The Second Harvest Food Bank brought its mobile food bank to Cheney Middle School last week to distribute free food to anyone in the area who needed it. The mobile food bank was brought to the school in conjunction with the opening of the Kids Café, a program that provides free snacks and sandwiches to kids involved in the after-school programs provided by Communities in Schools.

Students at Cheney Middle School now have the opportunity to get free snacks and sandwiches as part of the new Kids Café.

Presented through a partnership between Second Harvest Food Bank and Communities in Schools, a program that helps kids to stay in school, the Kids Café opened last Tuesday at the middle school.

Although there are two others at community centers in Spokane, it is the first of its kind to be in a school, according to Ben Stuckart, executive director of Communities in Schools of Spokane County.

“We really made an effort to bring food out here,” Stuckart said. Communities in Schools offers an after-school program at Cheney Middle School as well as Glover and Chase Middle schools in Spokane. Students can get help with their homework, take cooking and drama classes, and learn first aid for pets, and now they can take time out for a snack before the classes begin and even get to take home sandwiches for later.

Seventh-grader Annie Woods spoke during an opening ceremony for the Kids Café. She said that the after-school programs helped raise her grades last year and she hopes to stay on that path this year. She also enjoyed the additional classes.

“Last year I participated in drama, which was a very good experience for me,” she said.

Woods said she received a winter coat through Communities in Schools, and it inspired her to write a poem, “Diamonds in the Sky,” which she read in front of the students.

Second Harvest also brought out its mobile food bank – a large truck full of 9,000 pounds of food to give to members of the community. Jason Clark, executive director of Second Harvest, said that anyone who came to the truck could get food without filling out any paperwork. He said that the truck is available at various locations throughout the organization’s service area about once a month.

Clark said that the students received apples picked at Green Bluff the previous weekend. There were also bulk bins of various kinds of fresh produce such as potatoes and mushrooms.

Sherry Barrett, program director for Communities in Schools, said the Kids Café helps teach kids about healthy eating and nutrition. The classes are free for students, and the program uses community resources and finds other low-cost means to pay for them.

“(We have to) buy the food, but we don’t have to incur the staff cost,” Barrett said of the cooking class.

The cooking class was taught last week by Cheney Middle School teacher Diane Turbeville. As well as instructing the students how to make calzones, Turbeville stressed the importance of safety and cleanliness in the kitchen.

“Don’t eat off of anything we don’t wash first,” Turbeville said of the kitchen utensils and dishes.

The students could eat the calzones they cooked at the end of class, and Turbeville said they could take home their leftovers as long as they didn’t leave them in their lockers.

Back at the Kids Café, around 50 students enjoyed their apples, pretzels, yogurt and sandwiches after school last week.

“I hope everyone gets to enjoy the Kids Café,” Clark told the students.

There’s no denying it: Des Moines has an increasing number of students dropping out, not graduating from high school. Who cares if 710 metro-area kids didn’t make it across the stage in 2008? Everyone should care, that’s who.

That’s because those 710 kids are more likely to need public assistance or land in jail, have long-term health issues, higher mortality and suicide rates, and higher rates of admission to mental-health programs. More than 700 students dropped out in just one year from Iowa’s largest school district. Now do the math. Five years, 10 years, more; the larger the numbers, the more it begins to mean to the taxpayers paying for those services.

Des Moines is not alone. Take a quick check of the most recently reported data from Iowa’s other urban school districts, and here’s what you’ll find: Burlington’s and Sioux City’s numbers more than doubled; Waterloo saw almost a 2.3 percent increase.

Widen the lens to what’s happening nationwide and the statistics are staggering. According to Bill Milliken, nationally-renowned author of “The Last Dropout: Stop the Epidemic!” and founder of the Communities in Schools organization, a March 2006 study from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation reported that, “About one-third of all young people and 50 percent of poor and minority youth fail to graduate with their peers.” The economic impact is enormous. Again, according to Milliken, “The combined income and tax losses from a single year’s dropouts is about $192 billion – 1.6 percent of the gross domestic product.”

Consider this reality: High school dropouts create the equivalent of a permanent national economic recession. Bring that back to the local level: Every dropout is projected to earn a lifetime income $648,000 lower than someone who graduates from high school. The bottom line – and now you should realize it really is a bottom line – is that students who drop out are everyone’s problem. Everyone should care.

