Phoenix Charter School of Roseburg began in 1981 as an idea in the minds of two GED teachers at Umpqua Community College, seeking support for students with learning disabilities. Now, as the school celebrates its 35th year, we reflect on the spark where Phoenix began.  Phoenix was built on the notion that students who struggled with the mainstream learning system were still reachable. Maybe because the three people who helped launched Phoenix school were dyslexic themselves. Tommy Neyhart, Vicki Morgan-Nunenkamp and Jacie Pratt developed the concept of an alternative school in Roseburg while sitting on a curb in an historic Roseburg [...]

Phoenix Charter School of Roseburg began as an idea in the minds of two teachers at Umpqua Community College, seeking support for students with learning disabilities. Now, as the school celebrates 35 years in Roseburg, we reflect on the spark where Phoenix began. Phoenix was built on the notion that students who struggled with the mainstream learning system were still reachable. Maybe because the three people who helped launched Phoenix school were dyslexic themselves. Tommy Neyhart, Vicki Morgan-Nunenkamp and Jacie Pratt developed the concept of an alternative school in Roseburg while sitting on a curb in an historic Roseburg neighborhood and then worked [...]

Phoenix Charter School of Roseburg began as an idea in the minds of two teachers at Umpqua Community College, seeking support for students with learning disabilities. Now, as the school celebrates 35 years in Roseburg, we reflect on the spark where Phoenix began. Sometimes innovative ideas are born outside of boardrooms and laboratories. In the story of Phoenix Charter School of Roseburg, a nontraditional school had a very nontraditional start. In 1981, UCC GED instructors Tommy Neyhart and Vicki Morgan-Nunenkamp were noting how many kids were failing middle school and high school because they were alternative learners. Typical classroom methods didn’t [...]