Leaping high

Charter school sets example as 97 percent of its = seniors=20 graduate

By Jennifer Anderson

The Portland Tribune, Jun 3,=20 2010, Updated Jun 4,=20 2010

=20

L.E. BASKOW / TRIBUNE PHOTO

Seniors at the Leadership & = Entrepreneurship High=20 School present their end-of-year group projects to parents last week. = The=20 four-year-old charter school is graduating its first senior class = this=20 month.

=93Hey, what=92s your passion?=94 It wasn=92t = a question Jordan=20 Wade expected to hear from his school administrator as a lost and = uncertain high=20 school freshman.

=93I remember thinking, =91Why do you care?=92 =94 = 18-year-old Jordan=20 says, as he prepares to graduate June 12 from Leadership & = Entrepreneurship=20 Public Charter School.

As it happens, the 315-student LEP (pronounced = leap) High is=20 the only Portland public charter school focused on the high school = grades.

It also happens to be the only district high school = with a=20 near-perfect graduation rate of 97 percent =96LEP=92srate for its first = class of=20 graduating seniors this year. That graduation rate =96 although not an=20 apples-to-apple comparison with other high schools =96 looks good in = light of=20 dismal graduation data released by the Oregon Department of Education = last=20 week.

LEP=92s success hasn=92t been publicly recognized, = however, since=20 the state=92s data is a year behind, and LEP did not have a graduating = class last=20 year. The school started with a freshman class four years ago and has = added a=20 grade each year since.

But judging by its success with its first class of = graduates,=20 LEP could offer some insight into the benefits of a small-school = environment as=20 the Portland district is poised to make some dramatic changes, says = Duncan Wyse,=20 president of the Oregon Business Council and point person on the = state=92s=20 small-schools initiative =96 called E3: Employers for Education = Excellence.

=93It=92s clearly a life-changing school for those = students,=94=20 Wyse says of LEP. =93It=92s just really heartening. It works for a lot = of kids who=20 wouldn=92t be successful under a traditional setting: the = personalization,=20 project-based learning, care and concern about each student and their=20 project.=94

LEP is by no means the only school thriving in the = midst of a=20 depressing budget reality. Districtwide, 2,400 seniors are set to = graduate this=20 month, entering into an economic environment that the nonprofit think = tank=20 Economic Policy Institute has dubbed one of the worst in history.

=93For the class of 2010,=94 according to the = group=92s report=20 issued last week, =93it will be one of the worst years to graduate high = school or=20 college since at least 1983 and possibly the worst since the end of = World War=20 II.=94

In the midst of that reality, LEP has been the = Little School=20 That Could. In four years, it has survived a move, a financial crisis = that=20 nearly closed the school, a fire that destroyed teachers=92 offices last = fall and=20 a small flood last month due to a broken pipe.

Growth has also been a challenge.

Throughout the past year, the school has seen 100 = new=20 students without =93as much robust support as we needed to make the=20 transition,=94cofounder Adam Reid says.

Like all charter schools in the district, LEP must = secure and=20 pay for its own space. It pays an annual $200,000 to lease a small = converted=20 warehouse on East Burnside and 20th Avenue. That space has been = transformed into=20 a bright place with student projects on the walls and cozy, artful=20 classrooms.

Here=92s a snapshot of the school=92s latest = accomplishments:

=95 Of 34 seniors this year, 33 are graduating. = (One will=20 graduate in the fall, having fallen short of the attendance requirement = for her=20 internship.) Of the 33 graduates, the majority will enroll in a = community=20 college, four-year university or technical school. One plans to join the = military and three will enter the work force.

=95 Although sophomores=92 federal test scores are = still below=20 the bar, the scores have seen double-digit gains. In the past year, = writing=20 scores rose from 32 percent to 46 percent of students meeting or = exceeding the=20 federal benchmark. The percentage of students meeting the reading = benchmark rose=20 from 56 to 64. And math jumped from 27 percent to 39 percent.

=95 LEP has made its strides with a high-need, = diverse=20 population that is 63 percent below the poverty level. (Jefferson is 70 = percent,=20 Madison is 68 percent, for comparison=92s sake.)

Half of the student body is white, a quarter are=20 African-American and just under a quarter are Hispanic. Seven percent = are=20 English language-learners and 18 percent are special-education = students.

A fifth of the student body enters as =93academic = priority=94=20 students, since they are several grade levels below in math and reading. = Geographically, they hail from all across the metro area, including each = of=20 Portland=92s nine high school campuses.

Interestingly, the largest chunk (18 percent of the = student=20 body) comes from the Madison neighborhood; another 13 percent live = within=20 Jefferson=92s boundaries.

A reality-based education

Four years ago, amid little fanfare, LEP opened its = doors in=20 Northeast Portland with 104 freshmen and a theory =96 that if you = capitalize on=20 students=92 passions and nurture them with real-life entrepreneurial = opportunities=20 and rigorous coursework, it will translate into success not just in = school, but=20 in life.

Jordan, for instance, says he couldn=92t find the = help he=20 needed from teachers in the large classes at Lincoln, where he started = as a=20 freshman.

Jordan says his mother was so dismayed by his = performance,=20 she heard about LEP starting up and =93forced=94 him to try it out.

Skeptical, he visited the school and shadowed a = student for a=20 day, sitting in on a leadership class =96 a requirement for all freshmen = and=20 sophomores =96 and saw students creating their own business plans.

