Portland Public Schools (PPS) (officially Portland School District 1J) is a
public school
Public school may refer to:
* State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government
* Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...
district located in
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. It is the largest
school district
A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public primary and secondary schools in various nations.
North America United States
In the U.S, most K–12 public schools function as units of local school districts, wh ...
in the state of
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
. It is a PK–12 district with an enrollment of more than 49,000 students. It comprises more than 100 locations, including 79 schools and other sites that are maintained within the district.
History
19th century
In the 1850s, when the first public schools were formed in Portland, free education was a new concept. On December 6, 1851, the following advertisement appeared in ''
The Oregonian
''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...
'':
In pursuance of a vote of the Portland school district at their annual meeting, the directors have established a free school. The first term will commence on Monday, the 15th inst., at the schoolhouse in this city, near the City Hotel. (John W. Outhouse, teacher.) The directors would recommend the following books to be used in the school, viz.: Sandler's Series of Readers and Spellers, Goodrich's Geography, Thompson's Arithmetics and Bullion's Grammar.
John Outhouse served as the schoolteacher, and was paid 100 dollars a month. The school was held in a school house at the corner of First and Oak Streets, in what is now
Northwest Portland
Northwest Portland is one of the sextants of Portland, Oregon, United States.
Northwest Portland includes the Pearl District, most of Old Town Chinatown, the Northwest District, and various residential and industrial neighborhoods. A range of ...
, and had just 20 students at first.
The early public schools were met with some criticism. An editorial in ''The Oregonian'' on July 3, 1852 stated that the Common School Council was "self-called, self-elected, that voted a thousand dollars in addition to be paid by our citizens for pedagoguing some dozen or two of children."
Abigail Clarke was hired at the beginning of the third term in 1852, due to increased attendance and a $1600 tax to pay for the schools. She was paid 75 dollars a month, and taught at a new school building, on First and Taylor Streets. By the third term, 126 students were enrolled in all, and an average of 90 showed up each day. Clarke was known to "thrash" boys who made a sport of rapping on the windows of the school, which faced out to the street. She continued to teach until the summer of 1853, when she moved to
Oregon City.
In December 1854, Thomas Frazer wrote a notice in ''The Oregonian'' to try to create a school board for Portland. Many responded, and the first school board consisted of Frazer himself,
William S. Ladd
William Sargent Ladd (October 10, 1826 – January 6, 1893) was an American politician and businessman in Oregon. He twice served as Portland, Oregon's mayor in the 1850s. A native of Vermont, he was a prominent figure in the early developme ...
, and Shubrick Norris as directors. The first superintendent of Multnomah County was L. Limerick, who was appointed in January 1855.
On December 18, 1854, the school board organized two school districts, named School District Number 1 and School District Number 2, divided by Morrison Street. On March 31, 1856, they were merged into a single School District Number 1.
School District Number 1 opened a school in fall 1855, presumably replacing the school started by Outhouse and Clarke. This school was presided over by
Sylvester Pennoyer
Sylvester Pennoyer (July 6, 1831May 30, 1902) was an American educator, attorney, and politician in Oregon. He was born in Groton (town), New York, Groton, New York (state), New York, attended Harvard Law School, and moved to Oregon at age 25. A H ...
and closed in six months, as the funds were exhausted.
In 1858, a new schoolhouse was built, financed by canceling school for a year.
The school was located at Sixth and Morrison and named the
Central School
A central school was a selective secondary education school with a focus on technical and commercial skills in the English education system. It was positioned between the more academic grammar schools and the ordinary elementary schools where m ...
.
The Central School location was later occupied by the
Portland Hotel
The Portland Hotel (or Hotel Portland) was a late-19th-century hotel in Portland, Oregon, United States, that once occupied the city block on which Pioneer Courthouse Square now stands. It closed in 1951 after 61 years of operation.Turner, Wallac ...
and is now
Pioneer Courthouse Square
Pioneer Courthouse Square, also known as Portland's living room, is a public space occupying a full city block in the center of downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. Opened in 1984, the square is bounded by Southwest Morrison Street on t ...
.
A high school,
Portland High School, was opened in 1869, and a night school program was created at the high school in 1889.
In the 1860s, the school budget was very low, about $10 per student per year.
