Bars to Bridges

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Home > MESD Schools & Programs > Bars to Bridges

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The Bars to Bridges Project promotes regular and consistent school attendance and increases positive educational transitions and outcomes for African American, Black, Biracial and Multiracial students.
 
Bars to Bridges is a recipient of House Bill 2016 / The African American Success Plan Grant. We pair Transition Specialists with African American, Black, Biracial and Multiracial​ youth who have entered detention facilities. Our Transition Specialists then provide trauma-informed and culturally responsive supports and mentoring to youth with the intended outcomes of reducing the number of days they are not enrolled in their neighborhood school and increasing engagement in before and after school activities. We also connect students, families, educators, juvenile justice service providers and community members with relevant and culturally responsive professional development and resources. 

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Juvenile Justice Complex
1401 NE 68th Pl.
Portland, OR 97213
(503) 988-3577
fax (503) 988-5937

Project Director
Christine Otto
cotto@mesd.k12.or.us
(503) 257-1759

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About the Project

The Bars to Bridges Project supports the African American / Black Student Success Plan to (1) reduce the number of days African American, Black, Biracial and Multiracial students are unenrolled from their home and neighborhood school; and (2) increase African American, Black, Biracial and Multiracial student engagement in before/after school activities. Through these actions, Bars to Bridges promotes regular and consistent school attendance and increases positive educational transitions and outcomes.

The focus population for the Bars to Bridges Project is detained African American, Black and Biracial and Multiracial students ages 11-25 attending the following Multnomah Education Service District sites:
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• Donald E. Long, aka DEL (ages 11-18)
• Yamhill Juvenile Detention (ages 11-18)
• Multnomah County Detention Center and Multnomah County Inverness Jail (18-21)
• Linn-Benton Juvenile Detention School Program (ages 12-18)
• Three Lakes High School at Oak Creek (ages 12-24)
• Riverside High School at Oak Creek (ages 12-24)
• Ocean Dunes High School at Camp Florence (ages 12-24)

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As soon as a student in this population enters one of our sites, a trained Transition Specialist is assigned to the student and stays with the student as the student goes through various moves and/or transitions. This continuity of support by one Transition Specialist allows for positive and trust-based relationships to develop between the Transition Specialist, the student, the student’s family and other involved adults, which in turn helps with meeting the goals of the project.

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Project Background

The Bars to Bridges Project Grant is intended to address key objectives of the African American/Black Student Success Plan to help actuate its mission.

The state awarded Bars to Bridges its first grant in 2016 with the directive to provide transitional services for African American, Black, Biracial and Multiracial​ students, with the focus of increasing school and before/after school activity engagement, supporting transitions, supporting culturally responsive practices and increasing attendance in post-secondary schools.

In 2015, the Oregon Legislature enacted House Bill 2016, which directed the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) to develop and implement a statewide education plan for African American/Black students who are in early childhood through post-secondary education programs.

​The African American / Black Student Success Plan Grant supports a vision that addresses the following project success measures:
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• Decrease the disproportionate rate of disciplinary incidents
• Increase parental engagement
• Increase the engagement of students in educational activities before and after regular school hours
• Increase early childhood and kindergarten readiness
• Improve literacy and numeracy levels between kindergarten and grade three
• Support student transitions to middle school and through the middle and high school grades to maintain and improve academic performance
• Support culturally responsive pedagogy and practices from early childhood through post-secondary education
• Support the development of culturally responsive curricula from early childhood through post-secondary education
• Increase attendance of students in community colleges and professional certification programs
• Increase attendance of students in four-year post-secondary institutions of education
• Increase the number of state agencies and stakeholders to leverage financial resources to sustain and advance the work of the plan