The good news, if there is any, is that community and school leaders recognize the problem and are taking vigorous action to combat Des Moines’ dropout trend. United Way of Central Iowa, along with many other representatives from higher education, business, and social and human services, have teamed with Des Moines public schools to analyze, strategize and mobilize to reverse the slide. In fact, United Way and the community have announced a goal to increase the number of central Iowa students who graduate on time by 475 by the year 2020.

It’s not going to be easy. Ask any expert and they’ll tell you that as many dropouts as we have, there are that many different reasons why those kids failed to make it to graduation. Dropping out is a process, not an event. The reasons can be dramatic or mundane, not always because of academics, but the result is always the same. The reasons are varied and many, which means the solutions have to be varied and many, too.

Des Moines public schools and United Way are spearheading Destination Graduation, a citywide initiative to increase graduation rates. We know there is no silver bullet, but the efforts have begun in earnest. This school year, the school district has established the early indicator system to identify and deal with at-risk students as young as kindergarten. Communities in Schools, the nation’s largest dropout-prevention organization, is now established in our district, funded by United Way, bringing the much needed connection of social and human community resources into our schools to help youth who are struggling with situations that might lead to their dropping out. There is a new Middle School Alternative Education Center, designed to address the behaviors of at-risk youth to keep them in school. These efforts are in addition to existing programs like Future Pathways, Scavo Alternative High School, the Project Connect mentoring program, SUCCESS case managers and services, GEAR UP! and much more.

Tomorrow, nearly 300 community and school volunteers will hold the first-ever Reach Out to Dropouts event. The volunteers will be walking door to door to visit with youth who didn’t show up the first couple weeks of school to tell them personally, “We want you back,” and assist them in the re-enrollment process.

Join us in being a part of the solution, won’t you? Everyone should care.

Original article taken from DesMoinesRegister.com

Written by Nancy Sebring and Shannon Cofield.

Sept. 25, 2009

Help arrives for hungry children, families

By BECKY THOMAS, Staff Reporter

Children in Cheney Middle School’s afterschool program will have to find a new excuse. Now they can’t say they’re too tired to participate in activities. They’ll be provided with substantial nutritious snacks from the new Kids’ Café. Cheney Middle School has partnered with Second Harvest Inland Northwest and Communities in Schools of Spokane County to provide the free afterschool snacks, as well as sandwiches that kids can take home. It’s part of an effort to keep kids healthy and well-fed in the school district. Kids’ Café is the third program of its kind in Washington and the first to reside in a school. The cafe was launched Tuesday and will be open to kids who participate in CMS’s afterschool program. Jason Clark, executive director of Second Harvest, was at the kickoff event. “It felt like a really easy fit,” he said of bringing Kids’ Café to Cheney. “I think this is a great setting.” Clark said the Kids’ Café is implemented in areas where more than half the participants come from low income homes. Ben Stuckart, executive director of Communities in Schools, was also in attendance at the kickoff. He said the need for healthy food has risen recently, and that Kids’ Café was a great way to address the problem while increasing participation in afterschool programs. He also said the program will help students in other areas of their school life. He said better nutrition will reduce behavioral problems and help students focus on the classroom. Second harvest also brought their mobile food bank to CMS Tuesday. Clark said the food bank couldn’t run without local volunteers who meet the tucks at distribution sites. Residents lined up to receive potatoes, onion, strawberries, and more on Tuesday.

Becky Thomas can be reached at becky@cheneyfreepress.com

Hi all

Attached are some excellent picture Yvonne took at the launch of the kids café at Cheney Middle School yesterday.

Yesterday CIS served over 60 students at the kids café and hosted a mobile food bank in the parking lot.  In conjunction with 2^nd Harvest Food Bank 148 families were served and 5 days a week children participating in after-school activities will be fed healthy and nutritious food.  This is the first school-based kids café in the State of Washington.  Go team CIS!!

A special thank you to Sam Paret, our Americorp/VISTA who organized the mobile food bank and Sheri Frantilla, our Cheney coordinator, who organized the launch event.

There will be an article in the VOICE section of the Spokesman tomorrow, an article in the October Fig Tree, an article in the Cheney Free Press and an article I n2nd Harvest’s quarterly newsletter!

Remember to finish calls this week and get me the spreadsheets.  I need to evaluate where we are at with donated items and I need to start collecting them.

