In The News: Newberg Education Foundation revived with new purpose

Written by: Seth Gordon, Newberg Graphic 

Rather than concentrating on fundraising, the NEF will concentrate on increasing high school graduation rates

After laying dormant for the last five years, the Newberg School District has prompted the revival of the Newberg Education Foundation, although with a new purpose.

The nonprofit will no longer operate as a fundraising organization, but will instead work to rally community support behind the district’s push to improve the graduation rate at Newberg High School.

District communications director Claudia Stewart will again serve as the NEF’s liaison to the district, while Newberg Habitat for Humanity Executive Dir­ector Rick Rogers has been recruited to serve as chairman of a board of directors featuring many prominent Newbergers.

Serving on the board will be: Newberg city councilor and Ford Family Foundation field coordinator Denise Bacon; NHS grad and Edward Jones financial advisor Heath Cornick; Chehalem Cultural Center executive director Rob Dailey; city of Newberg associate planner Jessica Pelz; Chehalem Val­ley Dance Academy owner Kristen Stoller and Premiere Community Bank and active NHS Booster Club leader Ron Wolfe.

“I applaud Dr. Kym (LeBlanc-Esparza) for making it public and saying that we need a collaborative effort to address this because in a lot of ways it’s a daunting problem,” Rogers said. “I think that’s really where we do need a community collective impact model.”

The foundation is just now beginning to work with the district to identify the specific ways in which it can funnel community support, but has committed to focusing on three measurable areas related to the graduation rate, which was 77 percent for the class of 2015.

The first is boosting third-grade reading, as reading at grade level by the end of the third grade is considered a strong predictor for high school graduation. Overall, 63 percent of NSD students met state reading standards in 2015-2016.

The NEF will also target attendance, as 14 percent of district students were categorized as chronically absent, meaning they missed more than 10 percent of the school year.

The third area of attention will be strengthening ninth grade transitions, with the measuring stick being seven credits earned in the freshman year. Among the Class of 2015, just 20 percent of those who earned six or fewer credits went on to graduate.

“The belief is that money is not necessarily needed, at least at this point, until we know more,” Rogers said. “It may be mentoring or better connections with the business community. At this point, I’m not sure we have a clear idea. I think some of it will be volunteering, but I don’t know where that might be directed.”

Those interested in helping the NEF can email Rogers atrick@newberghabitat.org or Stewart at stewartc@ newberg.k12.or.us.