Civic duty

Portland Public Schools is considering a boundary change in our elementary school district. The boundary change line runs right down the middle of our street, so Drew and I discussed whether we should attend a public hearing tonight. I offered to go, which I figured I'd do after I swam (but never made it because I was at work until 6).

It was a very interesting meeting. I used to cover the Portland School Board, and it was odd seeing everyone again, including Superintendent Carole Smith. She rushed up to me after the meeting to give me a hug, and I made sure to show her a picture of Rachel. She exclaimed over how cute she is, and then she thanked me and my former colleague, Kim Melton, for our coverage of PPS. "You really dug into stuff," Carole said, and she said she appreciated that both of us could devote so much time to the beat. I got the feeling that she's frustrated with the current state of the Oregonian's education team, which looks like it's down to one reporter who also has to cover state education issues. It already seems like such a long time since I've worked there.

Mom and Dad, I also finally met Dawn Menken! She testified in favor of the proposed boundary change. We had a nice chat afterward, exchanged phone numbers and we hope to have her over for dinner sometime. She immediately knew who you were, than you were friends with her parents, etc. She sends her son to a magnet arts school because she believes that Alameda Elementary, the one near our house, is a little too pressure-filled academically. She also told us that it's wealthy and not very diverse (which we knew). One parent with kids there apparently works for Intel and so the kids all have great computers in their classrooms, plus they have a lot of other extras that less-fortunate schools don't have. But it's crowded, which the boundary change will hopefully lessen.

I also chatted with Robb Cowie, the school's chief spokesman, about middle schools vs. K-8s, magnet schools, talented and gifted programs, etc. He said he's amazed Rachel is almost ready for kindergarten; he remembered when she was born (the board members sent me a card and lovely gift, which of course I had to return. I appreciated the gesture, though). I told him I can't wait until kindergarten round-up next year, when we get to hear all about the schools out there for Rachel. We are guaranteed attendance at our local school; if we want an out-of-neighborhood magnet or K-8, we have to go through the lottery.

But we likely won't do that because we found out that...ALAMEDA ELEMENTARY will be Rachel's school!!! The school board is scheduled to formally vote on it in two weeks, which is why they held a public hearing tonight. What a relief! Here's how close we came to having to go to another school: the boundary line does, indeed, run right down our street. Kids who live on the east side of the street like us go to Alameda; kids on the west side don't. That means Rachel will get a great start at one of the best elementaries in the city that hopefully wont be as crowded as this year. (And, should we ever need to sell our house, the fact that it's in the Alameda boundary means we'll get a good price). Yay!!!

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Cute Rachel saying today:

We were talking about Halloween, and I told her it was a long way off -- October.

"China is far-er than Halloween," she said. (For some reason she has an obsession with China. David and Anne, I'm not surprised if she gets that from you!!:))