Program areas at Open School
Step up program:during the year ended june 30, 2023, the step up program continued to provide school-year tutoring, mentoring, leadership development, advocacy, and summer program services for students enrolled at roosevelt, franklin, and leodis v. mcdaniel high schools who areidentified as needing academic and social support to succeed in their public high School. The program focuses on intensive engagement with incoming 9th graders, with continued support through high School. Step up engages students in the summer prior to 9th grade and focuses on full, timely credit attainment and active student engagement in School to keep students on track to graduate. This program is funded by a combination of grants and contracts with portland public School district, the portland children's levy, private foundations, and indiviudal donors.
Open School east:the Open School east program, in partnership with centennial, gresham-barlow, parkrose, portland public, reynolds, and david douglas School districts, continued to deploy strategies designed to engage and accelerate off-track students in grades 9 through 12. Using early-warning indicators to identify young, marginalized students at risk of dropping out, the organization provides students with culturally inclusive, relationship-based, extended-day and -year School programming which focuses on engagement and skill-acceleration to prepare them for post-secondary success. Strategies include active recruitment of students, summer social-emotional leadership academy, restorative accountability, intensive family engagement, and preparation, emphasizing cultural identity, essential skills, social justice, and the arts. Staff from partner districts are provided professional development in best practices for engaging marginalized students, while assisting in teaching students at the School. The program is supported by the five partner School districts as well as private foundation and individual gifts.