high school

What: Back by popular demand!  Doreen Dodgen-Magee will share information that can help every parent navigate the ever-growing world of technological entertainment and communication.

Come learn more about . . .

• The potential harmful impact of overuse of technology
• Ideas about how to minimize negative impact
• How careful consideration and planning for the use of technology can enhance both the life of your child and the health of your family

This is important information every parent will want to know. FREE childcare & dinner provided with pre-registration. For more information or to pre-register Call 503-785-8877 or email Debbie.Cole@orecity.k12.or.us

Who: Anyone in the community

When: Tuesday May, 26, 2009 6:00pm - 8:30pm

Where: Holcomb Elementary School 14625 Holcomb Blvd. Oregon City, Oregon 97045

What: This 90 minute presentation will be given by Lt. Jim Band and Detective Sgt. Bill Kler of the Oregon City Police Department. The class is primarily for parents, teachers, and family members of the children in our community. The purpose of the class is to educate people on the myths and facts surrounding child abuse. By educating people in the community, we hope to help prevent abuse from happening and teach people what to do in the event they suspect a child they know is being abused. The class is for adults and would not necessarily be appropriate for children.

When: Wednesday, April 29, 2009, at 7:00 PM

Where: Oregon City PD; 320 Warner Milne Road (next to Bugatti’s Restaurant)

If you have any questions, please call Lt. Jim Band at (503) 496-1686, or email at jband@ci.oregon-city.or.us.

What: OCHS Literary Magazine Debut and Bookfair, with all proceeds going to produce the Literary Magazine. Be sure to say "I'm shopping for OC" when you make your purchase.

When: Saturday, April 25. You can shop all day, and the Literary Magazine Staff will be hosting events between noon and 5 pm.

Where: Clackamas Town Center Barnes and Noble, 2nd Floor

Big Events: In-store art contest, voting from noon – 4 pm; choir, band, and acoustic guitar performances between 1:30 and 4; poetry reading begins at 4, with Lit Mag distribution to follow.

Educators at OCHS have dramatically reduced the dropout rate to 1.1%. This is down from 5 percent three years ago. Principal Nancy Bush-Lange attributes the decrease in the number of dropouts to an aggressive tracking system used by her associate principals, counselors and attendance coordinator. If a student drops out of OCHS, there is a synergistic effort to contact the student and to get them back into school.

To provide help for students who dropout and choose to return to school, Bush-Lange and her team have developed and implemented a program for on-site credit recovery classes and a Twilight Program. Students who attend the Twilight Program have a modified school day with a variety of classes and on-line course options. Students in the Twilight Program work towards a basic diploma and attend classes in the late afternoon or evening. Currently there are 74 students taking credit recovery classes at OCHS and 25 students in the Twilight Program.

Read more in the Oregonian article Oregon high school dropout rate drops to lowest in a decade.

The four linked articles below tell the story of a school district that is achieving excellence in academics, providing challenging courses for college credit, and innovating in education to ensure that all students are learning.  The following excerpt from each article affirms the   standards of excellence and innovation for which the Oregon City School District is known.

Students at Oregon City High School turned in one of the most impressive gains in standardized test scores in the state and bested the state average scores by wide margins last year.

This year two of our schools were rated exceptional, nine were rated strong, and two were rated satisfactory.  None were rated low or unacceptable.

Oregon City High school offers dozens of courses that qualify for college credit at many colleges and universities including 13 Advanced Placement (AP) courses and 27 advanced college credit (ACC) courses.

A district initiated elementary charter school that combines a project based curriculum with the 21st Century Learning skills and integrates technology is an option worth pursuing. 

You can read the complete articles describing the success of the Oregon City School District in providing the high quality education that parents want for their children by clicking on the appropriate link below: 

Soaring Test Scores at Oregon City High School
School Report Cards puts Oregon City School District at the Front of the Class
Send your High School Student to College at Oregon City High School
Proposed District Initiated 21st Century Learning Academy

Kristen Trone and Jessica Stringham, two of Oregon City High School’s top seniors, are in the midst of working on their college applications, and wherever they decide to go to college they could have more than a year of college already finished by taking advantage of college-level classes offered at Oregon City High School.

Oregon City High school offers dozens of courses that qualify for college credit at many colleges and universities. “OCHS offers 13 Advanced Placement (AP) courses, more than triple the number in 2004. And, OCHS offers 27 advanced college credit (ACC) courses through arrangements with Clackamas Community College,” reports Anitra McCormack, associate principal of academic programs.

