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http://www.omniture.com --> Email Story to a Friend June 17, 2006 Eagle Point lowers the curtain on arts school By Paris Achen Mail Tribune EAGLE POINT — After two years of developing an art academy through the Oregon Small Schools Initiative, the Eagle Point School Board has scrapped plans for the college-prepatory high school three months before it was set to open. District officials said they chose to return the remainder of a four-year $500,000 grant for development of the Southern Oregon School of Arts and Academics (SOSAA) because of a "philosophical difference" in the visions for the school. The OSSI sought an independent small high school with its own building, budget, daily schedule and governance model. The district wanted a magnet school that could share schedules and resources with Eagle Point High. "We didn't want unhealthy competition between the two high schools," said Superintendent Bill Feusahrens. "We want the arts academy affiliated with the high school, not a separate entity" as OSSI required. The district plans to develop an arts program within the high school but will have to do so without the aid of about $225,000, the remainder of the overall grant. "We had promised kids classes where art was infused into every core subject," said Terri Steinhorst, choir teacher and former SOSAA director. "That's going to go away now." An art survey course that would have been required for each SOSAA pupil will not be offered next year at Eagle Point High. Other graduation requirements such as three years of science and social studies and four years of a foreign language also will be nixed, though students will still have the option of following those guidelines. "As far as the number of offerings, the art program will not be the same as originally intended, but we want to do as much as we can," said Mari Brabbin, principal of Eagle Point High. Brabbin said staff will meet this month to decide details of the art program. Members of a steering committee that helped shape the arts academy said they were outraged by the decision. "I'm furious about the entire thing because almost two and a half years of work has gone into (the school), and if the district planned to deep six it, they should have done it in the beginning," said Pat Ashley, a steering committee member. The high school had attracted about 185 applications from Eagle Point High, private schools and home-school programs. The six teachers who were assigned to the art academy, including the SOSAA director, will return to the main high school. "We are disappointed the district is not moving forward with the OSSI," said Karen Phillips, OSSI director. "We believe the independence of a school allows staff to be flexible to put changes in place to enable them to put this vision in place, but we understand the vision has to match what the individual community wants." The district had already used about $275,000 of the grant to train teachers and send them to art academies across the nation to learn teaching strategies. The remainder of the grant, about $225,000, must be returned to OSSI by June 30. "We are trying to bring rigorous academics so all students would receive college preparation in a small school and have the same teachers who offer instruction in such a way that students are engaged in learning," Phillips said. "Even though Eagle Point is not opening a school, I believe they'll be opening a program with some of those components. They've been clear, both the teachers and the administrators, that they have learned many things." Advertisement s Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Discount Hotel Reservations --> online casinos news Ashley Furniture HomeStore Send Flowers California Casinos GMAT Prep Windermere Van Vleet Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Entertainment Guide --> Online Casino Fundraisers Sudoku Online Casinos Canada Online Pharmacy