Thank you!

Ben

Cheney Middle School Site Coordinator Sheri Frantilla and Superintendent Larry Keller

give a snack to 7^th grade student Anie Woods. Anie will be the student speaker at the

CISSC fundraiser next month

Cheney MS student volunteers help package fresh produce for distribution

by Second Harvest Food Bank after the dedication of the Kids Café

Anie Woods addresses crowd during Kids Café opening festivities

Ben Stuckart

Executive Director

Communities In Schools of Spokane County

http://www.spokane.ciswa.org

Second Harvest and Communities In Schools

Slated to open Kids Cafe at Cheney Middle School

SPOKANE, WA September 2009 – On Tuesday, Sept. 22, Second Harvest Inland Northwest and Communities in Schools of Spokane County will join forces to launch a Kids Cafe that provides healthy food to children who attend Cheney Middle School’s after-school programs. The recognition program will take place at 3:15 p.m. at Cheney Middle School’s cafeteria, 2716 N. Sixth St.

The collaborative effort of Second Harvest and Communities in Schools of Spokane County will help hundreds of school-age children who participate in after-school activities at Cheney Middle School. Hearty snacks will be provided free of charge, filling a nutritional gap for children from struggling households. Snacks will include dairy and other protein-rich products, juices, fresh fruits and vegetables.

“Communities In Schools is dedicated to bring the right resources to the right kids at the right time,” said Ben Stuckart, executive director of Communities In Schools of Spokane County. “When food insecurity issues came up, we contacted 2^nd Harvest.  We did not expect they would open the first school-based kids café in Washington State at one of our locations, but were thrilled they did.  This is how community partnerships should develop in our community– like-minded organizations collaborating to find a solution that benefits all children.”

A Second Harvest Mobile Food Bank will distribute food to people in need following the Kids Cafe kick-off from 4  to 6 p.m. Low-income families and seniors are encouraged to come to the Cheney Middle School and receive nutritious food items, including wholesome fresh products.

Kids Cafe, a nationwide program launched in 1993 by Feeding America, has 1,700 locations across the nation providing free meals and snacks to children from low-income families. Second Harvest opened the first Kids Cafe in the state of Washington last year at the Northeast Youth Center in Hillyard. A second was opened at Spokane’s West Central Community Center this past June.

“Communities in Schools of Spokane County has a strong program that helps hundreds of children successfully learn, stay in school and prepare for life’s challenges,” said Jason Clark, executive director of Second Harvest. “We are proud to partner with Communities in Schools of Spokane County and Cheney Middle School to provide children with the healthy food that they need to learn and grow so they can reach their full potential.”

For more information about Kids Cafe, contact Rod Wieber, Second Harvest’s director of donor and community relations, at (509) 252-6259. Information also is available online at www.2-harvest.org. For more information about Communities in Schools of Spokane County, contact Ben Stuckart, executive director, at (509) 413-1436.

About Second Harvest Inland Northwest

Founded in 1971 as a central warehouse for 13 emergency food pantries in Spokane, Second Harvest is the pioneering organization that leads the fight against hunger in the Inland Northwest. Today, partnerships with 275 neighborhood food banks and meal centers make it possible for Second Harvest to provide food to more than 48,000 hungry people each week. Second Harvest’s food bank network spans 21 counties in Eastern Washington and five counties in North Idaho – just over 51,000 square miles. Second Harvest distributes more than one million pounds of donated food each month throughout its vast service area.  Second Harvest’s food helps fill the nutritional gap for people in poverty, the working poor, elderly and disabled people on very low fixed incomes, and children and families in temporary crisis. To learn more, visit www.2-harvest.org.

About Communities In Schools of Spokane County

Founded locally in 2007 as a response to the dropout crisis in Spokane County, Communities In Schools connects needed community resources to schools to help students stay in school and prepare for life.  Communities In Schools recognizes that schools cannot do it alone so they put a site coordinator at specific schools and bring outside resources to at-risk youth.  In Spokane County Communities In Schools has coordinators in Chase, Cheney and Glover Middle Schools.  There are also programs at Lewis and Clark and North Central High School.  Communities In Schools works! During the 2008-2009 school year over 60% of tracked students decreased their behavioral referrals and increased their attendance.  Over 70% of the students tracked for academic issues either improved or maintained their performance.  For more information, visit www.cisspokane.org.

