John Adams High School was a

public high school A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in part by taxation and operated by the government of the state. State-f ...

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, United States, managed by Portland Public Schools (PPS). Located at 5700 N.E. 39th Avenue (now Cesar Chavez Blvd.), Portland, Oregon, the school opened in 1969. Its curriculum, based on ES-70 and further developed by students and faculty at

Harvard Graduate School of Education The Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) is the education school of Harvard University, a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1920, it was the first school to grant the EdD degree and the first ...

, had a unique and sometimes controversial approach to secondary education.

Approach to education

When Adams opened, there were many ways that it differed from a normal high school. The school was organized into four different sub-schools, or "houses", each with a multiple-discipline and general education focus, including a blend of students from all grades. The general education classes gave students the opportunity to debate current events, such as pollution or automation. By studying these concepts, students would learn science and the humanities through hands-on learning about topics relevant to them. Students were given the choice of selecting elective classes and were also offered the opportunity to gain educational experiences outside of the classroom, many of which were vocational classes. The governance of the school was inspired by the system of the United States government, with an

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

judicial The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

, and

legislative A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers ...

branch. This gave students and teachers the power to override the principal on decisions. Classes would also not be tracked. Counselors and secretaries would be a part of the four houses, and would interact regularly with students. 20 of the initial faculty members did not even have degrees in Education.

Students and staff

Adams pulled students from areas that had previously been in the neighborhoods of Madison, Jefferson, and Grant high schools, which were 1%, 41%, and 9% African American, respectively. According to ''

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 West Coast of the United States, U.S. West Coast, founded as a weekly by Tho ...

'', "Integration of Portland's High Schools... will be expedited in the fall with the opening of John Adams High School." Robert Schwartz, one of the Harvard graduates who founded the school, was appointed principal.

Closure and fate of the campus

As student enrollment fell, the school closed in 1981. In 1983, Whitaker Middle School moved to the former Adams building from another location. However, the building, then referred to by PPS as the Whitaker-Adams site, closed again in mid-2001, with Whitaker students moved to two other facilities, one of which was Whitaker's original location at 5135 N.E. Columbia Blvd., referred to as the Whitaker-Lakeside site (which closed again in June 2005, the property sold by PPS to the Native American Youth and Family Center, or NAYA). In 2002, the vacant Whitaker-Adams campus, on 39th Avenue, was used in the filming of the 2003 movie, ''

Elephant Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...

''. The entire school campus eventually became contaminated with toxic black mold and

radon gas Radon is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Rn and atomic number 86. It is a radioactive decay, radioactive noble gas and is colorless and odorless. Of the three naturally occurring radon Isotope, isotopes, only radon-222, Rn ha ...

. It was subsequently

demolished Demolition (also known as razing and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apa ...

in 2007 and currently the site is an empty lot. However, the original track and field remains and is still in use.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1969 establishments in Oregon 1981 disestablishments in Oregon Defunct schools in Oregon Educational institutions disestablished in 1981 High schools in Portland, Oregon Buildings and structures in Northeast Portland, Oregon Portland Public Schools (Oregon) Demolished buildings and structures in Portland, Oregon Buildings and structures demolished in 2007