Pioneer Technology School, Portland, OR
PIONEER TECHNOLOGY CHARTER SCHOOLCharter Petition
Rose Education Center
1426 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Portland, OR, 97214
7/16/2007
Table Of Contents
ELEMENT A: General Information 1
A.1. Targeted grade levels and projected total enrollment 2
A.2. Projected Student/Staff ratio 2
A.3. Projected school year of opening 2
A.4. Proposed term of the charter 2
A.5. School calendar and daily schedule 2
A.6. The legal address and physical location 3
A.7. Development Team 3
A.8. Charter school selection as the desired educational option 6
A.9. Assurances of compliance and cooperation 7
A.10. Demand for the school and analysis of the target area Error! Bookmark not defined.
A.11. Demand for the school and analysis of the target area. 7
ELEMENT B: Mission Statement and Purposes; Relationship to District Objectives 10
B. 1. Mission statement 10
B. 2. Relationship to District Objectives 11
A. How will we further the mission, core values, and strategic objectives of the district? 11
B. How will we enhance the district’s educational program and the student achievement policy? 12
C. How will we minimize barriers to equal access and meet the needs of all students? 12
B. 3. How do we get the community involved? 13
ELEMENT C: Element C: Educational Philosophy and Program 14
C. 1. Instructional Theme and Focus 14
A research-based alternative educational program for the target population 14
Parent-Student-Teacher Collaboration 22
University and Industry Connection 22
C. 2. Standards-based rigorous educational program 22
C. 3. Meeting the needs of special students 23
Plan for Students Who Are Academically Low Achieving 23
Plan for Students Who Are Talented and Gifted (TAG) 24
Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners (ELL) 24
Students with Exceptional Needs 25
C. 5. Curriculum 25
Middle School Curriculum 25
Content of Courses in Middle School 26
High School Curriculum 27
Core Courses 27
Electives 27
Foreign Languages 27
Technology 27
Life Skills 27
Community Service 27
Physical Education/Health 28
Selection of Instructional Materials for the Middle School and High School Curricula 28
ELEMENT D: Support for Learning 28
D.1. Qualifications of professional staff, TSPC. 28
Staff Selection and Qualifications of the School Personnel 28
Principal 28
Teachers 28
Substitute teachers and tutors 29
Classified and Other Personnel 29
Duties of the School Personnel 29
Principal 29
Teachers 29
Other Certificated, Classified and Other Personnel 29
Evaluation of the School Personnel 30
D.2. Meeting the professional development needs. 31
D.3. Plans for building family-school partnerships and working relationships and services links with community organizations. 32
D.4. Procedures for Discipline, Suspension, and Expulsion 32
ELEMENT E: Accountability 33
E.1 Measurable Outcomes 33
Academic Areas 33
Non-Academic Areas 34
E.3 School Monitoring And Evaluation Plan 35
E.4 PPS Benchmarks 36
E.5 Meeting the Required State and District Standards 37
ELEMENT F: Financial, Business and Organizational Plan 38
F. 1. Outline of the charter school’s financial and business plan. 38
A. Description of the financial stability. 38
B. GAAP Systems and procedures. 38
C. Description of space needs 38
D. Description of the selected or ideal site and its facilities 39
E. Description of the overall plan for program development, including expansion and future space needs 39
F. Program review and fiscal audit 39
G. Major Budget Assumptions 40
H. Performance bonding 40
F. 2. Outline of the charter school’s organizational plan, including: 40
A. Governance structure for the charter school 40
Pioneer School Board 40
Roles of Governing Body and Administration 41
Advisory Committee 42
Parents 42
B. Plan for marketing and recruitment 42
I. Community Outreach Program 42
II. Outreach / Recruitment Plan 42
III. Preliminary Plan for Admissions Process 43
C. Admission policies and application procedures 44
F.3. Contingency Plans 45
F.4. Is an existing public school or portion of the school? 45
F.5. Procedures and plans 45
A. Use of unique district facilities 45
B. Child nutrition program 45
C. Student participation in extracurricular activities 46
D. Graduation exercises 46
E. Admission of students expelled from another district 46
F. Alternative placement for students not making satisfactory progress 46
G. Counseling services 46
H. Solicitation/advertising/fund raising by nonschool groups 47
I. Field trips 47
J. Student promotion and retention 47
K. Student publications 47
2
Pioneer Technology School, Portland, OR
ELEMENT A: General Information
Pioneer Charter School (Pioneer) will be a math, science and technology oriented charter school serving grades 6-12 in southeast Portland area. Pioneer’s parent organization, Rose Education Center (REC), won a charter school incentive grant of $501,000 from the Oregon State Department of Education to open Pioneer Charter School in Fall 2008.