# # #

Dropout rate prompts call for tax measure.

Levy would fund mentoring, early education programs.

Spokane children’s advocates, concerned about societal problems stemming from Spokane’s high school dropout rate, hope voters will approve a citywide tax levy to keep young people in school and out of trouble.

The Children’s Investment Fund, modeled after successful, publicly funded initiatives in Seattle, Portland and Miami, would support such services as early childhood education, after-school mentoring and family support programs.

The $5 million fund would be financed through a five-year renewable tax levy of 35 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, according to Ben Stuckart, executive director of Communities in Schools of Spokane County and a member of the political action committee promoting the fund.

That amounts to about $65 a year for for the median home in Spokane, assessed at $197,000, Stuckart said.

Money paid upfront to keep children in school, he said, will save Spokane millions of dollars in future spending on jails and social services.

“High school dropouts are eight times less likely to be employed, more likely to be on welfare and more likely to end up in jail,” Stuckart said.

Dropout rates are difficult to assess in part because there is no standard way to track students who leave school and whether they continue their education. The percentage of Spokane students who graduate from high school in four years i 60 percent, compared with 72 percent statewide, according to the Office of Superintended of Public Instruction.

Stuckart said that means nearly 40 percent of Spokane students are dropping out.

“That is at the hart of all sorts of problems,” Stuckart said, citing studies that have shown every $1 invested in early childhood education saves society $3.50 to $4 down the road.

“If we decrease the dropout rate in Spokane by just 5 percent,” he said, “we would save each citizen between $200 and $250 per year.”

Many people believe schools are unable to stem the dropout rate on their own.

The Children’s Investment Fund would be anministered by an independent board and include a five-year sunset after which voters would have to approbe continuing the levy.

Stukart said fund advocates would like the City Council to put the levy request to voters in April. The PAC has hired Robinson Research to poll 400 likely voters to gauge support for the measure.

Fund supporters have discussed the issue with Mayor Mary Verner and City Council members, including Michael Allen, who said he would be willing to introduce the measure if “the numbers work out.”

“Making this investment now could save us a lot of money in teh future,” said Allen, who added that the issue was worth a strong public dialogue.

Other cities have approved similar funds for children.

Portland voters approved a $13 million Children’s Investment Fund in 2002 and renewed it last year.  Seattle passed it’s $17 million Family and Education Levy in 1990 and renewed it in 1997 adn 2004.

Mary Ann Murphy, executive director of Partners with Family and Children of Spokane, said the Children’s Investment Fund is an idea whose time has come.

“We can’t wait for somebody else to do it for us,” Murphy said. “We have to do it ourselves.”

Spokane’s measure could be put before voters in April without a petition drive in a majority of council members support it. Stuckart said a similar measure in Olympia, which was brought before voters through a petition drive, failed to pass.

Passage would require a simple majority of votes.

article taken from the Spokesman Review, written by Kevin Graman

ARLINGTON, Va., Sept 10, 2009 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ — The Better Business Bureau and Charity Navigator Rank Communities In Schools In the Top Tier of Nonprofits for Its Financial Stewardship and Sound Operations

Communities In Schools is proud to show its commitment to the highest standards of charitable giving by being recognized by the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance. Along with the organization’s second four-star rating from nationally recognized Charity Navigator, participation in the Wise Giving Alliance places Communities In Schools in the top tier of nonprofits for its financial stewardship and operational transparency.

“At Communities In Schools, we believe our mission is a trust – one that we take very seriously and that is a core part of helping young people achieve their true potential and succeed both in school and in life. Recognition from two nationally respected charity evaluators with such rigorous criteria is another example of how we validate that trust in what we do every day,” said Daniel J. Cardinali, president, Communities In Schools, Inc.

While many nonprofits continue to receive support despite tough economic times, the public and key funders are demanding that organizations such as Communities In Schools show unprecedented transparency and proven results to justify continued contributions. In many cases, nonprofit organizations are being asked to do more with less, and donors are looking for proof that a nonprofit’s operations are effective.

The Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance is nationally recognized for their rigorous evaluation process that helps foster sound giving decisions and advances high standards of conduct among nonprofits. Formed by the merger of the National Charities Information Bureau and the Council of Better Business Bureau’s Foundation (which housed the Philanthropic Advisory Service), the Wise Giving Alliance offers a century of experience in providing the public with the information they need when deciding whether to contribute money, time and effort to a nonprofit.

