Federal grant gives Oregon City Service Learning Academy new laptops, new expectations | OregonLive.com

Federal grant gives Oregon City Service Learning Academy new laptops, new expectations | OregonLive.com

Federal grant gives Oregon City Service Learning Academy new laptops, new expectations

Published: Friday, September 17, 2010, 9:00 AM Updated: Friday, September 17, 2010, 9:56 AM

Nicole Dungca, The Oregonian
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View full sizeBRENT WOJAHN/THE OREGONIANSenior Kyle Erickson (left), and junior Nick Magistrale got a sneak peek at the new Apple laptops that each student will receive at the Oregon City Service Learning Academy. The charter school will receive about $1.45 million over three years to help raise student achievement.

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The effects of a federal grant are starting to surface throughout theOregon City Service Learning Academy.

Boxes of Apple laptops for students are stacked one upon another in the principal's office. A new counselor has taken up residence in one of the rooms. Then there's the principal himself: Tim Graham, the former principal ofHolcomb Elementary School in Oregon City, just began his first year at the school.

Upon winning a School Improvement Grant aimed at turning around some of the lowest-performing schools in Oregon, the Oregon City Service Learning Academy received a promise of $1.5 million over three years.

But even as educators at this 93-student charter school laud many of the changes that accompany the grant, they're also grappling with its expectations: The last two years of the federal funding are contingent upon improvements related to test scores, attendance and graduation rates.