To Our Community, Partners and Supporters, The entire Team and Board of Directors would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude for your donations and in-kind support over this past year! We hope this message finds you all safe, warm, and protected amongst those you love most. Because of your generosity, […]
Christin Carter, parent of a OSE 2021 graduate, spoke at the 2021 graduation ceremony about her gratitude to Open School staff for supporting her son, Kejon. Watch her speech or read her powerful words below… [Open School is] doing what nobody else believed was possible. Our graduates are here […]
The mission of Open School is to develop connection, capability, and confidence in disconnected youth through relationship-based, quality learning experiences that result in their academic, personal, and community success. Over 80% of our students are youth of color, low income and from marginalized communities. We encourage you to explore our […]
I used to live in a rural area. I went to a small school. It was a big culture shock to relocate to Portland. At the time, my family was experiencing homelessness. We were living in a car. I was never in one school for more than a few weeks […]
Our first cohort of students returned to school for hybrid learning on Monday, April 19. Their Advocates welcomed them back with music, encouragement, and socially-distanced air-fives. After a year of distance learning, both students and teachers were ready to connect in a safe and supportive environment. Like many of our […]
We were devastated to learn of this week’s murders of Asian women in Atlanta, but unfortunately, we were not surprised. These tragic deaths come amidst a spike in racist violence and hate speech directed at members of the AAPI community. A recent report by Stop AAPI Hate examines 3,795 documented […]
On March 5th, 2021, Governor Kate Brown Announced that all Oregon public schools will offer a form of in person learning starting April 19th. (Read more here) Open School East administration will be working hard in the next two weeks to draft a plan for Hybrid learning for all our students. We want […]
Open School is excited to announce that Kimberlee Pierce Sheng will be the organization’s new Executive Director. Sheng will be the fourth person, and first African-American woman, to lead Open School in its 50-year history. A committee of Open School staff and board members selected her after a national search. […]
Open School has received national and community attention for our response to distance learning. An article about our work entitled “Advancing Equity: Connecting students with the support of social-emotional learning during COVID-forced school closings”, written by our Board Member Dr. Beth Tarasawa, will appear this month in School Administrator magazine. […]