Pathfinder Academy is an accredited alternative school with a mission to provide a safe educational environment in which parenting youth can pursue autonomy and growth by prioritizing education, family and community. Pathfinder Academy aligns its curriculum and teaching goals with Portland Public Schools (PPS), Oregon Department of Education and the National Association of Accredited Schools. The program began with funding from PPS in 1999, and is currently funded with a contract with PPS and a generous grant from the Oregon Community Foundation.

Pathfinder Academy takes seriously the need to minimize barriers for parenting students by providing a flexible education program and wrap-around services:

• Bilingual GED instruction, English as a Second Language and high school credit recovery
• Parenting Inside Out
• Crisis counseling, case management, on-site DHS services
• Employment readiness, post-secondary transition services, career development

Nationally, only 40 percent of teen mothers graduate from high school. Research closely links teen parenthood to negative consequences for parents and their children: Teen mothers are more likely to drop out of school, remain unmarried, and live in poverty; their children are more likely to be born underweight, grow up poor, live in single-parent households, experience abuse and neglect, and enter the child welfare system. Statistically, the leading predictor of teen parenthood and incarceration is the age and education level of a child’s mother. If young parents can finish high school, their opportunities for overall lifetime income and related stability increase dramatically.

For Programming and Referral information please contact us at:
Phone: 503-307-2270
Fax: 503-286-0325
info@thePathfinderAcademy.org