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Centennial School District awarded $150,000 ODE grant to support immigrant and refugee students
Summary
The district received a competitive $150,000 Immigrant and Refugee Student Success Plan grant from the Oregon Department of Education to fund workshops, multilingual library expansion and partnerships focused on student and family support.
The Centennial School District announced at its March 12 meeting that it had been awarded a $150,000 grant from the Oregon Department of Education to implement an Immigrant and Refugee Student Success Plan. Superintendent James Owens presented details of the grant, which the district said was highly competitive.
District staff described the grant’s goals as addressing systemic barriers to success for immigrant and refugee students — including language acquisition, cultural adjustment, discrimination and economic instability — through a combination of family workshops, educator training and multilingual resources. The district named Educate You as a planned partner for implementation and said the work will include tailored workshops for students, parents and educators, a panel discussion featuring representatives from Senator Merkley’s office, and expansion of multilingual library collections.
Superintendent Owens credited district staff for the proposal and named key contributors to the grant application: social worker Amanda Bowman Mejia, English learner TOSAs Laura Valente and Mary Shortino, Director of Student Services Denise Wright, and English learner and federal programs administrator Sonia Nelson Carranza.
Staff said the grant funds will support programming to increase inclusivity and cultural responsiveness across the district and will be used to pilot interventions and materials aimed at bolstering immigrant and refugee student success. The board offered congratulations and no formal vote was required for acceptance; staff indicated they would proceed with the implementation plan and report back to the board on outcomes and next steps.
Ending: District staff will begin implementing the project components and will coordinate workshops and library enhancements in the coming months; the board requested future reports on program progress.
