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
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.