United States Department of Labor statistics indicate that there will be the need for 20 percent more engineers by the end of this decade. However, enrollment in engineering technology programs in 2000 was about half what it was in 1990.
Oregon Council for Knowledge and Economic Development (OCKED) published a report in December 2002, identifying the urgent need to increase the number of Science and Technology graduates in Oregon within the next decade. The report recommends doubling the number of Oregon high school students entering four-year math, science or engineering programs.
In 2007, National Academies re-emphasized this need strongly with the release of a report, Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future. The report’s conclusions are serious, noting that there is a serious risk that the United States may soon and irrevocably lose its lead in science and technology. Among the recommendations of the report is:
“Statewide specialty high schools. Specialty secondary education can foster leaders in science, technology, and mathematics. Specialty schools immerse students in high-quality science, technology, and mathematics education; serve as a mechanism to test teaching materials; provide a training ground for K–12 teachers; and provide the resources and staff for summer programs that introduce students to science and mathematics.”
As a city of high-tech companies, Portland will suffer from this shortage deeply. However, according to the Software Association of Oregon (SAO) only 11.3% of the students in Oregon took a technology class other than keyboarding in 2001.
Pioneer will be the only stand-alone 6-12 school in southeast Portland to offer a unique educational program which provides technology classes and technology integrated education to all its students in every grade each year. Currently, only two high schools (Benson and Marshall) offer a technology program to a portion of their students as one of their many programs such as automotive and drafting. No middle schools offer a technology concentrated program among Portland Public Schools.
REC collaborates with a non-profit organization, Dialog Foundation, which runs two highly successful science, math and technology based charter schools in southern California and is going to open two new schools in September 2007.
Pioneer will be a replication of Dialog Foundation’s highly successful charter school; Magnolia Science Academy (www.magnoliascience.org), and meet all requirements of the state of Oregon. Dialog Foundation will support Rose Education Center’s new charter school Pioneer in terms of educational program, professional training, fundraising practices and all other applicable areas.
Magnolia Science Academy has proven to be an outstanding and exemplary charter school in only 5 years of operation. Magnolia, a Title-1 charter school, not only surpassed district and state average in its third year but also was selected as a case study school for its innovative and promising practices by the Los Angeles Unified School District in 2005, as a highly improving charter school by Pacific Research Institute again in 2005 and for the University of Southern California’s (USC) Compendium of Promising Practices by USC’s Department of Education in 2006. Besides numerous awards in nationwide math, science and technology competitions won by Magnolia students, Zarathustra Brady, an 11th grader won a gold medal at the 2006 International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO)[1], the most prestigious and most difficult international math competition for high school students. He became the first charter school student to qualify for the US National Math Team.
REC also partners with the Charter Schools Development Center (CSDC)’s Oregon branch.
A.1. Targeted grade levels and projected total enrollment
The intended grade-level enrollment of Pioneer for the first five years is shown in the following table:
Grade / 2008-2009 / 2009-2010 / 2010-2011 / 2011-2012 / 2012-20136 / 100 / 100 / 100 / 100 / 100
7 / 75 / 90 / 90 / 90 / 90
8 / 75 / 90 / 90 / 90
9 / 50 / 75 / 75
10 / 50 / 75
11 / 50
12
Total / 175 / 265 / 330 / 405 / 480
The school will begin enrolling students in grade 12 in the 2013-2014 school year and the total enrollment will be 530.
A.2. Projected Student/Staff ratio
2008-09 / 2009-10 / 2010-11Student/staff ratio (Special Ed. staff not counted) / 16.7 / 15.6 / 16.5
Student/teacher ratio (Special Ed. teachers not counted) / 21.9 / 20.4 / 20.6
A.3. Projected school year of opening
Projected school opening is Fall 2008.
