Superintendent's Update

As we approach the end of the school year and the sunset of our five year strategic plan, Destination 2023, there’s much to reflect upon. Working together, some of our major accomplishments this year include:

• Transitioning 6th Grade to the Middle School Level

• Opening Oliver Middle School

• Implementing a Comprehensive Adjustment of School Boundaries

• Completing Several 2020 Bond Projects

• Creating a New Four-Year Strategic Plan

• Engaging in a District-wide Equity Audit

• Adopting a New Math Curriculum

• Transitioning to a Trimester Schedule at Centennial High School

• Initiating Phase I Centennial High School Stadium Complex Improvements

With just over a week left in the 2022-2023 school year, let’s finish the year strong. In just a matter of days, our graduating seniors will be walking across the stage to be awarded their diplomas. This is not only exciting news, but it’s the day our graduating Class of 2023 takes a leap and ventures towards what their future holds. This is a remarkable occasion for all their hard work and perseverance. I’m grateful for our staff and families who’ve supported our seniors all along the way. I personally look forward to seeing you at the Centennial High School Class of 2023 Graduation next Wednesday, June 14, 2023. Below are several photos of the Centennial High School Senior Awards Night where nearly 200 students were over $620,000 in scholarships. Also pictured are the Centennial High School Valedictorians for the Class of 2023.

Last week, the District hosted a Retirement Celebration for staff retiring this year. I want to thank this year’s retirees for their time and dedication to the success of students over the years. We wish them the very best in their retirement.

If you’re a District resident, in your mailbox soon will be our latest Report to Our Community. In it, you will find information about what has been happening in Centennial over the past several months. I hope you enjoy this latest edition!

While the school year will be ending soon, the work of preparing for next year is already in motion. This includes implementing strategies from our new four-year strategic plan. More details will be available at the start of the 2023-24 school year.

Our summer learning program will take place July 10 - 28, and we’re excited to see our students continue their learning adventures over the summer! Over 500 elementary, middle and high school students were registered during the registration window earlier this spring. This summer participating students will experience well-rounded, hand-on, integrated learning at all levels.

And speaking of summer, Centennial School District is once again participating in the Summer Food Service Program.

The meals will be available at no cost to any child 18 years of age or younger. The program is slated to begin Monday, June 19 to Friday, Aug. 25, 2023 at participating school and community sites. To view the full list of sites and times please visit our website, www.csd28j.org, and/or click on the Summer Meals Program banner found below.

Note: Meals will not be offered on July 4 due to the observance of Independence Day.

(This institution is an equal-opportunity provider.)

Thanks to our students, staff, families, and community partners for a memorable school year! As we close out the year, I want to take a moment to wish you an enjoyable summer and invite you to watch a brief school year recap photo essay below. While I know it does not capture every moment and accomplishment made by our students and staff, I share this with you to take a look at the amazing things you do for our students and Centennial Community.

I look forward to continuing our strong partnerships as we return in the 2023-24 school year.

Sincerely,

James Owens, Superintendent

• Staffing Updates - Kendra Hughes - New CSD Early Learning Administrator
• Bond Oversight Committee Meeting Update
• Centennial Partners with Cascadia Health
• Centennial Awarded LGBTQIA+ Grant

June marks LGBTQIA+ Pride Month, a time that acknowledges the historical moments and efforts made towards achieving equal justice for LGBTQIA+ individuals.

Join us in recognizing this month and our efforts to support safe and inclusive environments for Centennial students, staff, families, and community.

Juneteenth - better known as Freedom Day - is June 19, a day to mark the freedom of formerly enslaved people in the United States. This is an important day of recognition, restoration, and celebration.

The spring 2023 edition of the Report to Our Community will be arriving soon at homes in our district and will be available to read online! In this issue you’ll find: Strategic Planning News and Information, 2020 Bond Updates, Kindergarten Registration, Student Health Center, a message from the Superintendent Owens, and more! Look out for the issue coming soon to your homes!

It is my pleasure to share the selection of Kendra Hughes as the new Early Learning Administrator for Centennial School District. Kendra will assume her new role on July 1, 2023.

This role will bring support to our early learning system to further prepare our youngest learners, as well as support Centennial’s implementation of the newly developed Oregon Early Literacy Framework and Centennial’s new strategic plan goal of Building a Strong Foundation K-3. Funding for this role will be supported through the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) JumpStart Kindergarten grant.

Kendra brings over three decades of experience in the field of Pre-K-20 education as well as assisting social service and governmental agencies, schools, and districts. She has worked extensively in the area of equity and social justice to ensure all individuals are afforded a rich and meaningful level of service.

Kendra is currently serving as the Preschool Partnership Coordinator at Northwest Regional Education Service District (NWRESD) in Hillsboro, Oregon. In her current role, Kendra provides preschool partnership plan development and implementation, collaborates with community programs to provide developmentally and culturally appropriate family enrichment services, and facilitates the Early Intervention Advisory Council for Washington County.

