THE SEI ACADEMY

What is the SEI Academy?
The SEI Academy is a grades 6-8 public charter school dedicated to helping all students realize their full academic and personal potential. The school is founded on the principles of integrity and respect and the SEI tenet that every child will be successful. The SEI Academy opened on September 8, 2004 and added a class each year to include its full complement of sixth, seventh, and eighth grade classes in September 2006. The SEI Academy follows the Portland Public Schools calendar.

What’s different about the SEI Academy?
- All students are known well by teachers and staff in a small school environment.
- All students participate in SEI’s wide array of electives including performing arts, health/physical education, service learning, Spanish, life skills, and computer technology.
- All students have an Individual Success Plan and an Advisor/Coordinator who helps each student reach his/her academic, social, and personal goals.
- All students wear uniforms.
- All students participate in an Advisory class to foster and strengthen relationships.
- All classes are designed to allow for integrated curriculum & multiple instruction styles.

What is a public charter school?
A charter school is a public school that operates under a written agreement (a charter) between a local school board (Portland Public Schools) and charter school developers (Self Enhancement Inc./SEI). The purpose of the 1999 Charter School Legislation Act is to encourage the creation of innovative and more flexible ways of educating children within the public school system. Student enrollment is determined through an open lottery process.

What is SEI Academy’s philosophy and curriculum?
The goal of the SEI Academy is for all students to meet and exceed the state’s 8th grade benchmarks and to prepare all participating students for success in high school. The SEI Academy provides a coherent, innovative, and culturally relevant curriculum, with a strong core emphasis on reading, mathematics, and writing, which are the gateways to success in any discipline, across academic content areas. The school also emphasizes character education and critical thinking skills by holding students accountable to the SEI Standards. Every student at the SEI Academy is known well by teachers and staff through small class sizes and the SEI Relationship Model in which every student develops an Individual Success Plan.

Who is eligible to attend the SEI Academy?
SEI students are selected through an open lottery process. Any child who lives within the Portland Public School District may enroll in the SEI lottery. No priorities are given except to children enrolled in the previous year, or to siblings. Students interested in applying to the SEI Academy should also register at another middle school since there will not likely be space for all applicants in the lottery.

How do you apply to become a student at the SEI Academy?
The SEI Academy is open to middle school students in the Portland Public School district. Parents of prospective students fill out applications at information sessions held each spring. Enrollment remains open until the class reaches 50 members. If there are more applications than openings, admission will be determined by the use of a State required lottery selecting applications of eligible candidates. According to state law, priority will be given to siblings of currently enrolled students.

Where is the SEI Academy?
The SEI Academy is located in the heart of Northeast Portland at the Center for Self Enhancement, a state of the art facility which offers six classrooms, a computer lab, library, cafeteria, auditorium, gymnasium, dance studio, recreation room, and meeting rooms. The Center for Self Enhancement is just one mile north of Legacy Emmanuel Hospital.

What is the history of the SEI Academy?Self Enhancement Incorporated (SEI) has been helping underserved students and families in North and Northeast Portland since 1981. SEI’s goal is to provide a safe environment where at-risk youth can develop the personal interests, academic and life skills, and meaningful relationships with peers and adults they will need to reach their full potential. SEI’s program is getting results. On average, 95% of SEI students graduate from high school and 80% go on to pursue higher education. These statistics are unheard of among similar low-income, minority youth populations.

The success of the program encouraged SEI’s Board of Directors and Executive Management Team to consider how the SEI model would apply to the school-day experience in a charter school environment. In February 2003, the Board of Education for Portland Public Schools approved SEI’s Charter School Proposal to create the SEI Academy. The Academy operates in partnership with Portland Public Schools, Oregon Department of Education, concerned parents, community members, and businesses.

For more information about the SEI Academy, contact Linda Harris at 503-249-1721, ext. 327, or click here.