At the request of students, Centennial High School added television monitors throughout Centennial High School to display important information, and freshened up the cafeteria’s look and food choices. (Photo by Jake Arnold, OSBA)
The Centennial School District passed a bond in 2020 that included promises to improve safety and security. The east Portland-area district asked students what that meant to them.
Students engaged, and the district responded with physical features such as cameras, lights and secure entries as well as facilities upgrades that increased student pride and encouraged a sense of community, improving the overall environment. The results speak for themselves.
In 2021, 20% of students felt safe, according to a Centennial survey. In 2023, 74% felt safe.
Robust and meaningful student engagement has not only improved the district’s physical features, it has also improved its culture, environment and outcomes, district leaders say.
School Board Chair Rose Solowski said Centennial’s strategic plan prioritizes student voice as part of district decision-making.
“We found that once we incorporated student voice with the plan, they are more likely to be engaged with the process and on board with next steps,” Solowski said.
The board actively encourages participation from its student advisers, Solowski said, but the engagement goes both deeper and wider. Students helped identify bond projects. They serve on school-level advisory boards and hiring committees. They are encouraged to speak up, and their opinions are sought.
Superintendent James Owens credits the school board for setting the tone. He said the board’s recent strategic planning and equity audit elevated student voice as a priority.
A small group of students interviewed for this article said the process isn’t perfect. Students, especially those in smaller demographic groups, don’t always feel heard and they don’t always see action on their concerns. But they also said interactions with school leadership matter, and they want more of it.
Keasha Oliver, a senior, acknowledged that it’s hard to represent every group’s voice in a process, especially when student groups aren’t always listening to each other either. She said that made it especially powerful when school board members and administrators sat down with small groups to really listen.
Harmony Frazier, a senior, said that to “get a true message,” school leaders must reach out to more than just student leadership and the usual suspects.
Centennial High School Principal Marin Miller said real student engagement requires both commitment and time. For instance, including students on hiring committees for positions ranging from safety officer to sports coach requires first training them in how to properly conduct an interview and what they can legally ask.
Miller said the student questions, though, were one of the toughest and most rewarding parts when he interviewed for principal in 2022.
When the student advisory group brings up an issue, such as the need for more single-user bathrooms, Miller collects information and then reports back to the group and talks about next steps.
Oliver said that feedback loop is essential to helping students feel heard.
The advisory group requested five single-user bathrooms, but for structural and financial reasons shared with the group, the district could only add two.
The group of students interviewed pointed to the bathrooms as a success story even though they didn’t get everything they wanted.
Scott Rose, R&C Management Group senior project manager, worked with Centennial on the school safety and security bond work.
He said engagement with Oregon students has grown and evolved in recent years. Twenty years ago, he said, adults were worried about talking to students about security issues. Today’s young people are more “globally aware” of safety issues, he said, and they can talk maturely about things such as the danger of propping doors open.
Rose encourages school leaders to include students in meetings with adults, rather than separate meetings, to get the best responses.
For the Centennial work, dozens of students offered input. Rose said they raised higher-level concerns than adding just cameras and protecting access points.
“It’s not just about safety and security, but about feelings of safety and security,” Rose said.
On a tour of the high school, Miller pointed to numerous changes spurred by student input, such as a lactation pod for mothers, more television monitors for announcements, an improved cafeteria and a cooking class based on what students might actually find in their kitchens.
Developing consistent lines of communication and more active buy-in takes years, Miller said.
“We’re not fully there yet, but cool stuff is happening,” he said.
Miller said administrators and teachers are getting some of the time back that they have dedicated to reaching students, though, with fewer disciplinary problems and disruptions.
Owens said the district has seen fewer student protests and walkouts, for instance, since making a more concerted effort at student engagement.
“If you don’t make the time, it will take the time regardless,” Owens said.
Owens and Miller said they are also seeing more student spirit, and the number of fights in the high school has dropped by roughly half. Students are taking ownership of their education and organizing and running school celebrations.
Miller said student engagement fits with their core mission.
“We want to get out of the way of our students so they can drive,” Miller said. “The goal is we want functioning adults.”
The students said student engagement can also mean taking the time to listen to the adults the students feel more comfortable sharing with, such as an adviser or a favorite teacher.
“It’s really nice if there is a trusted adult to listen to us,” said Kristy Cao, a senior. “It’s up to our adults to choose to listen to us.”
– Jake Arnold, OSBA
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