16. Metropolitan Learning Center
City: Portland, OR
Category: Education
Telephone: (503) 916-5737
Address: 2033 Northwest Glisan St.
Description: Portland Public School District’s only K–12 school, the Metropolitan Learning Center provides a noncompetitive atmosphere with written evaluations (instead of letter grades), cooperative learning, cross-age experiences, and off-campus activities. A particular focus of the school is a healthy environment, and many lessons are devoted to this. Former governor John Kitzhaber recognized it as the first “green” school in the state. But the students and teachers at MLC are imaginative enough to understand that the “environment” is the place we live; thus, a major focus of the school is the urban community that surrounds MLC, and it’s an essential part of the curriculum.
17. Sunnyside Environmental School
City: Portland, OR
Category: Education
Telephone: (503) 916-6226
Address: 3421 Southeast Salmon St.
Description: The Sunnyside Environmental School, or SES, as it’s known around here, is a special-focus program of Portland Public Schools in which students in mixed-age classes study the traditional subjects but with an emphasis on the natural environment. For example, a basic question throughout many courses is “How does history influence the environment and how does the environment influence history?” The environmental core curriculum, studied by all students at the same time, consists of three-year rotations focusing on rivers, mountains, and forests. SES is a small program, and its nurturing size and low ratio of students to teachers makes it very desirable. Accelerated math and Spanish are also available; community service is a key component of the curriculum as well.
18. Winterhaven
City: Portland, OR
Category: Education
Telephone: (503) 916-6200
Address: 3830 Southeast 14th Ave.
Description: Winterhaven is a wonderful K–8 public school magnet program that makes use of mixed-age classrooms, interdisciplinary intellectual approaches, and positive discipline techniques to foster personal responsibility. Winterhaven has attracted a high number of talented and gifted students who respond well to these approaches, which allow them to bloom in their own way while still being academically challenged, particularly through its focus on math, science, and technology. Community involvement is prized, and families are asked to volunteer 50 hours per year.
19. The Catlin Gabel School
City: Portland, OR
Category: Education
Telephone: (503) 297-1894
Address: 8825 Southwest Barnes Rd.
Description: This distinguished coeducational school is well known for its dedication to individuality, rigorous academics, and liberal arts training. Courses educate the total person, incorporating academic excellence along with the visual and performing arts, physical education, and a strong sense of community service. Students are encouraged to devote service hours to the school and to the community; in fact one of the requirements for upper-school students is to dedicate 12 hours of service to local agencies. Catlin Gabel has an enrollment of about 680 students in preschool through grade 12. The average class size is 17.
20. Franciscan Montessori Earth School & St. Francis Academy
City: Portland, OR
Category: Education
Telephone: (503) 760-8220
Address: 14750 Southeast Clinton St.
Description: Parents who send their children to Montessori preschools grow misty-eyed when they later recall the wonderful experiences their children had there. Now they can extend this effective learning atmosphere all the way through middle school. Founded in 1977, the school serves about 350 students from the Portland Metro area, including Vancouver (it’s right off I-205). This environmentally and globally focused school is run by an order of Franciscan nuns. Students grow gardens and are even prepared for travel abroad. If we’re lucky, they’ll start a graduate school for the rest of us.
21. Oregon Episcopal School
City: Portland, OR
Category: Education
Telephone: (503) 246-7771
Address: 6300 Southwest Nicol Rd.
Description: Oregon Episcopal School (OES) is a coeducational, independent, college preparatory school where teachers challenge students in small, demanding classes. Active parent involvement is encouraged. OES holds its students to rigorous academic standards, while encouraging a free spirit as part of the joy of learning. Modern dormitories staffed by resident-faculty families provide a safe home away from home for students coming from far away rather than commuting every day. OES serves 720 students, 50 of whom are boarders. Half of these are international students, mostly from China, Japan, and other Asian countries. Most of the other boarders are from eastern and southern Oregon, California, and Washington. The schoolwide student-teacher ratio is seven to one.
City: Portland, OR
Category: Education
Address: 740 Southeast 182nd Ave.
23. Concordia University
City: Portland, OR
Category: Education
Telephone: (503) 288-9371
Address: 2811 Northeast Holman St.
Description: A Christian liberal arts school and part of the Concordia University System, Concordia University is a small college that draws about 1,100 students from all over the world to its campus in Northeast Portland. Courses of study include psychology, biology, theology, health and fitness management, humanities, and education. Graduate degree programs within the College of Education were established in 1996. Concordia is accredited by the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges, and it offers small classes and an opportunity to work closely with professors.
City: Portland, OR
Category: Education
Address: 615 Southwest Palatine Hill Rd.
City: Portland, OR
Category: Education
Address: 17600 Pacific Hwy. (SR 43)
City: Portland, OR
Category: Education
Address: 49 Southwest Porter St.
City: Portland, OR
Category: Education
Address: 8245 Southwest Barnes Rd.
City: Portland, OR
Category: Education
Address: 3181 Southwest Sam Jackson Park Rd.
29. Oregon Institute Of Technology
City: Portland, OR
Category: Education
Telephone: (503) 725-3066
Address: 7726 Southeast Harmony Rd.
Description: The Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT) offers four-year degrees, degree-completion programs, and a number of workshops and seminars on its campuses in Klamath Falls in southern Oregon, where OIT was founded, and on its campuses in Portland and Beaverton. Its degrees are granted in a broad spectrum of different engineering, science, and technological disciplines, including—but not at all limited to—health technologies, applied sciences of various kinds, communications, and environmental engineering.
City: Portland, OR
Category: Education
Address: 1241 Northwest Johnson St.