Community Engagement

"Through the Office of Community Engagement students explore how knowledge and understanding connect with public purpose. Students are empowered to create a more just and equitable world as leaders and partners for change in our communities — both those that exist within the walls of our school and those outside. Students will commit to social impact as a reflection of love in action with and for our neighbors. Through this work, students will actively live out our school’s mission as we individually and collectively realize our Power for Good." OES Community Engagement Mission Statement

Vision Statements

As we work toward our mission, we are guided by these vision statements:

Exploring the many challenges facing the world today with a particular focus on economic justice, social justice, eco justice, and intergenerational justice.
Understanding our relationship to those around us, moving outward from classmates to schoolmates to Portlanders and beyond. We will explicitly examine ways to live out our Community Engagement vision within our school community as well as outside.
Recognizing the humanity and equality of those we encounter, beginning all activities with a focus on the love of one another.
Cultivating community relationships that address issues in ways that are mutually beneficial to both the community and to OES and its students.
Teaching to understand, and if possible, disrupt, systemic injustices around race, poverty, and inequity.
Focusing on impact in our community

Program Outcomes

Community Engagement initiatives provide students with authentic opportunities to grow in five Program Outcomes. Each outcome is tied to the Essential Competencies, with the focus on developing the habits of mind of a learner in relationship with their community.

Advocacy

Act with courage and compassion for self and others
Express ideas in multiple ways

Agency

Cultivate curiosity and creativity
Construct a strong foundation of knowledge and skills

Empathy

Value diversity and uphold the dignity of all people
Listen actively and recognize perspectives beyond one’s own

Leadership

Take responsibility for one’s actions
Collaborate to broaden and deepen understanding

Problem-Solving

Design and apply solutions
Build resilience and respond constructively to challenges

Pillars of Community Engagement

We hope to empower students to realize their power for good as we work toward justice in four overlapping program areas. In this work, we see ways that Community Engagement actions connect deeply with our commitments to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Anti-racism; to our Chaplaincy program; and to our inquiry model of student learning.

Continuum of Engagement

Programs in the Office of Community Engagement fall along a continuum of engagement:

Community Engagement seeks to better engage and partner with the community to achieve long-term and sustainable outcomes, processes, relationships, discourse, decision-making, or implementation.
Service Learning involves students in service projects and applies classroom learning for local agencies that exist to effect positive change in the community.
Community Service is voluntary work intended for social organization and community support.

Divisional Contact Information

In the PK-12 environment, there is an opportunity to watch students grow over time, and where students return to skills, conversations, or invitations again and again, each time at a new depth.

As we lead our students to learn toward commitment in all three divisions, we are able to focus our efforts in developmentally appropriate ways. If you have questions about Community Engagement within a specific division, please contact:

Kristen Haferbecker, LS and All-School Community Engagement Coordinator
Mel Robinson, MS Community Engagement Coordinator
Maria McIvor, US Community Engagement Coordinator