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Letter from Campus Principal Laurie Henry

March 2008

The school district is in the process of reviewing recommendations and making decisions about Shaping the Future of our Eugene schools. One of the recommendations that could have the most impact for North Eugene Campus is the management of student transfers. This new proposal will serve to balance enrollment between the four high schools and strive to keep our high school enrollment between 1200 - 1500 students. This will pose quite a challenge for 4J because our high school enrollment is projected to drop over 400 students due to declining enrollment in the Eugene district. This decline of enrollment resulted in the consolidation of elementary schools a few years ago, and has also affected our middle schools’ enrollment. Now the decline in student numbers has arrived at the high school level. I will update families about staffing and programs after administration, site council and staff complete the planning process. It is important to note that three of our four high schools will be facing cuts for next year.

The good news for North during this time of decline, is that we enrolled a very robust ninth grade class this year. It is obvious that students are highly motivated to attend our small schools. Further evidence of this positive trend was the fantastic turn out for our 2008 Preview Night for 8th graders. All three schools “packed the house” for exciting presentations about their school focus and goals. Staff and students shared curriculum and four year plans for North International High School, the School of IDEAS, and Academy of Arts.

We encourage our North families to share small schools information with neighbors and friends. We are accepting transfers to North at this time. Colorful brochures are available at the school and transfer forms may be picked up at all 4j schools, including the district office. All transfer forms must be turned into the district office by Friday, March 21, by 4:00, to be included in the district lottery process.

Monday, March 3rd was a special event for families from Madison, Kelly and North Eugene High School: The North Region Family Latino Night. It was a great success! The main purpose of the meeting was to provide an opportunity for a community dialogue. Educators, community members, parents and students met to learn more about the 4J Educational System and how we can become better advocates for the educational needs of our Latino students. Carmine Urbina, 4j Community Liaison, presented information on the achievement gap and shared 4J data. Guest speakers included Jim Garcia- Multicultural Coordinator for LCC, Guadalupe Quiin- CAUSA Coordinator, Ana Quintero- Speech Therapist, and Rafael Mosqueda- 4j teacher. Thank you to all who helped make this important event happen. A similar event is planned for the Churchill Region on Monday, March 10th, at Churchill High School.

Special thanks to Denise Gudger and Jo Ann Mazzarella for all of their support, hard work and guidance on our Federal Small Learning Communities Grant. The grant was officially turned in on February 16th, after the North Site Council, staff, students and community members had a final reading and input opportunity. This grant is a wonderful template for next steps to improve student achievement at North Eugene Campus! We should know if we receive the grant in early June. Again, great appreciation to all of those who helped with this gigantic project.