Kairos: What's happened, and what's ahead?

KairosPDX is an education-focused non-profit attacking Portland’s persistent achievement and opportunity gaps. The Kairos program model presents the opportunity to close these gaps and serve as a beacon for policymakers and educators across the State of Oregon and beyond. Having started with only a charter and willpower to build a high-quality, trauma-informed school, Kairos now educates over 80 children across four grades and is on a path to serve 225 children per year over the next three years.

Impact of SVP’s Investment: What Have We Done, and What Is Ahead?

To date, our partnership has focused on building the infrastructure of this start-up charter school’s capacity so that it has a strong foundation for expanding its impact on young children.Over the last two years, Kairos has managed a steep growth trajectory, including the addition of new classrooms and grade levels, recruitment of new teachers and staff, an increase in the number of children and families served, and a visible and influential presence in advocacy and public policy development.With a strong foundation now established, Kairos is focusing strategic planning efforts on early childhood education programming and potential preschool models. SVP recently invested an additional $15,000 to support an Early Learning Partnership Coordinator position. This role will increase resources and community outreach for children and providers in the culturally-responsive early learning field.

SVP’s Total Kairos Investments to Date:

*For every dollar invested through SVP’s grants, Kairos receives an additional $9.02 through leveraged funds and volunteer talent hours.

In addition to SVP’s focus on non-profit capacity building, SVP seeks opportunities to leverage our social capital and influence. Most recently, SVP supported Kairos through political advocacy, when Portland Public Schools (PPS) planned to remove Kairos from its current home at Humboldt Elementary. As part of our advocacy on behalf of Kairos, SVP’s CEO Mark Holloway penned an open letter to the PPS new Superintendent, Guadalupe Guerrero, encouraging him to invest in Portland’s underserved children.