Portland-area Adventist schools have formed a partnership called RockSolid Schools to work together for their mutual benefit.
A year ago Oregon Conference administrators, educational superintendents and principals from Hood View Jr. Academy, Portland Adventist Academy, Portland Adventist Elementary, Rivergate Adventist Elementary and Tualatin Valley Jr. Academy met to explore means of cooperation among the schools in the greater Portland area. The original group of schools later expanded to include Columbia Adventist Academy and Meadow Glade Adventist Elementary in Battle Ground, Wash., and Livingstone Adventist Academy in Salem, Ore.
Monte Knittel, Adventist Medical Center marketing director, met with the group and shared his vision for marketing. From that meeting, a joint commitment evolved to focus the group's efforts the first year on marketing their educational system.
A Web site, www.rocksolidschools.com, was created to provide information about each school, including direct links to each participating school's Web site. Next the group embarked on a joint “RockSolid Schools" radio advertising campaign on KEX-AM. They operated information booths at expos and had students carry a banner in the Portland Rose Festival children's parade.
As RockSolid Schools enters its second year, the focus will continue on marketing within local churches and the community. Committees are being formed to explore joint purchasing and fund raising for scholarships. As they explore new areas for cooperation, Portland-area schools will continue to work cooperatively in an effort to introduce Christ into the education of our children.
Katie Peters (left) and Mackenzie Krebs display the RockSolid Schools banner that was featured in the Portland Rose Festival children's parade.