Charity Navigator is the nation’s largest nonprofit evaluator, issuing comprehensive reports on more than 5,000 national organizations that are used by more than four million donors.

The endorsement of the Better Business Bureau and Charity Navigator are born out by CIS’ numbers. The organization has network-wide revenues of more than $222 million. There are 214 CIS affiliates across the country and a labor force that is 94 percent non-paid volunteers. These resources mean that nearly 2.1 students across the country have access to services and attend schools in which CIS has a presence. Organizational accountability is at the heart CIS’ 30-year promise to the public and young people it serves.

Communities In Schools is the nation’s largest dropout prevention organization, working in more than 3,200 K-12 public schools. Founded in 1977, Communities In Schools is headquartered in Arlington, Va. Today, more than 1.3 million young people annually receive direct services through nearly 200 Communities In Schools local affiliates in 26 states and the District of Columbia. Between 80-90 percent of Communities In Schools’ tracked students show improvement in academic achievement, attendance, behavior and promotion to the next grade level. Visit our website at www.communitiesinschools.org.

SOURCE Communities In Schools

Save the date: October 22nd, Second Annual Fundraiser 

  On October 22, 2009 Communities In Schools invites you to enjoy our Second Annual Fundraiser.  The theme this year is a “Mask your Aid” Ball.  We will provide the Masks and you provide the Aid!  Last year over 180 community members gathered to hear Mayor Verner, ESD101 Superintendent, Mike Dunn, and Costco VP,  Art Jackson, endorse the value of Communities In Schools’ work in Spokane County. 

This year,  join us for jazz , appetizers, wine, a silent and live auction, and a look at back at our first year in the schools.  To learn more about attending, sponsoring a table, or becoming a gold or silver sponsor, please visit our event page.  We look forward to seeing you again at the beautiful Lincoln Center from 6:00 to 8:00 pm!
 

School starts in the next few weeks – we can’t wait to get involved in doing what we do best – connecting targeted resources for students and families just where they need them – in the schools!  We value all of the staff, teachers, and volunteers at Glover, Chase, and Cheney Middle Schools.   Many thanks to all for an extraordinary effort in getting positive results for at-risk students and keeping them in school!
 
Let us know if you would like to have one of us present about Communities In Schools to your group.  We’re excited to share our success in Spokane County!   
Please pass this newsletter on to anyone who might be interested in our work and enjoy the rest of your summer!
 
Sincerely,
 

Ben Stuckart
Communities In Schools of Spokane County

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A record 71 Oregon schools were identified Tuesday as inadequate performers under the federal No Child Left Behind law and will have to offer students transfers and free bus rides to attend a different school if they wish.

Those schools, including elementary schools in Hillsboro, Gresham and Fairview and schools at every grade level in Portland, failed to get enough of their students to pass state reading and math tests or had chronically high dropout rates.

Although the list of schools hit with federal sanctions doubled, there was good news about Oregon schools as a whole.

Many more schools hit every federal performance target this year — more than 70 percent, compared with 63 percent in 2008. Middle and high schools in particular posted better test scores from students who had done poorly in the past, including special education students.

Educators at middle and high schools that hit all the benchmarks say they closely track each student’s skill level, offering a double dose of reading or math class to those who need it. And they beefed up the curriculum taught to special education students and English language learners. What once were watered-down lessons or extra homework help have evolved into intensive lessons geared to grade-level standards.

Those approaches helped Clackamas High become the largest high school in Oregon to reach every federal performance target during the seven years under No Child Left Behind.

“Teachers are really targeting instruction to the particular areas where students have deficits,” says Principal Matt Utterback.

This year’s seemingly contradictory trends — more schools met federal targets, yet far more schools face federal sanctions — are explained by the complex rules under No Child Left Behind.

Two keys: The law requires that performance targets ratchet up every few years, in Oregon’s case from 50 percent of students passing reading and math tests in 2007 to 100 percent passing in 2014. And a school must fall short of federal standards two years in a row before it is ordered to offer transfers or faces other consequences.

When Oregon schools were required to get about 60 percent of students to pass state reading and math exams last year, a step up from the 50 percent target, a lot more schools couldn’t meet that hurdle, particularly elementary schools.