=93They said, =91We=92re learning to start our own = business.=92 I=20 said, =91really?=92 =94

In an English class one day last week, a teacher = used a short=20 video clip from the comedian Dave Chapelle=92s standup routine to prompt = a=20 discussion on the meaning of stereotypes.

In a math class, students used their own computers = and=20 software that meets them at their own level to get up to speed. When = they=92re not=20 at their computers, they=92re working in groups on projects, relating = abstract=20 concepts to real life, students say.

All students are required to take four years of = math to=20 graduate, compared with the three years required by PPS. The same is = true for=20 social studies.

In a student=92s junior year, an internship is = required with a=20 local business or community organization. The idea is to gain real-world = experience in an area of interest.

Senior Aaron Casey, 18, came to high school as an = aspiring=20 chef, so he secured an internship in the kitchen at East Burn, the = popular bar=20 and grill just two blocks away.

The fast-paced prep kitchen environment wasn=92t = quite what he=20 expected, and didn=92t match his career goals after all, Aaron says. = =93There=92s so=20 much you have to do,=94 he says. =93I=92m a chill person.=94

But working with a prep list in the kitchen did = teach him the=20 arts of time management and organization, he says. He now plans to study = history=20 at Portland Community College this fall.

Jordan, the former Lincoln student, also got a = surprise when=20 he signed up for an internship at a recording studio on Sandy Boulevard. = When=20 the studio unexpectedly went out of business, Jordan, an aspiring audio=20 engineer, was crushed =96 until he talked with school cofounder Adam = Reid, a=20 former musician who helped in the startup phase of North Portland=92s = nonprofit=20 Ethos.

=93Mr. Adam (Reid) used to have his own recording = studio and=20 produced a couple things, so he=92s been teaching me what he knows,=94 = Jordan=20 says.

Next fall, Jordan will attend the Hollywood-based = Musicians=20 Institute, billed as the top music school in the country.

Rigorous requirements

Yet another difference at LEP: Teachers don=92t = give out D=92s.=20 Students must earn 70 percent or higher to pass a class, which makes = them more=20 college-ready, Reid and LEP program director Lorna Fast Buffalo Horse = say.

Teachers also don=92t do =93social promotion=94 =96 = automatically=20 passing the student to the next grade, even if he or she fails =96 which = does=20 happen at other schools because of pressure from federal law, educators = say.

If a student doesn=92t graduate in four years, he = or she is=20 counted as a dropout, which is a negative mark against the school and = could lead=20 to sanctions such as forced closure or other changes.

That explains how LEP started with 104 freshmen = four years=20 ago and has only 34 seniors this year.

Reid says the majority have transferred out so they = could=20 graduate with fewer requirements at another school. About a quarter of = those=20 freshmen who aren=92t graduating this year will do so next year, more=20 college-ready, Reid says. They were held back because they weren=92t = meeting the=20 requirements.

Joseph Bullock, 18, an LEP senior who=92ll graduate = in two=20 weeks, says the school saved him from failing.

=93I really, seriously, think I would=92ve dropped = out,=94 he says.=20 At LEP, =93I was learning something. Something that was = interesting.=94

In his two years at LEP, he found an interest in = journalism=20 through a politics club he joined.

Last month Joseph wrapped up his senior project, a = graduation=20 requirement that involves individual and group research, a partnership = with an=20 expert on the topic, a social action plan,20-page paper and presentation = to=20 their peers.

Joseph studied gang violence; others delved into=20 homelessness, teenage pregnancy, childhood obesity and art in the = schools.

As for the future, Joseph says he has considered = joining the=20 military or Peace Corps, and also looked into state universities but was = daunted=20 by the price tag. He didn=92t want to take out loans =96 his mom is = still paying=20 hers off, he says.

So the plan is to get a job this summer, doing = whatever he=20 can. =93I=92m pretty sure once I get out there and start looking I=92ll = find=20 something,=94 he says. =93I=92m just not sure what.=94

jenniferanderson@portlandtribune.com

Portland Public Schools high school graduation = schedule

June 3, Marshall/Renaissance Arts, 6 p.m., school=20 gymnasium

June 4 Marshall/Pauling Academy, 5:30 p.m., school=20 auditorium

June 4 Marshall/BizTech, 6 p.m. school gymnasium =

June 5 Metropolitan Learning Center, 2 p.m., = Chapman=20 Elementary

June 6 Jefferson High School, 3 p.m., Memorial = Coliseum

June 6 Grant High School, 6 p.m., Memorial Coliseum =

June 7 Benson Polytechnic High School, 6 p.m., = Memorial=20 Coliseum

June 7 Cleveland High School, 8 p.m., Memorial = Coliseum

June 8 Madison/Alliance, 1 p.m., Madison

June 8 Franklin High School, 6 p.m., school stadium =

June 8 Roosevelt, 6 p.m. Memorial Coliseum

June 8 Lincoln High School, 8 p.m., Memorial = Coliseum

June 9 Madison High School, 6 p.m., Memorial = Coliseum

June 9 Marshall Night School/Alliance, 7 p.m., = Marshall

June 9 Wilson High School, 8 p.m., Memorial = Coliseum

June 10 Benson/Portland Night School, 7 p.m., = Benson

June 11 Meek/Alliance, 8 p.m., Meek Campus

June 12 Leadership & Entrepreneurship High = School, 6:30=20 p.m., Portland State University=92s Hoffman Hall

June 12, Trillium Charter School, 2 p.m., Portland = Community=20 College=92s Moriarty Arts and Humanities Building