Concordia Neighborhood Association | Portland, Oregon

Category Archives: Schools

International public high school for immigrant students now enrolling for fall

Posted on by Posted in Archive, Events, Schools

Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon’s Portland International Community School (PICS) is enrolling students for the school’s 17th year of providing education programs for high school aged students (14 to 21) who are the children of immigrants or refugees.

An accredited school, PICS is one of several community-based schools under contract with Portland Public Schools. The school has partnered with Concordia University to strengthen its English as a Second Language curriculum this year and will feature master’s degree candidate interns as tutors.

Enrollment for the fall term will take place at the school (2728 NE 34th Ave., Portland, Ore.) starting Aug. 30, 2010.

For information about PICS, contact the school at (503) 232-5334, or go to www.emoregon.org/PDX_intl_school.php.

Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon is a statewide association of Christian denominations—including Protestant, Roman Catholic and Orthodox bodies—congregations, ecumenical organizations and interfaith partners working together to improve the lives of Oregonians through community ministry programs, ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue, environmental ministry and public policy advocacy.

Michelle Bush

Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon (EMO)
Administrative & Communications Assistant
(503) 221-1054, ext. 202
www.emoregon.org

Youth Safety Courses, Vernon School, July 8-10

Posted on by Posted in Events, Schools

Two youth safety courses open to the public will be held at Vernon School.

Course 1: Babysitting (an American Red Cross course)

Participants ages 11 to 15 learn the basics of babysitting including professionalism, interviewing, child development, positive guidance, appropriate toys/activities and how to recognize and respond safely to common emergencies of infants and children.

When:Tuesday, July 8th and Wednesday, July 9th, from 12:30-4:30pm , this is a two-day course.(Registration required)

Where: Vernon SUN School, 2044 NE Killingsworth

Cost: $35.00 per child (cash or check made to “Community Upgrade”), includes participant book, first aid kit and snack

Course 2: When I’m In Charge (Registration required)

Details: Children learn valuable safety skills especially useful while unsupervised.

When:Thursday, July 10th from 12:30-3:30pm

Where: Vernon SUN School, 2044 NE Killingsworth

Cost: $20.00 per child (cash or check made to “Community Upgrade”), includes participant book, first aid kit and snack

Need more information?
Please call Shantel Waddell, Vernon SUN Manager at 503-916-6559.

Local Group Seeks Health Insurance For Kids

Posted on by Posted in Events, Family, Health and Wellness, Schools

“Why Not Portland?”

This simple question is both the name of and driving force behind a grassroots campaign to bring low-cost health insurance to the children of Portland public schools.

“It’s terrible that anybody is uninsured, and having uninsured children in our community is unacceptable,” says Dr. Gregg Coodley, the WhyNotPortland campaign’s chief petitioner and co-founder of the Fanno Creek Medical Clinic. “Every kid deserves access to a good doctor.”

The goal of the WhyNotPortland campaign is to provide city-funded health care for the approximately 9000 uninsured kids attending Portland public schools. To reach this goal, Coodley has been raising funds and gathering the 28,000 signatures required from City of Portland voters to officially place the initiative on the November ballot.

Continue reading →

Cully-Concordia Schools/Families/Housing Assessment

Posted on by Posted in Schools

We hope to see a large turn out at the June 3rd General Meeting when project staff from the City’s Bureau of Planning present the results to and solicits input from the neighborhood regarding the Cully-Concordia Schools/Families/Housing Assessment. The Cully-Concordia Schools/Families/Housing Assessment is a cooperative effort of the City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Portland Public Schools (PPS) to look at portions of the Concordia and Cully neighborhoods, and focus on three public schools, Faubion, Rigler, and Scott, along with the PPS owned, former Whitaker Middle School site. The objectives of this project are to explore how to increase and sustain the attractiveness of the Cully-Concordia area for families with school age children and create an action list and build partnerships to follow up on ideas generated through the process. Key questions that are being addressed are:

  • How do the existing conditions of the area, and anticipated growth and change affect local school capacity/viability and neighborhood livability?
  • What is the potential for schools to serve as multi-purpose centers of community life in a way that benefits their educational mission?
  • What are key missing neighborhood amenities that affect neighborhood livability?
  • What are some potential strategies to address school issues?
  • How can redevelopment enhance community goals?

This project began in the Fall 2007 and has focused to date on information collection including interviews with over 70 diverse stakeholders, from parents to service providers and associations like Concordia Neighborhood, on their thoughts of the project area and the questions above. Planning staff is nearly done with an Assessment report that summarizes what staff has learned about the project area. In April and May, a Community Discussion Group met to talk about issues, review information collected and begin strategizing on potential actions to improve local schools and community livability. The group will meet again in mid-June to shape the action plan after broader community input.

Please join us at the June 3rd General Meeting when project staff will present information gleaned from the Assessment, report on some initial strategies generated by the Community Discussion Group, and solicit Concordia Neighborhood input on all of the above. A similar presentation will take place at the Cully Association of Neighbors meeting on June 10, and a third community input meeting will take place at one of the local schools, to be scheduled for June.

Project information can be viewed at the Bureau of Planning’s website under planning projects.

Faubion Garden Story Club – Thursdays this summer

Posted on by Posted in Archive, Events, Schools, Volunteer Opportunities

Join the Faubion School Garden for a unique event.faub.png

Children will be engaged with stories, crafts and games, while parents help maintain the newly improved Faubion Garden. Meet in the Faubion Garden Amphitheatre (on the west side of the school).

Open to all neighborhood families. Parents, bring gardening gloves & some weeding tools.

Drop in for any or all days: Thursdays at 11:00 am, June 26, July 10 & 24 and August 7 & 21

Faubion PTA Family Night, January 30

Posted on by Posted in Archive, Events, Schools

In November, our PTA had the privilege to meet with Oregon PTA President Anita Olsen at one of our functions. Anita was apparently impressed with our effort and wrote a complimentary article about Faubion PTA in the December/January 2008 Newsletter. I am pleased to share excerpts from the newsletter with our neighbors here:

“I am privileged to receive invitations to visit from PTAs all over the state – and I try to visit as many as I am able. Last month, I was invited to Faubion PTA in Northeast Portland. Faubion is a PTA with the same challenges many (other PTAs) have: how to get parents and families into the school to see the importance of their involvement while at the same time going on to their jobs during the day and preparing their children for the next school day each evening. And, after two years of struggling, Faubion is finding the answer. I was invited to an old fashioned kaffeeklatch before school one Friday morning. In and among the coffee and doughnuts, I met about a dozen wonderful folks – moms, dads, grandmas, and grandpas. They told me about family nights they organized: a craft night in October, a bingo night in November. Each event was designed to bring families into the school and it did just that – 40 to 50 people – often different families at each event, who heard about the importance of family involvement at their school while enjoying their children’s and one another’s company.”

Thank you, Anita, for your attendance and kind words. Faubion is “living the idea of Family-School Partnerships” and the results are heartening. We had a lot of fun at bingo night and from its reception, there will be more of the same in the future.

Our next Family Night event will be Wednesday, January 30, 2008 at 6:30 P.M. We haven’t decided on which type of event yet (our PTA business meeting on December 20 will attend to that) but it will be advertised and it will be – again – family fun. Watch for it and please attend. You don’t have to be a PTA member; you don’t even have to have kids at Faubion. It is an opportunity to see our school and neighborhood, meet some of its members and have a good time.

Faubion PTA and the 350 wonderful kids who attend our neighborhood public school wish you and yours a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year.