Prior to her current role, Kendra served as a Professional Learning Specialist within NWRESD and an education equity services specialist for ODE. Kendra also worked in various capacities within Education Northwest (formerly Northwest Regional Education Laboratory) including senior program advisor, equity advisor, and equity specialist from 1997 to 2008. Kendra has also served as a Child Development Associate Representative and Coach from 1998 to 2014 in the Council for Professional Recognition (formerly Council for Early Childhood Professional Recognition) in Washington, DC., and Professional Development Manager for KinderCare Learning Center in both Montgomery, Alabama, and Portland, Oregon.

Kendra’s career started right here in Portland serving as a Family Team Specialist for Albina Head Start. Taking on this role brings her back to serve the community that launched her career.

Kendra holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Human Services, with an emphasis in Children, Youth, and Families from the University of Oregon, a Masters in Education, with an emphasis in Administrative Leadership from Concordia University, and an Administrator License from George Fox University.

She is passionate about her career, hobbies, friends, and family. Among her favorite places to travel to is American Samoa for its people, culture, climate, and culinary scene. Kendra is an avid reader and one of her favorite quotes is by Alexander Den Heijer, a Dutch inspirational speaker, trainer, and consultant, that reads, “When a flower doesn't bloom you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.”

Kendra looks forward to meeting and working with our school leaders and community to support our youngest learners. I am confident Kendra will bring a wealth of knowledge, experience, and leadership to the role of Early Learning Administrator for our students, staff, families, and the community.

Please join me in congratulating Kendra for her role in Centennial!

The Centennial School District Bond Oversight Committee (BOC) held their final meeting for the 2023 school year on Thursday, June 8, 2023 from 5:00pm to 8:00pm, visiting three school across our district to receive a quarterly update of the 2020 Bond projects.

The BOC kicked off at Centennial High School (CHS), where committee members learned all about the most recently completed and installed security cameras, secure vestibules and track resurfacing. At Centennial High School, committee members learned about the newly installed secure vestibules, adding a layer of protection for our stents and staff. The vestibules are enclosed and have two sets of double doors each for students during morning and afternoon operating hours and locked between during the day, directing foot traffic to check in with our front office teams.

Committee members were also able to view first-hand the up-to-date security features the 360˚ cameras offer to keep our student and staff safe at Centennial High School and other Centennial schools. The cameras are connected as a centralized network that provide video monitoring across the school inside and out.

The final stop at CHS was at the high school stadium to view the progress of the athletic field upgrades. At this time, much of the construction is happening, and our contractor’s representative, Scott Rose, from Emerick Construction Company, was present to share with the committee details of the current costs and project timeliness each project is expected advance over the summer.

And as a reminder, with the exception of the track resurfacing, the stadium facilities upgrade project will not use 2020 Bond money. Those projects will be completed through the CSD Board Reserve Fund, dedicated to one-time expenses such as facility improvements.

As mentioned in the May issue of my update, we are visually tracking the progress of the Centennial Stadium Complex thanks in part to the TrueLook Camera installed by Emerick Construction company, which captures high-resolution photos every ten minutes and can be viewed here. If you are interested in learning more, visit the Facility Updates page on our website linked here.

Meanwhile, at Centennial Middle School (CMS) and Meadows Elementary School the BOC committee reviewed the construction updates to each of the school’s entrances and security cameras. Plus, while at CMS, the attendees were also directed to view and learn about the mechanical improvements and air conditioning systems installed in the 400 and 500 wings of the school. Rose also kept us up-to-date on our elementary gymnasium where work is moving at a steady pace.

On Thursday, June 8, I was honored to serve as a guest speaker at the official ribbon cutting ceremony of our areas newest affordable housing apartment complex in our very own neighborhood named Centennial Place, by Cascadia Health.

Some of you may be wondering why a school superintendent would be speaking at an event centered around housing. Well, the answer is pretty simple: Housing is health. And kids who are healthy learn better.

And Cascadia Health delivers Whole Health Care™ offering mental health services, addiction recovery support, primary care, wellness programs, permanent housing solutions and affordable housing to people of all ages.

The safety, stability, and community we feel when we have somewhere to wake up in the morning, do our homework in the afternoon, play with friends, connect with family, and go to sleep at night, is a significant factor in whether we engage and thrive in school.

By a recent count, over 200 students and their families in this neighborhood have experienced homelessness. For many of them, a significant factor was simply the lack of affordable housing.

That’s why this partnership between Cascadia Health and the Centennial School District is so important in helping meet the needs of families who have struggled with housing instability.

Centennial Place provides deeply affordable, family-sized apartments—a majority of which are reserved for families with youth who are currently enrolled in the Centennial School District.

