Officials with Portland Public Schools are moving ahead with plans to open the district’s first school in the Pearl District with an opening date set for this fall.
Matt Shelby, spokesman for Portland Public Schools, said the school will cater to three and four-year-olds from the Ramona Apartments, 1550 NW 14th Ave, homeless families and Head Start-eligible families from inner Northeast and the River District.
The district will rent four rooms in the Ramona Apartments for the school’s classrooms. And the school will offer two Head Start classrooms, a transition classroom for special education students and Multnomah Education Service District early-childhood classrooms.
Oregonian reporter Kim Melton reported on the school when the Portland Public Schools board approved a lease for the school in 2009. In that story, Melton wrote about the steady uptick over recent years in the number of children living in the Pearl.
Shelby said the district is also in talks with community groups about using the space during hours when school is not in session. Information on the name and details of the staff for the school were not immediately available. Stay tuned to the Northwest Portland blog page for updates and news on the Pearl District school as they develop. -Molly Hottle Source