Pride Month is a meaningful opportunity for education leaders to integrate LGBTQ2SIA+ history and ongoing resilience with queer joy and celebration. Whether through a youth pride event, lavender graduation, pride spirit week, LGBTQ2SIA+ history display, or a rainbow family read-along, we stand with all Oregonians in honoring the ongoing contributions of LGBTQ2SIA+ people in Oregon communities.

Research affirms that LGBTQ+ students with more supportive educators, anti-bullying policies that explicitly mention sexual orientation and gender identity, LGBTQ+ inclusive learning, and GSA presence report a higher sense of belonging and higher GPAs.

More about Pride Month...

On June 19, 1865, Union troops reached Galveston Bay, Texas, to inform the enslaved African Americans there that they, along with the more than 250,000 other enslaved black people in the state, were freed by the Emancipation Proclamation. Since then, the date has been celebrated in the Black and African American communities as Juneteenth, first in Texas and then spreading across the country.

Clara Peoples is recognized as the “Mother of Juneteenth” in Oregon for bringing the celebration to Portland in 1945. The Oregon Legislature first recognized Juneteenth in 2001, declaring it “a day for celebration statewide of the dignity and freedom of all citizens.” Congress made Juneteenth a federal holiday in 2021 and Oregon followed suit the next year.

More about Juneteenth, including resources...

As Oregon’s kindergartners reach the first milestone in their academic journeys, Oregon State Treasurer Elizabeth Steiner MD and Oregon Department of Education Director Dr. Charlene Williams are offering applause – and promoting a $100 bonus to help them jumpstart savings toward their education dreams.

The state leaders met with a classroom of kindergarteners at Vose Elementary in Beaverton last month, where they announced a new congratulatory statewide “diploma” to celebrate kindergarten graduations across Oregon.

More about the kindergarten graduation event...

ODE is proud to announce the release of Version 3.0 of Generative Artificial Intelligence for K-12 Schools guidance in a new online format! We listened to Oregon educators and reviewed emerging research. The updated guidance takes a thoughtful, cautious, and human-centered approach. It emphasizes strong guardrails, student thinking, and local decision-making to encourage districts to evaluate if, when and how to use Generative AI in classrooms before adopting it.

To explore more, check out the Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) for K-12 Schools webpage. 

For questions, please email ODE.DigitalLearning@ode.oregon.gov.

What do you get when a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) site visit lands at a school that's getting its nutrition programs right? You get a really good lunch – and a really good reminder of why this work matters. 

April 20 - 24 was Every Kid Healthy Week, a national celebration of the connection between nutrition, physical activity, and student wellbeing. At the Oregon Department of Education (ODE), we marked it by showing up where the work is actually happening.

More about the visit...

The Oregon Department of Education’s School Safety and Emergency Management (SSEM) program recently hosted a comprehensive school reunification workshop in partnership with the Redmond Police Department, bringing together educators and community partners from across the state to strengthen emergency preparedness efforts.

Held on May 9, the workshop drew 78 participants representing 68 school districts, organizations, and agencies from 13 Oregon counties. The training focused on preparing school leaders and their community partners for one of the most challenging aspects of emergency response: safely reunifying students with their families following a disaster or critical incident.

More about the workshop...