William S. Ladd
William Sargent Ladd (October 10, 1826 – January 6, 1893) was an American politician and businessman in Oregon. He twice served as Portland, Oregon's mayor in the 1850s. A native of Vermont, he was a prominent figure in the early developme ...
, known for being thrifty, raised objections to the school paying for supplies such as ink, requiring students to instead make their own by boiling oak bark and carrying it in animal horns.
In 1867, shoemaker William Brown, one of approximately 200 black people then living in Portland, sued the school district for refusing to educate the 16 black children in the city.
The Colored School opened in fall 1867, discontinuing in 1872 when a local referendum supported integration.
By December 1873, 30 students (out of 1048) in the district were black.
By the end of the 1870s, there were four elementary schools: Central School (1858–?),
Harrison School (1866–?),
Colored School
Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. Mo ...
(1867–1872), and
North School (1868–?).
Portland schools were questioned by
Harvey W. Scott and ''
The Oregonian
''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...
'' in 1880, especially regarding the efficacy and practicality of
public high school
State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in pa ...
s. The yearly cost to educate a student in 1879 in Portland was $24.06.
![North Portland, Oregon (2019) - 187](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/North_Portland%2C_Oregon_%282019%29_-_187.jpg)
A
compulsory education
Compulsory education refers to a period of education that is required of all people and is imposed by the government. This education may take place at a registered school or at other places.
Compulsory school attendance or compulsory schooling ...
program was enacted in Oregon on February 25, 1889. By 1891, the district contained 95 teachers, seven elementary schools, one high school, and one night school. The schools were described as crowded by ''The Oregonian'' at that time. Other school districts in East Portland and Albina were combined in 1891 (with 83% of residents voting in favor of consolidation). This added nine elementary schools, 74 teachers, and 2698 students to the system.
20th century
The St. Johns (school) District was annexed on July 7, 1915, and the
James John High School
James John High School was a public high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower second ...
was added at this time. On the suggestion of superintendent
Lewis H. Alderman, high school dances were allowed by the school board beginning in 1915, with the stipulation that "the parents of a majority of the students attend."
Portable classroom
A portable classroom (also known as a demountable or relocatable classroom, portables, bungalows), is a type of portable building installed at a school to temporarily and quickly provide additional classroom space where there is a shortage of ...
s were used, especially in 1919, with 60 portables added. By this time, there were evening schools taught at Benson High School, Girls' Polytechnic (later merged with Benson), Commerce, Jefferson High School, Ladd, and Lincoln High School. A new administration building opened at NE 7th Ave and NE Clackamas St in the
Lloyd District
The Lloyd District is a primarily commercial neighborhood in the North and Northeast sections of Portland, Oregon. It is named after Ralph Lloyd (1875–1953), a California rancher, oilman, and real estate developer who moved to and started ...
.
![Pdx benson high school center main P2061](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Pdx_benson_high_school_center_main_P2061.jpeg)
On June 21, 1924, a $5 million bond was passed to build and remodel schools over the next five years, part of a planned three-part construction program expected to last 15 years and cost $15 million. Four new schools were planned during the first five years.
By 1927, there were 43,419 elementary students served.
In 1930, the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
caused a decrease in the number of elementary students enrolled, but an increase in both men and women in the high schools. The 1931 annual report stated: "At no previous time has the question of clothing, books, and
carfare been so serious. Realizing that idleness is perhaps the greatest contributing factor toward delinquency, we hope to double our efforts this fall in the attempt to keep every child in school who should be there."
Teacher salaries, school year length, and other cost-cutting measures were made in 1932–1933.
A new superintendent, Ralph E. Dugdale, began on August 26, 1937. He strongly believed "the schools of Portland were training people for jobs that did not exist," and began making aggressive curriculum and organizational changes. Twelve committees (with 169 faculty) over elementary education were created, and monthly report cards were canceled (in 1950, this was described as a "nationwide trend of discarding the antiquated method of sending monthly reports on student grades to parents."). Instead, occasional and irregular reports on academics and citizenship were sent home. Examinations on general knowledge and knowledge of educational development were instituted for new instructors. High school students were required to pass a minimum number of credits per semester, and then were evaluated to see if an alternative school would work better.
