OCF Fund Supports Roosevelt Campus

(Deborah Peterson, principal for the Roosevelt Campus, speaks at the OCF reception)

The Oregon Community Foundation has presented a $160,000 grant to E3 from the PGE Multnomah County Charitable Fund to help support community involvement and student services for students at the small high schools on the Roosevelt Campus in North Portland.

The award was presented at the Oregon Community Foundation grantee reception and check presentation on May 24, 2007 at the World Trade Center in downtown Portland.  Carole Morse, president of the PGE Foundation, presented the check to René Léger, E3’s executive director and to Roosevelt Campus principal, Deborah Peterson.  Peterson thanked the foundation and then described how the grant funds would be used to help provide coordination for the many social services programs on campus.

“Our students are among the poorest in the entire metropolitan area,” said Peterson.  “In fact, there are over 200 students who are homeless.  This gift from the PGE Multnomah Country Charitable Fund will help us provide much needed coordination support of our social services.  These services are literally helping to keep students alive and in school.  We are very grateful for this award.”

Roosevelt High School has struggled for many years with decreasing enrollment and low academic scores.  However, since converting into small schools in 2004 as part of the E3 Oregon Small Schools Initiative, they have shown some dramatic improvements.  Test scores and attendance are going up, and the number of students taking advanced placement (AP) classes has increased dramatically.  In fact, Roosevelt has the largest percentage increase in the number of students taking AP classes of any school in the Portland Public School district. 

“We are delighted with the improvements of the schools on the Roosevelt Campus,” said René Léger, E3’s executive director. “Their success is directly related to the extraordinary work teachers and administrators are doing every day – building strong relationships with students, pushing them to achieve at higher levels and providing the support they need to succeed.  They are an excellent example of how small schools can make a real difference.”

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