“The AP and CCC classes help prepare students for college acceptance, scholarships and college success,” states Nancy Bush-Lange, principal at Oregon City High School. “We need to be as competitive as other high schools and our students need to be prepared. They need to experience the rigor and requirements of college level classes.”

Students are flocking to this tougher coursework. Some 405 students are enrolled in AP classes and 1,632 students are tackling the ACC courses this year, according to McCormack. Trone has seven AP classes and five ACC classes under her belt and Stringham has three AP and five ACC classes.  “I like to learn,” says Trone, “I like to take classes that challenge me.” Trone is also student body president, is on the lacrosse team, involved in drama and very active in her church.

Stringham is editor of the school newspaper and is co-captain of the robotics team that went to the national competition in Atlanta.  Stringham is taking a math class at Reed College in its prestigious Young Scholars program, open only to the highest achieving high school students. She is commended student in the National Merit Scholarship program, putting her in the top two percent of high school students nationwide. 

Advanced Placement courses are designed to be as rigorous as a college course. The Advanced Placement courses are administered by the national College Board organization. After taking the AP class, students take a difficult exam. If scores are high enough on that test, many colleges will award them college credit for the AP class. AP courses at OCHS range from biology to calculus to music theory and history.

The high school college credits can be a big boost.  Most Oregon state universities for example, require 180 credits to graduate or 45 credits per year.  Courtney Larson, a 2006 graduate of Oregon City High School, graduated with 70 total ACC credits and entered the University of Oregon as a sophomore.  Emily Ebel, who graduated last year (and was profiled in Upfront), graduated with 64 credits from AP and ACC classes, also entered the University of Oregon as a sophomore.

With the high cost of college, these credits earned at OCHS can be a tremendous way for families to significantly shave college costs. The total cost of attending Oregon State or University of Oregon for one year is about $16,000.  Some private colleges now cost more than $50,000 per year. By contrast, the cost of the testing and posting credits to a college transcript from the OCHS courses is minimal.

In addition to the possibility of college credit, the AP and CCC courses are more rigorous and so better prepare students for the difficult work of college.  Many competitive colleges consider whether students have taken these challenging types of classes in their admission decisions, even though some do not grant credit.

Both Trone and Stringham appreciate the value of the extra-challenging courses. “They are really good classes,” Stringham says. “It is preparing all of us better for college. And, the students in these classes are also really serious about learning,” Trone adds.

Neither has decided what they want to be when they “grow up;” but Trone is considering medical school or bioengineering and Stringham is looking at computer science, engineering or math.  Stringham’s advice for students considering AP or ACC classes: “Don’t be afraid. The teachers are great. Just be prepared to do a lot of work.”

Oregon City schools continue to show welcome improvement on the Oregon State Report Cards, which give a snapshot of how each school in the state measures up. This year two of our schools were rated satisfactory, nine were rated strong, and two were rated exceptional. None were rated low or unacceptable.

The ratings are a combination of four areas of evaluation: student attendance, academic achievement, academic improvement and percentage of students taking the state benchmark tests. These four general areas are sliced and diced though various calculations to come up with the overall Report Card “grades.” A tiny blip in attendance or a few students not taking the benchmark tests, for example, could cause a school to fall short of a higher rating.

These complicated formulas, for example, help explain the contrast between Oregon City High School’s surging state benchmark test performance and the satisfactory rating it received on the Report Card.

The Oregon Legislature passed the school report card law in 1999 to help public schools communicate with parents and communities and to improve schools through greater parental involvement. “Our school report cards continue to provide a very comprehensive picture of what is happening in classrooms across the state, and they are important tools for many Oregonians—from school officials, legislators and parents to local real estate agents. I am proud of Oregon’s commitment to transparency, and I believe it has led to better schools and a better education for our students,” Susan Castillo, State Schools Superintendent said in releasing the results.
 

Beavercreek Elementary School .......... Exceptional
Candy Lane Elementary School .......... Satisfactory
Gaffney Lane Elementary School .................Strong
Gardiner Middle School ...............................Strong
Holcomb Elementary School ........................Strong
Jennings Lodge Elementary School .... Exceptional
John McLoughlin Elementary School ..........Strong
King Elementary School ...............................Strong
Mt. Pleasant Elementary School ...................Strong
Ogden Middle School ...................................Strong
Oregon City High School .................... Satisfactory
Park Place Elementary School ......................Strong
Redland Elementary School .........................Strong