Sunnyside Environmental School

The Sunnyside Environmental School, is a public school in Portland, Oregon, United States. Formerly known as the "Environmental Middle School", Sunnyside is a kindergarten through eighth school in the Portland School District with a total enrollment of 560: 240 in grades six through eight and 320 in grades kindergarten through five. Although SES does have a neighborhood range, it is primarily made up of students who have transferred to the school from all over Portland. Sunnyside uses a rotating themes system, each year based around the River (biology), the Forest (Botany), and the Mountain (geology). Students maintain flower and herb gardens on the school's site. [cite news
title=School wasn't so green when I was a kid
first=Barbara
last=ashmun
work=Portland Tribune
url=http://www.portlandtribune.com/features/story.php?story_id=118195573049736900
date=June 19, 2007]

Infobox School
name=Sunnyside Environmental
coordinates=45.514655 / -122.628933
locale=Portland, Oregon
district=Portland Public Schools
founded=1994¹
principal=Sarah Taylor
enrollment=560
grades= K-8
song=Run River Run
footnotes=¹Originally founded as the Environmental Middle School, serving grades 6-8 only. Renamed and expanded to K-8 in 2004.
url= [http://www.sesptsa.com]

Kindergarten through Fifth Grade

SES' Kindergarten through Five classes teach an environmentally based curriculum, teaching mathematics, reading, writing, and humanities. Students attend an hour of Physical Education weekly, and an hour of Art and Gardening weekly. K-5 students also go on a weekly "Science Walk" with the science teacher. And 3-4 students go on a monthly "site monitoring" field trip with the science teacher: 3rd graders go Laurelhurst Park to study the ducks in the pond; 4th graders to Oaks Bottom wildlife refuge; and 5th graders to the Portland Zoo where they choose an animal to study.

Six through Eighth Grade

SES' Six through Eight classes are mixed grade, with each class containing sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. Students attend an hour of Math (Mathematics 6, pre-algebra, algebra, geometry is available for advanced students.), and Spanish three times a week. Some students may take an additional hour of math or reading, if needed. 6-8 students also attend an hour of physical education, art/garden, and science each week. Eighth graders can receive high-school credit for Algebra 1-2, as well as one year of high school Spanish credit, credit can also be received for Geometry. Each 6-8 teacher teaches a multi grade "Core" room (also known as homeroom), and a math, Spanish, or reading class. The 8 classes have about 30 kids in each, usually equally divided between the three grades.

Students attend an assembly every Monday, Wednesday and Friday called "morning meeting". Here they receive announcements about upcoming events such as field trips (a weekly occurrence at SES) and service opportunities. They sing along to a core teacher's (John R.) guitar. The teachers will tell them if there are any schedule differences and fellow students will tell each other about service projects they are doing or about world news. Near the end of the year 8th graders are required to give a speech in front of the middle school division at this gathering about something they feel is a core value to them.

The service requirements change occasionally, but students are asked to complete 2 school based service projects, 2 community based service projects and 12 hours of gardening on school property. This builds great ties with the location, and the community. And kids learn how to reach out and get involved.

References

External links

* [http://www.sesptsa.com Sunnyside Environmental School]
* [http://www.pps.k12.or.us/schools-c/profiles/?id=191 Sunnyside Environmental profile on the Portland Public Schools website]