A.4. Proposed term of the charter
Pioneer proposes a charter term of five years. The term of this charter will begin on July 1, 2008 and will expire five years thereafter. Pioneer will comply with the charter renewal regulations of ORS 338.065.
A.5. School calendar and daily schedule
The school will offer, at a minimum, the number of instructional hours set forth in Oregon Administrative Rules (OAR) 581-022-1620 for the grade levels provided by the charter school. Pioneer calendar will have the same key dates as the Portland Public Schools’ Annual Quarterly Calendar.
Pioneer middle school students will have 6 periods of classes daily; each 46 minutes with 4 minute transition periods with an addition of a 26 minute homeroom class. High school students will have an additional period of 46 minutes. The lunch break will be 46 minutes. Wednesdays will be early release days with 41 minutes of classes and no homeroom.
Professional Development and Training days will include 10 full days before the school year, a total of 1 full day per quarter and 2 days at the end of the school year.
A.6. The legal address and physical location
Pioneer will use Rose Education Center’s building on 1426 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Portland, OR, 97214 during 2008-2009 school year. The building, formerly used by the Junior Achievement organization, is zoned for school and retail use and will provide a flexible educational environment with its 6,700 square-foot office area consisting several rooms designed as classrooms, meeting room for administrators, meeting hall for multipurpose activities including indoor gymnasium, offices for administrators and teachers, kitchen, additional space ready to be designed as technology and science laboratories and multimedia room and restrooms. A 22-car parking lot will eliminate the need for finding parking space for school staff. Bus line 14 serving Hawthorne will be an alternative transportation option for students. This bus line is passing just by the building through Hawthorne Street and the bus stop is right on the same block with the building. The school will move to a larger building for upcoming years.
A.7. Development Team
The Pioneer development team consists of professionals from different backgrounds including educators, scientists, engineers, and businessmen. As described below, the diversity of expertise and experience among the development group has been instrumental to prepare the charter proposal and will be effectively used to implement starting-up the Pioneer. The development team can also rely on specialized expertise relevant to the school design.
Ertugrul Kostereli, M.A., President of REC and General Coordinator of the Development Team
Mr. Kostereli is an educator both by trade and by training. He has been in education since he started his higher education. Mr. Kostereli worked as a supervisor in dormitories during his college education while he was pursuing his undergraduate degree in history. He achieved his masters’ degree in social studies education. Mr. Kostereli visited Ames High School, Iowa in 2001 for two months through Fulbright Scholarship as an intern teacher. After finishing his master’s degree he served as a social studies teacher in middle and high school levels at a school established for orphan children. Mr. Kostereli was accepted to the EdD program at Portland State University in the Curriculum and Instruction department. He continues to pursue his Doctorate and work in the Curriculum and Instruction department as an assistant for cohort leaders in Graduate Teacher Education Program. Mr. Kostereli was elected as the Board President of REC in June 2005 to lead the process of designing and establishing a charter school.
Mustafa Keskin, Ph.D., Vice President of REC and Technology Education Coordinator
Dr. Keskin received his B.S. degree in Electronics Engineering in 1994. In 1996, he was awarded a scholarship to attend the University of Southern California, LA (USC) and received his M.S. degree from the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department (ECE) of USC in 1998. After completing his M.S. degree, he participated in the ECE Ph.D. program at Oregon State University and was appointed as a research assistant on digital signal processing and integrated circuit design in 1998. Dr. Keskin worked as teaching assistant for several years. He has published several conference papers and journal papers in his area and has served as a reviewer of scientific articles for well-respected journals such as IEEE Transactions of Circuit and System Design and International Symposium on Circuits and Systems. He received his Ph.D. degree in 2001. Since then, Dr. Keskin has been working as a Staff Electronics Design Engineer at Qualcomm, Inc. He has also published several technical papers. Dr. Keskin was awarded with three U.S. patents to-date during his time in Qualcomm. He has been actively involved in developing charter schools, and has attended workshops/seminars organized by the Oregon Department of Education, the California Charter School Organizations, and the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. He has been a Board Member of Rose Education Center since the beginning. His current interests are on “Technology-based Education” and “Improvement of the relationship between the high-tech industry and the post-secondary education.” Dr. Keskin is currently organizing many activities such as finding volunteers, writing grant proposals, and promoting positive approaches for our education system. He coaches a basketball team of a public charter school.