Crater High School is a finalist for the next round of grants from the Oregon Small Schools Initiative.

The initiative, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Meyer Memorial Trust, aims to boost student achievement by reforming large, comprehensive high schools.

Crater is one of 10 schools statewide seeking money in a second — and final — round of grants to transform large schools into clusters of small learning communities, OSSI Director Karen Phillips said.

In the first round of grants last spring, North and South Medford high schools each got money — $1.4 million for North and $1.28 million for South — from the program to remake each campus into a group of small schools over the next four years.

Evaluation teams will visit seven second-round finalists, including Crater, and four winners will be announced in April, Phillips said.

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"We’re very hopeful that we will get to keep moving forward with this opportunity," Crater Principal Kirk Gibson said.

An evaluation team will meet with teachers, administrators and students at Crater today and Friday to determine whether the school gets OSSI funding, he said.

"We are very excited," Gibson said.

The school wants to build on its school-within-a-school program that groups juniors and seniors with similar interests, such as business or social services, for integrated, half-day classes. The program also features internships that link students with the community.

Crater’s program illustrates some of what OSSI is looking for, including grouping teachers and students in learning communities based on interests and working with the community to prepare students for life after high school, Phillips said

"That’s a solid background that shows Crater may understand how this process might work," she said, noting that all seven finalists show a readiness to commit to reconfiguration.

In addition to providing funds to help large schools reorganize as several small schools, OSSI provides money for districts to start new small schools. Last fall, Eagle Point School District got $500,000 to start a small, arts-centered magnet school. This spring, the initiative will accept a second round of applications for start-up schools, with winners announced in the fall, Phillips said.

In all, the initiative will distribute $25 million to help schools become more focused, personalized and rigorous.

Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485, or e-mail aburke@mailtribune.com