Community Schools Online -
[Cached Version]
Published on: 7/19/2006
Last Visited: 12/13/2008
At the Portland forum, the taskforce heard from a panel of senior local leaders who have been integral in the creation and maintenance of SUN, including Diane Linn, Chair of Multnomah County Board of Commissioners; Lolenzo T. Poe, Jr., Director of the Office of School and Community Partnerships, Multnomah County; Susan Castillo, Oregon State Superintendent of Public Instruction; Jonah Edelman, Executive Director of Stand for Children; and Barbara Kienle, Director of Student Services, David Douglas School District,.
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According to Lolenzo Poe, community schools serve as an example of "pockets of excellence"-a term used to refer to communities that are actively working to help close the chronic achievement gap found between white and non-white students.Poe said that community schools provide great opportunities to connect culturally infused courses with active parental involvement.Parents, he believes, can help teachers construct culturally conscious curriculum to help better engage students in classroom and extracurricular activities.
Over the past couple of years, SUN schools have experienced dramatic increases in their reading and math test scores.Poe and other SUN officials maintain that this test score improvement is due to students' active involvement in its schools' support services.