Summer Scholars Main Website

There will be two sessions for students to take courses this summer:

• Session 1: June 23- July 10 (no class July 4)

• Session 2: July 14- July 30

Classes will be held Monday - Friday, 9:00 am-12:00 pm at four high school locations listed below.  

• Benson High School

• Franklin High School

• McDaniel High School

• Roosevelt High School

Breakfast and lunch will be provided.

No charge to register.

Summer Scholars jobs will be posted by 3/22/25

Interested in enrolling?  

For students who are interested in recovering credit through Summer Scholars, they should meet with their high school counselor to review their transcript and choose the appropriate course(s).   Classes will be open for registration starting May 12th. 

Enrollment Prioritization  

Summer Scholars will not enroll students for initial credit, grade improvement, or credit advancement. Students in these situations are invited to enroll in Evening Scholars. 

Summer and Evening Scholars are listed below, separately.

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Portland SUMMER Scholars follows a prioritization process for situations when classes fill up to a maximum capacity. Our prioritization process is as follows:

1. PPS Seniors 

2. PPS Juniors, Credit Recovery and Credit Deficient

3. PPS Sophomores, Credit Recovery and Credit Deficient

4. PPS Freshmen, Credit Recovery and Credit Deficient

• Classes will meet once per week from February 24th - June 3rd for 13 weeks.
• There will be no classes the week of March 24th- March 28th for Spring Break.
• Registration will open in Early February.
• Students must meet with their counselor to enroll in classes.
• All classes are in-person and attendance is required. 
• Each class meets from 5:00 - 8:00pm.
• A variety of classes will be held across 3 locations:
  • Benson High School: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays
  • Franklin High School: Tuesdays and Thursdays
  • Roosevelt High School: Mondays and Wednesdays

Inclement Weather:  In case of inclement weather, here is the general outline Portland Evening Scholars will follow:

1. if PPS is closed for the day:  no PESS classes.

2. if PPS closes early and cancels all evening events (basketball, choir, etc):  no PESS classes. 

3. if PPS has a full day of classes but inclement weather is a possibility for the evening time:  a decision will be made by 3pm for PESS classes.

4. if PPS has late opening:  we will have PESS classes.

5. if PPS moves daytime classes to a virtual platform due to weather, PESS will do the same.  

Here is how our office will communicate these decisions: 

1. We will send out a SchoolMessenger to all students/parents informing them of what our plans are. 

2. Administrator will send an all-staff email informing you what our plan is.  

3. Our website will be updated with a banner along the top indicating our plan is.

HeART of Portland, the annual celebration of local student artists, is returning to the Portland Art Museum (PAM) beginning April 16.

The two-week fine arts showcase features work by students from across Portland Public Schools and is made possible by the Arts Access Fund, which also supports elementary visual and performing arts educators.

2025 HeART of Portland kicks off with an opening reception at PAM on April 16 at 6:30 p.m. and concludes with the Miller Family Free Day on April 27. The opening reception will include musical and theatrical performances, as well as a set from the elementary school honor choir – made up of two singers from each PPS elementary – and the debut of the honor dance collective. 

In addition, the showcase will feature more than 100 works of student visual art, handpicked by PPS arts educators, and a collaborative art project for K-12 students that embraces the rebellious spirit of the current PAM exhibition, Psychedelic Rock Posters and Fashion of the 1960s. 

The reception and HeART of Portland exhibits are free and open to everyone. Please join us in lifting up our student artists!

Portland Public Schools is continuing to host a series of events aimed at starting productive conversations about what is possible in the systems we create for our children with disabilities.

As part of this series, we are excited to welcome you to a free screening of The Ride Ahead on Thursday March 20 at McMenamins Kennedy School. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the movie begins at 7:00.

The Ride Ahead is a film about adult life with disabilities by a man with disabilities. It is the debut of 21-year-old Samuel Habib who, struggling to find his place in the world, decides to make a film that charts how a group of disabled adults navigate challenges and forge their own unique paths. The film serves as a roadmap for himself and others and illustrates the compelling power of one person truly determined to live life on his own terms.

In documenting his journey, Samuel is following in the footsteps of his father, the filmmaker Dan Habib. You can learn more about their work here.

Staff, families, and community members are all invited. Parking is free and McMenamins' full menu is available for ordering. We hope to see you there!

In meteorological terms, Portland’s first big weather event of 2024 was the definition of a perfect storm. Frigid temperatures and high winds combined with snow and ice to bring down tree limbs, close roads, scramble traffic, freeze pipes, and knock out power for tens of thousands of residents.

It was a metaphorical perfect storm for Portland Public Schools as well. Fallen trees cut power to multiple schools and others have suffered water damage from broken pipes. Lack of heat was also a problem, and impassable roads, paired with snowed-in and icy parking lots, made it impossible for buses to run safely. Those same conditions limited how the district’s facilities and operations teams can even assess the scope of the issues, let alone begin working on solutions. And icy sidewalks meant walkers have no safe route to school.

This week could bring similar conditions to the Portland area, and PPS’s School Closure Team is ready to meet the challenge. The team convenes regularly during inclement weather to take all of the above into careful consideration. By now, families are quite familiar with how the district communicates these decisions. What’s perhaps less known is how district leaders arrive at such decisions in the first place. 

As part of our district's focus on events that center belonging, equity, and inclusion, we have been screening a series of films that we hope will challenge our perceptions about what is possible in the systems we create for our children with disabilities.

The next film in the series is “Champions,” which will screen on Saturday February 8th at 2:00 PM at Lincoln High School. This event will also include first-hand testimonials from PPS students.

This movie highlights the journey of a basketball coach who leads a team of players with intellectual disabilities. Through humor and heartfelt moments, the movie emphasizes the strengths, individuality, and value each player brings to the team and how inclusion enriches communities and creates positive, supportive environments.

Staff, families, and community members are all invited. Parking is free and light refreshment will be provided. We hope to see you there!