK-5 feeder patterns. Phase 2 scope will include: 

• Harrison Park K-8, which will be converted to a middle school in 2022, and Creston K-8, which will convert to K-5 in 2022.
• Atkinson Elementary’s feeder path, which will remain assigned to Mt. Tabor Middle School in 2021-22. 
• All K-5 attendance boundaries, along with K-5 DLI program locations and configurations, will be considered – but please note that they will be unchanged for 2021-22.

Because Creston will remain a K-8 until 2022, the SEGC asked that district officials make a focused effort to support Creston’s 6-8 students to ensure a robust experience until its middle school location is established in 2022. Also, the SEGC noted that moving Bridger’s Spanish 6-8 DLI program to Kellogg in fall 2021 will require temporary relocation of the school’s 6-8 neighborhood program as it will be too small to exist by itself. Coalition members suggested Harrison Park K-8 and Kellogg as possible short-term locations for Bridger 6-8 students. They asked that PPS engage with Bridger middle school families to find a solution.

A full archive of SEGC meeting notes, presentations, meeting videos and links to give feedback are available on the PPS Enrollment and Program Balancing website. You may also give feedback via the SEGC Community Feedback form.

Thank you.

On December 1, Portland Public Schools staff presented a report to the Board of Education on the progress of the district's Enrollment and Program Balancing project. The report summarized feedback received during the virtual open house held on November 19, and focus group sessions held November 17 and 18.

Enrollment and Program Balancing work is initially targeting schools in Southeast Portland. The current work is being conducted in two stages, with the currently ongoing first stage focused on middle school grades. The second stage, focused on pre-kindergarten to fifth grade, will commence in spring of 2021. 

The report was presented during a Board work session by Claire Hertz, Deputy Superintendent; Dani Ledezma, Senior Advisor, Racial Equity and Social Justice; and Shanice Clarke, Director of Community Engagement. To read the report, click on the image to the right.

To see more material from the focus group sessions and virtual open house, scroll below to those dates. Notes, video recordings and transcripts are available for those sesssions.

View the summary report presentation at the Board work session:

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Dear PPS Families,

As we recently shared, we will be hosting a virtual Enrollment and Program Balancing (EPB) District-wide Open House and Focus Group Meetings next week. We want to make sure you mark your calendars for the upcoming events. These meetings will specifically focus on schools in Southeast Portland in anticipation of the reopening of Kellogg Middle School, and are designed to share information and gather your input.

District-wide Open House
Thursday, November 19 at 6:00 p.m.

We want to ensure we are hearing from the different communities we support and to that extent, we will be leading community-specific meetings as follows:

Chinese (Cantonese-language) Focus Group Meeting
Tuesday, November 17 at 6:00 p.m.

Chinese (Mandarin-language) Focus Group Meeting
Tuesday, November 17 at 7:00 p.m.

Somali-language Focus Group Meeting
Wednesday, November 18 at 6:00 p.m.

Spanish-language Focus Group Meeting
Wednesday, November 18 at 6:00 p.m.

Vietnamese-language Focus Group Meeting
Wednesday, November 18 at 6:00 p.m.

Black, Indigenous, People of Color Focus Group Meeting
Wednesday, November 18 at 5:00 p.m.

We will share additional details, including links to the virtual meetings and the EPB District-wide Open House website, next week. To learn more about PPS Enrollment and Program Balancing, please visit the PPS Enrollment and Program Balancing website.

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Dear PPS Families,

We want to update you on the Enrollment and Program Balancing (EPB) progress. As we’ve shared, the initial work focuses on schools in Southeast Portland in anticipation of the reopening of Kellogg Middle School. The Southeast Guiding Coalition has held six meetings aimed at creating a common understanding of the Coalition’s charge and the process for developing proposals and a final recommendation. The process is starting with a focus on grades 6-8 now, and will expand to grades PK-12 next spring.

Over the past few weeks, the Coalition has used data-driven analysis and multiple means of community input to evaluate and discuss several scenarios. Members worked toward developing a more refined proposal to share with the broader community. Next week they will receive results from more than 800 responses to online and telephone surveys. The survey results will further inform the development of scenarios, and be posted at the Enrollment and Program Balancing website.

The District is hosting an online open house on Thursday, November 19, to share information about the coalition proposal(s) and gather your input. The district also will engage other important stakeholders in a variety of intentional focus groups and in many languages that same week. The open house and the focus groups will include background information about the process, visuals to help illustrate the proposal(s), and opportunities to provide feedback. 

