Greetings!“Running Start” training planned for parents in October
Chalkboard invites Portland-area parents who want to better communicate with their children’s teachers and other school staff to a special “Running Start” session on Saturday morning, October 20 in the Portland metro area. We’ll use our Running Start parent toolkit materials to provide you with essential information, such as how to make the most of a parent-teacher conference.
This is the latest in a series of trainings Chalkboard is holding this year to better connect schools and families.
If you’d like to attend the October 20 session in Portland, please contact Kristin Bryant for time and location information at kristin@chalkboardproject.org
Check out the Running Start toolkit materials
New Chalkboard publications now online
Want the quick story about who Chalkboard is and what we do? We have a new brochure with all of the relevant information.
We’ve also produced a summary of legislative progress on key K-12 education reform measures.
Download the new Chalkboard brochure
Download Chalkboard’s legislative progress report
Fall community leader outreach planned
Chalkboard continues to reach out to the public as much as possible to provide updates on Chalkboard’s work and seek feedback on future initiatives.
We're planning a series of events for civic, business and education leaders in seven communities this October and November. Late afternoon gatherings will be held in Bend, Coos Bay, Eugene, Medford, Portland, Roseburg and Salem. If you have an interest in attending a Chalkboard event in one of these communities, please contact Aimee Craig at craig@chalkboardproject.org for more information.
Catch up with Chalkboard: Key initiatives in progress
Chalkboard has been moving forward with a number of initiatives to improve Oregon schools over the summer, including:
Educator professional development: We’re visiting educators around the state to get a better sense of professional development needs. We believe Oregon needs a stronger statewide network to support teachers’ ongoing professional development, and will advocate for legislation on that topic during the February 2008 supplemental session of the Oregon Legislature.
District business performance reviews: Chalkboard has partnered with the Oregon Association of School Business Officials to review business practices in five volunteer school districts to help develop a set of “best practices” to share statewide. The Beaverton School District will be first to go through a review this fall.
CLASS Project: Three Oregon school districts (Forest Grove, Sherwood and Tillamook) are developing comprehensive career enhancement options for teachers and other school staff as part of Chalkboard’s new Creative Leadership and Student Success (CLASS) Project. Chalkboard is planning to invest more than $3 million over the next three years to explore new career paths and compensation options for educators in these districts, with the goal of raising student achievement.
For more information on our initiatives, visit www.chalkboardproject.org
Nationally known educator/author to visit Portland
Author Jonathan Kozol, who has written for 40 years on the issues of race, poverty and education, is coming to Portland to share new insights and his latest book, “Letters to a Young Teacher.”
The Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling, in partnership with Chalkboard, the Portland Schools Foundation and Stand for Children, is sponsoring “An Evening with Jonathan Kozol” on Wednesday, October 3 at 7 p.m. at the First Congregational Church in Portland.
For more information, e-mail cizon@lclark.edu
People behind Chalkboard: The Ford Family Foundation
Third in a series of five profiles on Chalkboard’s foundersThe Ford Family Foundation was created in 1957 by Kenneth and Hallie Ford, founders of Roseburg Forest Products Co., one of the largest family-owned wood products manufacturers in the nation. The private foundation’s mission is to create organized learning opportunities that help individuals become contributing, successful citizens, and to enhance the vitality of rural communities in Oregon and Siskiyou County, California.
The Foundation operates two initiatives and a grants program. The Foundation’s five scholarship programs help recipients pursue college degrees by providing significant financial assistance, annual leadership conferences, academic counseling and advising. The Ford Institute for Community Building helps citizens create vital rural communities by delivering leadership training programs, and providing assistance grants for training, leadership conferences and complimentary publications. The Foundation’s grant programs make grants to public charities that predominantly benefit small communities with populations of less than 30,000.
“Our foundation has focused on improving educational opportunities, because we believe well-educated citizens are the key to maintaining and enhancing vibrant communities,” said Norm Smith, President of The Ford Family Foundation. “Helping launch Chalkboard gave us a chance to become part of a broader initiative to create true, systemic change in our K-12 schools, and to do that based on not just what we think works best, but on what research proves will work best, and what Oregonians say they want.”
Learn more about The Ford Family Foundation
