Dear Pioneer families and staff,
Starting next school year, we plan to restructure the Pioneer Program in a
way we believe will offer increased opportunities, more inclusion and
decreased stigma for your students. For the 2018/19 school year, the K-5
grades will move as a group to Applegate School in North Portland; the small
number of 6-8 grade students will be placed in comprehensive middle schools
closer to their homes; and the handful of high school students currently on
the Pioneer campus will be placed at Marshall High School, which is currently
occupied by Grant High students and staff.
This new direction is part of the District’s efforts to bring services to students,
rather than placing students where services are centralized. Our goal is to
provide a continuum of services in schools that will better serve your
students and lead to better outcomes.
Pioneer offers a wide range of supports for your students and a very low
student to staff ratio. Those supports will continue, and current staffing levels
will follow those students to their respective schools.
The impetus for this move came as we were looking around the district for
options for ACCESS Academy, a 350-student program that is being displaced
by the opening of two middle schools. As part of our due diligence, we visited
the Pioneer Program and concluded we could provide a more appropriate and
supportive setting for your students.
We view this as a solid opportunity to take care of two critical issues
simultaneously. Here are some additional details:
K-5 – The move to Applegate presents the opportunity of a better learning
environment. The building has classrooms off a single hallway, making it
safer and easier to monitor, and has rooms for de-escalation and counseling.
After our visit to Pioneer, we see these rooms as a critical necessity. We would
maintain current staffing levels and administrative support.
Middle school – As part of PPS’s redesign of middle grade education, we
want to provide a continuum of support for all students in schools that are
close to where they live. Pioneer students in grade 6-8 would be integrated
into comprehensive middles schools in classrooms that would be staffed by a
teacher, two para-educators, a therapeutic intervention coach and a full-time
qualified mental health provider.

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 High school – Students relocated to Marshall would have the same staffing
and support ratio as at Pioneer. Placement in a comprehensive high school
offers more opportunities for students to interact with peers, in addition to
increased academic choices and programming. In the second year, we would
work on further integrating students into their neighborhood schools with
appropriate supports. We have seen a similar program produce good results
in three of our comprehensive high schools.
We are not making these changes lightly. We understand that transition can
be difficult for some students, and we will do all we can to make this process
go as smoothly as possible. This new direction aligns with our Special
Education Strategic Plan, which aims to provide a full continuum of supports
so students can attend the comprehensive middle schools and high schools
closest to them. It also will increase students’ access to teachers with
expertise in the core content areas of language arts, math, science and social
studies.
To learn more about these changes, please plan to attend a meeting at
Pioneer from 5:30-7:30 p.m., Dec. 7. Our staff will be there to answer your
questions.
Thank you.
Guadalupe Guerrero, Superintendent
Antonio Lopez, Assistant Superintendent, Office of School Performance
Mary Pearson, Senior Director, Student Services, Office of Teaching and
Learning

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