Buckman Arts Focus Elementary School

The innovative arts-integrated curriculum at Buckman Arts Focus Elementary School nurtures and challenges the whole child—nourishing the intellectual, social, emotional, physical, and artistic development of each student. Buckman students achieve academic excellence as they develop a lifelong love of learning.

Through music, art, theatre, and creative movement, our award-winning teachers make classroom learning come alive. The school's highly trained arts specialists provide concentrated instruction in drama and music, fine art, and dance. The arts specialists also collaborate with the classroom teachers to integrate arts into the core curriculum, resulting in flexible and creative thinkers, ready to succeed in school and beyond. Buckman received a rating of Outstanding from the State of Oregon in 2009.

All students at Buckman participate in the arts program at the school. Unlike some magnet or focus-options schools, which operate using a «school-within-a-school» approach, Buckman's arts programs are structured to include every student in the building.Buckman is a neighborhood school, serving an essential educational function for children who live in inner southeast Portland. Buckman is also open for admission to all elementary students in Portland Public Schools, through the school district's transfer policy. The school welcomes students from all parts of the city, all ethnic groups, and all socioeconomic backgrounds. Download the Buckman 2010 Fact Sheet (PDF), for more information about Buckman.

What else is special about Buckman?

• Highly trained arts specialists (Visual Arts, Drama/Music, Dance), who teach weekly or semiweekly specialized classes in their art field
• Award-winning staff and instructors
• An average class size of 26-30
• Three full-day kindergarten classes
• Physical education
• Library with extensive collection, staffed by library assistant
• Buckman student chorus and dance groups
• After-school marimba classes taught by nationally known marimba musician
• On-site before and after-school care
• SUN (Schools Uniting Neighborhoods) program offering a wide variety of creative-based after-school activities and community events
• Indoor community swimming pool available to all classes; after-school swimming lessons and swim team offered through Portland Parks and Recreation
• SMART (Start Making a Reader Today) program
• Dedicated, creative parent volunteer community (thousands of volunteer hours logged yearly)
• Strong, active PTA and Local School Foundation
• Robust support from Portland community members, artists, musicians, and civic leaders

To learn more about Buckman's arts-integrated academic program, click here, or view this award-winning video about our drama-music program, featuring specialist Regina Pirruccello.

Additional questions? Contact us...