The online open house will include a standing web page that you can visit for information throughout this process and a live Zoom meeting where you can hear from Southeast Guiding Coalition members and the District Advisory Team. We will share more information about the open house next week. Links to the open house web page and Zoom meeting will be sent out just before the event. 

All community members are welcome to attend the open house. We especially encourage our Southeast families to provide feedback that will support PPS optimizing the use of our facilities. Your feedback will help us weave the perspectives of students and families in our final recommendation. 

More About the Guiding Coalition and EPB Process 
The Guiding Coalition is made up of students, parents and principals representing Southeast schools (see the member roster). The coalition is currently holding a series of meetings focused on the middle school grades, including the open house on November 12 and focus groups that week.

This process has two phases: Phase 1 concludes with a recommendation in mid-December. Phase 2, scheduled to begin in spring 2021, will focus on PK-5 grades. 

Enrollment and Program Balancing uses both a data-driven analysis process and community input to address needs such as equity and inclusion, transportation, facilities constraints, and much more. Meeting agendas, materials, minutes, and videos are posted at the Enrollment and Program Balancing website.

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Dear PPS Families,

We want to update you on our progress on the Enrollment and Program Balancing project we have undertaken. As we have previously announced, our initial work is focused on schools in Southeast Portland in advance of the reopening of Kellogg Middle School.

The Southeast Guiding Coalition has held three meetings this month (all virtual because of the pandemic) that focused on orientation to the material and data. They concluded last week with the introduction of a first draft, also called a springboard, proposal. Key highlights of the proposal:

• Kellogg Middle School would reopen, with the Spanish Dual Language Immersion program that is currently at Mt. Tabor Middle School moving there.
• Harrison Park, which is currently a K-8 school, would become a middle school.
• Other K-8 schools (Arleta, Bridger, Creston, Lent and Marysville) will be converted into K-5 schools.

Feeder patterns, boundaries and shifts to DLI programs were also proposed. Details can be seen in the first draft document. This is a starting point of possible options for the Southeast Guiding Coalition to think about, and they will continue to work together in October to ask questions and develop additional versions of a possible plan.

The Guiding Coalition is made up of parents and principals representing Southeast schools. Starting October 8, its work will shift into Phase 1, a series of nine Thursday meetings focused on  the middle school grades. The series will include a virtual open house on November 12 that will be open to all, a community survey, and will conclude with a final Phase 1 recommendation on December 17.

Phase 2 will focus on PK-5 grades, with meetings in spring 2021.

Enrollment and Program Balancing uses both a data-driven analysis process and community input to address needs such as equity and inclusion, transportation, facilities constraints, and much more. Meeting agendas, materials, minutes and videos are posted at the Enrollment and Program Balancing website.

Update After Coronavirus Pandemic

Enrollment and Program Balancing is still underway but is now starting with Southeast. This is because of the reopening and enrollment of Kellogg, and because we want to give the process the attention it needs as the District and PPS families continue to handle many challenges right now.

Original Update

https://www.pps.net/cms/lib/OR01913224/Centricity/Domain/4/Letter%20to%20Community_%20Enrollment%20Balancing.pdf

At its Feb. 25 meeting, the PPS Board of Education unanimously passed a scope of work for enrollment and program balancing. The Board, by a 7-0 vote, passed Resolution 6059, which accepts a proposed scope that includes information on background, reasoning, values, outcome goals, and the approach and sequence of the work.

Read the resolution and full scope of work

As Board undertakes policy changes to guide balancing work, we need your feedback

In order to make informed decisions on enrollment and program balancing, the PPS Board of Education is undertaking revisions to three policies that will guide the work.

To help inform the revisions, the district’s Community Engagement team is collecting feedback through a questionnaire.

Take the questionnaire

To see a summary flyer on the changes being considered, click on the image to right.

The three policies that will be amended are (click on name to read the full policy):

• 10.045-P: “Student Assignment to Neighborhood Schools.” The policy establishes a process for assigning students to neighborhood schools, and provides consistent guidelines for changes to school boundaries.
• 10.051-P: “Student Enrollment and Transfers.” The policy intends to provide equal access to educational options for all resident students through an open, fair and accessible process and to promote equity and diversity in student transfers and admissions.
• 10.022-P: “Education Options Policy.” The policy seeks to implement goals by offering students and their families the support they need to make informed choices among a variety of educational options, and to provide consistent guidelines and procedures for educational options.