• Hood River County School District Commitment to Equity 

    Our Mission 

    Hood River County School District's mission is “Excellence. Every student. Every day.” In pursuit of this mission, the school district has made an investment to eliminate disparities and increase postsecondary enrollment in Hood River County through district-wide diversity, equity, and inclusion training.

    Patricia Ortega-Cooper, director of equity and family partnership, oversees this work. She began in this role in July 2018 after a four-year career as Wy’east Middle School assistant principal.

     Timeline of Notable Actions to Promote Equity

    • 2014 - Development of a strategic plan that included goals to ensure equity-based strategies to address gaps in achievement and access to opportunities in the school district.
    • 2015 - HRCSD leadership begins equity work by participating in ongoing professional development by the "District Equity Learning Team." 
    • 2016 - The school district begins use of a framework to hold all major decisions accountable to the HRCSD mission of “Excellence, Every Student, Every Day.” HRCSD leadership embarks on a year-long professional learning journey with the National Equity Project. The HRCSD board published "Safe and Welcoming Schools", a summary of board policies that ensure students feel safe at.
    • 2017 - District-wide learning begins. Administrators and school Leaders establish "School Equity Learning Teams" that engage in a year-long, school-based learning and understanding of equity-drive action. Their discourse was centered on eliminating the opportunity gaps and predictability of student progress by race. The board of directors also adopted an equity policy aimed at “eliminating historically predictable achievement disparities in our district” by engaging diverse communities and demonstrating high expectations for all students.  They also adopted Resolution #16 from 17/07: protecting undocumented students in our schools.
    • 2018 - The board accepts grant funds to support the creation of the “Equity and Family Partnerships Director” position. Equity Learning teams at all schools continue learning and begin to take increasing action to change the trajectory for many students.