Portland Schools Program

Northwest Outward Bound Portland Schools Program (PSP) brings the educational framework of our high-impact wilderness courses into Portland classrooms, targeting schools in communities that have historically been excluded from outdoor education and leadership opportunities.

The Pacific Northwest offers an abundance of outdoor adventures that are ideal settings for character-building activities, experiential learning, and building a connection to nature. However, many Oregonians receive less and less opportunities to accesses the outdoors in such meaningful ways. Our PSP programs aim to change that.

CHARACTER EDUCATION IN THE CLASSROOM

In 2011, Northwest Outward Bound School launched the Portland Schools Program (PSP), serving middle and high schools. Since initially working solely with Reynolds High School, the PSP has expanded to four middle schools and three high schools, serving nearly 700 students each year.

Built on principles of bringing character education into the classroom, our Portland Schools Program (PSP) are a semester-long progressional series of team-building activities and discussions centered on fostering self-worth, teamwork, inclusion, leadership, service, and environmental stewardship. In partnership with school teachers and faculty, our curriculum is delivered as a component to classroom learning to enhance school engagement and character development. Students learn to reflect on personal values while building interpersonal skills that help them to be successful in school and in life. 

Physical activities are interwoven that put lessons into practice including:

• Challenge/Ropes Courses
• Rock Climbing
• Day Hikes, and
• Community Service Projects.

The Portland Schools Program is intentionally designed to build student resiliency and attachment to school, with a specific focus on the eight-to-ninth grade transition when students who are struggling are vulnerable to disengaging from school.

BY THE NUMBERS

2017-18 Portland Schools Program impacted:

• 449 unique students
• 3,632 student participation days

2018-19 School year projections:

• 525 unique students
• 4,711 student participation days

OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS

Reynolds School District: 

• Reynolds Middle School 
• Walt Morey Middle School 
• HB Lee Middle School 
• Reynolds High School 
• Reynolds Learning Academy 

Portland Public Schools: 

• Cleveland High School 

North Clackamas School District: 

• Alder Creek Middle School  

In 2018-19 we are working to expand to new schools and serve more students while implementing improvements to the program, including infusing new Equity, Inclusion and Diversity (EID) principles into the curriculum.