Adams High School (Portland, Oregon)

John Adams High School
Location
Portland, Oregon, Multnomah County 97218 United States
Information
Type	Public high school
Opened	1969
Closed	1981
School district	Portland Public Schools

John Adams High School was a public high school in Portland, Oregon, United States, managed by Portland Public Schools (PPS). Located at 5700 N.E. 39th Avenue, the school opened in 1969. Its curriculum, based on ES-70 and further developed by students and faculty at Harvard Graduate School of Education, had a unique and sometimes controversial approach to secondary education. The school was organized into four different sub-schools, or "houses", each with a multiple-discipline and general education focus. Students were given the choice of selecting elective classes and were also offered the opportunity to gain educational experiences outside of the classroom. As student enrollment fell, the school closed in 1981.

In 1983, Whitaker Middle School moved to the former Adams building from another location. However, the building, then referred to by PPS as the Whitaker-Adams site, closed again in mid-2001, with Whitaker students moved to two other facilities, one of which was Whitaker's original location at 5135 N.E. Columbia Blvd., referred to as the Whitaker-Lakeside site (which closed again in June 2005, the property sold by PPS to the Native American Youth and Family Center, or NAYA). In 2003, the vacant Whitaker-Adams campus, on 39th Avenue, was used in the filming of the movie, Elephant.

The entire school campus eventually became contaminated with toxic black mold and radon gas. It was subsequently demolished in 2007, and currently is site is currently empty lot. However, the original track and field remains and is still in use.