The district trained a large number of
defense
Defense or defence may refer to:
Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups
* Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare
* Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks
* Defense industr ...
workers in the national defense program, in preparation for
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. About 10,000 men were trained in 1941 in airplane construction, shipbuilding, and other fields. During September 1942, 4400 additional elementary students enrolled. Ten teachers were added. There was an increased number of freshmen and sophomores in the high schools, but an overall loss of 832 students due to war industries and enlistment. By 1942, there were 63,238 school-age students, with 54,655 registered, and 1,613 instructors in 76 buildings.
In 1945, Dr.
Willard B. Spalding, superintendent since 1943, issued a 120-page report titled "Modernizing the School Plant", calling for a $25 million building program and projecting major changes in store. Fighting with Governor
Earl Snell
Earl Wilcox Snell (July 11, 1895 – October 28, 1947) was an American politician, businessman, and member of the Republican Party, serving in the Oregon House of Representatives, as the Oregon Secretary of State, and as the 23rd Governor of Or ...
for a special legislative session, high school students struck for a day. In August 1946, 50 kindergartens were closed due to lack of funds and instructors. Other large cost-cutting measures were taken, including discussion of closing high school sports programs. Spalding and his assistant superintendent went on recruiting trips in the south and east states. Spalding resigned on June 30, 1947 to become the dean of the College of Education at the
University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...
.
Dr. Paul A. Rehmus was the next superintendent, notable for having the highest annual salary of any superintendent in the history of Portland Public Schools to this time- $13,000. Rehmus rejected
progressive education
Progressive education, or protractivism, is a pedagogical movement that began in the late 19th century and has persisted in various forms to the present. In Europe, progressive education took the form of the New Education Movement. The term ''pro ...
, stating "The term 'progressive education' as a definite school of teaching method does not exist. The demarcation between what is formal and what is progressive education is almost impossible to define." In 1947, a $25 million levy was approved by voters, as well as $1.7 million to balance the operational budget.
On June 30, 1949, there were 73,972 school-age students in the district boundaries, with 49,825 registered for school. The district had 1,828 teachers and 76 buildings.
In October 1949 a "secret society problem" developed where three high school fraternities were involved in the "manhandling of a girl student." 50 boys had taken part in the incident, part of an initiation. An emergency school board meeting led to the banning of secret societies in the district. Parents and adult members of these secret societies filed a lawsuit in 1950.
Three high schools were voted to close in 1981:
Jackson High School in southwest Portland,
Adams High School in northeast Portland, and
Washington-Monroe High School in the inner eastside. The Adams and Jackson closures were done after a 3:30am vote of school board members, and a board member had to be followed home by a police escort. The closures were done due to low enrollment and to balance the budget, but the community and a board member threatened lawsuits.
Enrollment in PPS continued to decline until 2010 and now slow growth is projected. Faced with some very small schools (200–350 students) the district has undertaken what is intended to be a continual process of Enrollment Balancing to deal with anemic programs in some schools and overcrowded buildings in others.
21st century
![Lead testing in school water fountain](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Lead_testing_in_school_water_fountain.jpg)
Since 2000, there have been concerns about
lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
and
radon
Radon is a chemical element with the symbol Rn and atomic number 86. It is a radioactive, colourless, odourless, tasteless noble gas. It occurs naturally in minute quantities as an intermediate step in the normal radioactive decay chains through ...
in Portland Public School buildings. In 2016, an overly large amount of lead was found in two schools. All PPS schools were ordered to use bottled water for the rest of the year instead of drinking from water fountains, and to use bottled water for food preparation and dish washing as well. Controversy surrounding poorly and infrequently tested water for lead led to Superintendent
Carole Smith stepping down in July 2016, a year before her ten-year term ended.
In August 2017,
Guadalupe Guerrero became the new Superintendent.
Voters approved a $482 million bond measure in November 2012 to upgrade several schools, including
Grant High School,
Franklin High School, and
Roosevelt High School. In May 2017, an additional $790 million bond measure was passed to reopen Kellogg Middle School and modernize three other schools:
Madison High School Madison High School may refer to:
* Madison County High School (Alabama), Gurley, Alabama
* Madison High School (Idaho), Rexburg, Idaho
* Madison Consolidated High School, Madison, Indiana
* Madison High School (Kansas), Madison, Kansas
* Kentuc ...
