December 16, 2009

Mosier plans school campaign
School leaders hope to raise $2 million for a middle school

By Keri Brenner
The Chronicle

     After two years of planning, Mosier’s dream of having its own middle school is fast moving out of the starting blocks.
     Mosier Community School backers are launching a drive to raise up to $2 million in private donations and grants for the new middle school, according to Carole Schmidt, principal of the community’s existing K-6 charter elementary school.
     “We’re starting immediately,” Schmidt said. “We’ve been slow getting to this point, but now all sorts of things are happening.”
     Thanks to a recent $9,500 Oregon Investment Board loan award, Mosier project organizers will sign a contract Thursday with architects GGL/BLRB, a partnership of two architectural design firms in Bend and Tacoma, for a feasibility study on the proposed school, said Lynda Sacamano, Mosier Community Middle School Council chairperson.
     “We hope to include a community component in the school design, such as a meeting room, so the community can have access to that,” she said. The council expects to hire a half-time executive director to lead the capital campaign, Sacamano added.
     Sacamano said community leaders are eager to move ahead with the project so that Mosier kids can continue to enjoy the high standard of education already provided at the elementary school.
     “We just love what is happening there – and it radiates out to the community,” Sacamano said. “I think when you care about your community, you care about the kids.”
     On Monday, Schmidt, Sacamano and the other members of the Mosier Community Middle School Council — formerly the advocacy group Kids First — were told they did not gain approval of a three-year, $250,000 curriculum development grant from the Oregon Department of Education in the current award cycle. However, the Mosier group will be able to re-apply for the grant in March, Sacamano said.
     Schmidt expects to receive further clarification on the grant on Thursday.
     All the activity comes just days after more than 100 residents toured a Dec. 5 open house display of proposed school design plans. The 16 designs were the climax of a University of Oregon architecture student project that began in September.
     “It was huge and wonderful,” Schmidt said of the Dec. 5 event. “We were thrilled with the response and interest of the community.”
     The proposed school, which would offer seventh and eighth grades, is slated for one of four sites – all adjacent to the existing elementary school between Highway 30 and First Avenue. The four sites include: the Gismo building, a small science classroom attached to the elementary school; the former Mosier gas station; a former Mosier motel property and a car-park area.
     Currently, Mosier Community School graduates go to seventh and eighth grade at The Dalles Middle School because Mosier is part of North Wasco County School District 21. Despite its inclusion in the school district, however, Mosier as a charter school does not have access to property tax revenue, according to Schmidt.
     Therefore, to build a new school, the community must instead raise money through private donations or grants, Schmidt said.
     Mosier Community School, which has 161 students, has ranked at or near the top in recent federal and state education evaluations, Schmidt added. In addition to high marks in academics, the elementary school was rated favorably in measures such as school culture, attendance and behavior, she said.
     In addition to Schmidt and Sacamano, other members of the Mosier Community Middle School Council are: Wayne Haythorn, Brian McCormick, Mimi Maduro and Steve Salmon.