The Oregonian- Metro East News

Fun in the SUN Schools Uniting Neighborhoods, which offers creative classes, expands in Multnomah County

04/09/04

KARA BRIGGS

T he line of children -- hoping to sign up for after-school marimba or quilting lessons or even a homework club -- began snaking down a hallway at Harold Oliver Intermediate School around 7 a.m., a full hour before school began.

By 7:30 a.m. more than 100 fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders were waiting.

The children were among the first this quarter to sign up for Multnomah County's SUN Community Schools. SUN, which stands for Schools Uniting Neighborhoods, provides after-school programs at 46 schools countywide.

"It gives the kids a chance to do something after school instead of going home alone," said Mary Gray, a parent of a 12-year-old and a 14-year-old who are SUN participants. "Both my kids are learning to play the marimba. My daughter has learned to cook and my son learned to look at the world in a different way because of a science class he took."

Last month county officials expanded the number of schools where the SUN programs are offered and decided to make them a key way to reach families who need social services.

The county also selected nonprofit agencies to oversee its School Age Policy Framework, an $11.7 million umbrella effort that covers everything from the SUN schools to the county's anti-poverty and early childhood programs.

Metropolitan Family Service, a 50-year-old Portland agency, will run most of the after-school programs in mid- and east county. It will serve six elementary schools -- Earl Boyles, Gilbert Park, Shaver, Lynchview, Alder and Davis; three middle schools -- H.B. Lee, Clear Creek and Dexter McCarty; and Harold Oliver Intermediate School.

The Portland Parks and Recreation Bureau will run the program at Alice Ott Middle School, Parkrose High School and Centennial Middle School. El Programa Hispano will serve Hall and East Gresham elementary schools.

Each school has its own coordinator, said Krista Larson, Metropolitan Family Service's executive director. Parents, educators and children help the coordinator design their own, often unique, after-school program.

Most SUN programs are at disadvantaged schools. For example, at Harold Oliver, 84 percent of students qualify for free and reduced-price lunches. Most classes are free. But the children who sign up need not come from low-income families.

"One excited little girl came up to me this morning and said, "I got into science, Mrs. Harris,' " said Shar Harris, principal of Harold Oliver. "It's great hands-on experience, which schools can't always give in classes of 25 or 30 students."

The marimba class is the most popular offering at Harold Oliver. It provides students there with music lessons, something fourth- and fifth-graders get just two days in a typical school week.

Since the program came to Harold Oliver three years ago, Harris and her school SUN coordinator Tricia Harding designed activities to involve parents. Once a month the school assigns a book that families can read together and invites everyone to come to school and discuss it on a regular night. They also organize occasional family craft nights, often geared to making holiday decorations.

"It helps brings us back to that old-fashioned idea that the school is the center of the community," Harris said.

As the first bell rang and the last children were assigned their after-school classes, May Cha, who helps oversee the SUN programs for Multnomah County, smiled.

"It's exciting," Cha said, "any time kids will sign up for something that will keep them in school longer."

Kara Briggs: 503-294-5936; karabriggs@news.oregonian.com

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