With this increase in affordable housing benefitting Centennial families, students can focus on their education with less physical and emotional healthcare needs brought on by the stress of a constantly changing living situation.

In Centennial, equity is at the foundation of what we do. This means actively seeking out barriers that make it more difficult for students to engage in their learning and finding ways to help eliminate those barriers. To that end, the ability for our families to get good case management and support where they live is important. It’s an added barrier when families are referred to a provider across town for health services. So, I know it will be a relief for counselors and schools to know there’s a place for students and their families can go so they can get the support they need without needing to travel to receive it.

We would like to share and celebrate that Centennial School District is one of approximately 13 recipients of the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) LGBTQ2SIA+ STUDENT SUCCESS PLAN 2021-2023 GRANT PROGRAM. We are receiving approximately $150,000.

Much appreciation goes out to our Rainbow Club and Gender Sexuality Alliance club facilitators along with our middle and high school students who provided input and help to complete the grant application process.

The District recognizes the diversity and worth of all individuals and groups. The District practices equal opportunity and treatment regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, marital status, age, veteran’s status, genetic information, and disability.

Oregon law prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation which includes gender identity. Oregon State Law (ORS 659.850) defines discrimination as any act that unreasonably differentiates treatment, intended or unintended, or any act that is fair in form but discriminatory in operation, either of which is based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, marital status, age, or disability. Oregon law (ORS 174.100) also includes an “individual’s gender identity, appearance, expression, or behavior” in its definition of sexual orientation.

Summary of the LGBTQ2SIA+ Student Success Plan

The grant is awarded to support implementation of the statewide plan. The Plan was developed at the direction of the Legislature to develop and implement strategies to address historic and current systemic inequities experienced by LGBTQ2SIA+ students through focused investments and partnerships with Community-Based Organizations, school districts, Tribes, education service districts, early learning providers, and post-secondary institutions. The Plan centers equity and community by ensuring those closest to the problem help develop and design the solutions.

Plan Goals and Values

The LGBTQ2SIA+ Student Success Plan provides strategies to work toward addressing educational and mental health needs of Plan students. The Plan addresses:

1. Specific LGBTQ2SIA+ Youth Experiences
2. Research Review & State Policy Challenges
3. Summary of Three Interdependent Levels of recommendations: individual intention and impact, institutional policies and facilities, and state accountability and support systems

Across all recommendations, the intention is the same — to create environments where LGBTQ2SIA+ students have trusting relationships, feel connected to individuals and the community, and can be their full, authentic selves. Trust, connection and inclusion are necessary ingredients for students to succeed in reaching their full potential academically, as well as socially and emotionally.

LGBTQ2SIA+ STUDENT SUCCESS GRANTS

The 2021-2023 LGBTQ2SIA+ Student Success Grants were made available to early learning hubs, providers of early learning services, school districts, education service districts, public charter schools, post-secondary institutions of education, Tribal governments, community-based organizations, or a consortium of these entities to address the activities and outcomes in their Grant Application, aligned with the LGBTQ2SIA+ Student Success Plan strategies.

The goal of this grant is to provide funds to applicants that document an understanding of the unique needs of LGBTQ2SIA+ students, have the potential to become exemplar programs, and who create collaborative practices relating to strategies outlined in the Plan.

Specific steps that will take place in Centennial with these funds include:

• Develop training regarding laws relating to anti-discrimination and anti-bullying and best practices for supporting students through the use of inclusive language, chosen names, and pronouns. Schools will engage students in developing school-specific recommendations for addressing bullying and discrimination.

• Engage educators in defining and co-creating professional supports that honor their race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or gender expression
• Develop and fund regional Student Voice Networks composed of current students
• Collaborate with and fund culturally specific organizations and local LGBTQ2SIA+ supporting organizations to arrange family peer networks and culturally sustaining opportunities for families of LGBTQ2SIA+ students
• Install consistent all-gender restroom signage
• Create best practice guidance for the district regarding how to ensure student clubs related to racial/ethnic, cultural, and LGBTQ2SIA+ issues are supported and included by the broader school environment
• Provide safe space posters and items to educators at the beginning of each school year visibility supports student’s health and safety

• Purchase of of flags, pins and printed materials
• Order more library books and materials to increase the representation of our BIPOC, LGBTQ2SIA+ and students experiencing disability
• Materials and instructional items will be purchased for our GSA/Rainbow Clubs and libraries
• Supplemental Sexuality and Health Education materials

State level resources include:

• LGBTQ2SIA+ Student Success Plan
• ODE-Supporting-Gender-Expansive-Students

Parents, guardians, and community members: Learn about what makes Centennial School District a great place to work! We offer rewarding career opportunities such as a Teacher, Education Assistant, School Secretary, School Bus Driver, Dining Services Technician, and more!

Visit our careers page to see our position openings: www.csd28j.org/careers!