Of the 71 schools named to the list, 43 are new this year, and 36 of those are elementary schools.

New tactics
Meanwhile, for middle and high schools, falling short of federal targets was nothing new. Many of them had missed the targets for some groups of students for years. As a result, many had dug into their results, found weaknesses in the way they worked with struggling students and developed new ways to help them.

Some of those programs hit their stride this year, allowing schools such as Gladstone High and Tigard’s Fowler Middle School to get a hefty share of their special education students and English language learners to reach grade level in reading and math.

“We were thrilled,” said Shelley Corry, principal at Fowler, which revamped support programs in reading and math. “I found out (the school met all federal targets) before the end of the school year. Everybody was standing and clapping and yelling.”

To be judged adequate by the federal rating system, schools must get nearly 60 percent of their minority students, low-income students, special education students and students learning English as a second language to pass in reading and math.

A school that falls short in just one area — as Oregon City High did this year, with students in every group measuring up except special education students in math — is deemed to have failed just like a school with low overall achievement.

“It seems pretty harsh, but that’s our standard,” said Cynthia Yee, a specialist in the federal rating system at the Oregon Department of Education.

The biggest disparity in the way the law treats schools isn’t between schools that meet all federal standards and those that don’t — it’s between schools that receive federal funding to help disadvantaged students and schools that do not.

Click image to enlarge
Schools that don’t receive federal money face no consequence for failing to make what the feds call “adequate yearly progress.” They don’t have to offer transfers or tutoring no matter how pervasive or long-standing their performance problems are.

About 90 percent of Oregon high schools and 80 percent of middle schools are in that category and therefore exempt from consequences under No Child Left Behind.

Rather, it is the 500 Oregon schools that get federal funds, including two-thirds of the state’s elementary schools, for whom the federal ratings carry high stakes, such as transfers and tutoring.

School transfers
Statewide, nearly 1,600 students transferred to another school under NCLB last year, and an additional 1,450 got free private tutoring.

Schools that must send out those notices this month include Ron Russell Middle School in the David Douglas district of East Portland, Portland’s Jefferson High, and W.L. Henry and Mooberry elementary schools in Hillsboro.

Hillsboro leaders say they anticipate only a dozen students or so will transfer from W.L. Henry and Mooberry after notices go out to parents this week. But they say they can’t be sure, since no Washington County school has had to offer transfers under the law before.

Noah Kone, junior class president at Jefferson last year, said he won’t consider transferring. The school has improved, and students and teachers are pulling together, he said. A new college-level inquiry class will mean meaty academics and, potentially, college credit for him this year.

But Kone said if he was an incoming freshman who didn’t know the school, a letter notifying him that Jefferson failed federal standards might sway him to leave.

If a school fails to improve after a year on the list, it also must offer students free tutoring by an outside agency such as Sylvan Learning Center or the YMCA. For the third year or beyond, a school must rewrite the curriculum, lengthen the school day, shake up the staff or make other changes.

But along with that stick comes a carrot: additional federal funding to help pay for teacher training, instructional coaches and other improvements.

Oregon just learned it is in line for $34 million in additional federal funds for schools on the must-improve list — or an average of about $500,000 per school — for the coming two school years, said Pat Burk, Oregon’s chief education policy officer.

Federal ratings for Washington schools will be released Aug. 14.

What does it mean?

This is the seventh year that every public school has been rated under the federal No Child Left Behind law. The ratings are intended to reveal how well schools teach reading and math to all their students, including minority students, those in special education and those learning English as a second language.

For the 55 percent of schools that don’t receive federal Title I money to help disadvantaged students, the ratings boost their public image if they meet all federal targets, or ding their reputation if they don’t.

But for the 500 Oregon schools that receive Title I funding, including two-thirds of the state’s elementary schools, the ratings carry high stakes. Schools that miss federal targets two years in a row must notify parents, offer students a transfer to a higher-performing school and report to state overseers what they’re doing to improve. Schools also get a big dose of money — typically about $100,000 or more a year — to help spur improvements. But among the roughly 100 Oregon schools that have been hit with sanctions, fewer than two dozen have managed to make a complete turnaround and get off the federal list.

– Staff writers Kimberly Melton, Su-jin Yim and Wendy Owen contributed to this report.

– Betsy Hammond; betsyhammond@news.oregonian.com

Originally taken from OregonLive.com