,
Benson Polytechnic High School
Benson Polytechnic High School is a technical public high school in the Portland Public Schools district. It is temporarily located in Portland's Lents neighborhood while a renovation project is underway at its campus in the Central Eastside ...
, and
Lincoln High School.
In 2020 the district ended the regular use of
school resource officers and Guerrero announced plans to re-examine how the school district is partnered with the
Portland Police Bureau
The Portland Police Bureau (PPB), officially the Portland Bureau of Police, is the law enforcement agency of the city of Portland, the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. While oversight of Portland's bureaus shifts among the five City ...
.
Demographics
![Enrollment data from 1999-2019](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Enrollment_data_from_1999-2019.jpg)
In the 2009–2010 school year, PPS enrolled 81.6% of the city's available school-age children. Nonetheless, total school enrollment was declining, accompanying a change in Portland's demographics. As a result, the Portland Public Schools are facing increasing budget pressure.
In the 2009 school year, the district had 1706 students classified as
homeless
Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are:
* living on the streets, also kn ...
by the
Department of Education
An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
, or 3.8% of students in the district.
List of schools
Elementary schools (K–5)
Mixed grade
:''Grade ranges of schools listed below are K–8 unless noted.''
Middle schools (6–8)
High schools (9–12)
Closed high schools
*
Adams High School (closed 1981)
*
Jackson High School (closed 1981)
*
James John High School
James John High School was a public high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower second ...
(closed 1921)
*
Marshall High School (closed 2011)
*
Monroe High School (closed 1978)
*
Washington-Monroe High School (closed 1981)
Leadership
Curriculum
Superintendent
*
Guadalupe Guerrero
School Board
As of 2020, the school board consists of:
* Andrew Scott (Zone #1)
* Michelle DePass (Zone #2)
* Amy Carlsen Kohnstamm (Zone #3)
* Rita Moore (Zone #4)
* Scott Bailey (Zone #5), vice-chair
* Julia Brim-Edwards (Zone #6)
* Eilidh Lowerey (Zone #7), chair
Student Representatives
In addition to seven board members, every year a student representative is chosen to serve on the board for an entire school year. Although his or her vote does not technically count, the student member is allowed to vote on issues and sit on the committees along with the board members. Student representatives are treated as active board members and are addressed by the title "Student Director". They may recommend certain policies for the board to pass. The current student representative is:
* Jackson Weinberg
Immersion programs
PPS has several
language immersion
Language immersion, or simply immersion, is a technique used in bilingual language education in which two languages are used for instruction in a variety of topics, including math, science, or social studies. The languages used for instruction ...
programs. The largest is the Spanish immersion program, which is offered at ten of the elementary schools, as well as at the middle and high schools that these schools feed into. Russian is offered at Kelly Elementary, which feeds into Lane Middle, and then to Franklin High School. There are also Japanese, Chinese, and Vietnamese immersion programs.
See also
*
David Douglas School District David Douglas School District No. 40 is a school district in eastern Portland, Oregon, United States. Its administrative offices are at 11300 NE Halsey St. Portland, OR 97220.
The district was formed in 1959 as a consolidation of the Gilbert, Powe ...
, serving part of eastern Portland
*
List of school districts in Oregon
This is a list of public school districts in Oregon, a U.S. state. The Oregon Department of Education has authority over public schools. Oregon has 188 public school districts.
History
In previous eras, the state had around 2,000 school distric ...
*
Multnomah Education Service District
Multnomah Education Service District (MESD) is an education service district that coordinates school events and activities throughout the school districts in Multnomah County, Oregon, United States. Its administrative offices are located at 11611 ...
*
Title 20 of the United States Code
Title 20 of the United States Code outlines the role of education in the United States Code.
* — Office of Education
* —Teaching of Agricultural, Trade, Home Economics, and Industrial Subjects
* —Smithsonian Institution, National Museums and ...
Notes
References
External links
Portland Public Schools(official site)
**
District map
{{Authority control
Education in Portland, Oregon
School districts in Oregon
1851 establishments in Oregon Territory
School districts established in 1851