An estimated 2,000 babies, toddlers and preschoolers will be evaluated annually to determine whether they qualify for special education services. Hundreds of children will attend special education preschool programs. Still more babies, toddlers and their parents and caregivers will attend playgroups and receive coaching and other early intervention services.  

We will also work with local community partners to provide inclusive preschool and early learning opportunities. This partnership helps meet the growing need for reliable, high-quality child care in our region while offering children with disabilities a chance to interact and learn from typically developing peers.

On Dec. 11, our NWRESD board approved “antkwak Early Learning Center” as the name of our newest facility. antkwak (listen to the pronunciation), means frog in the Northern Kalapuya (Tualatin) language and pays homage to Aloclek Drive, the street where the facility is located. The antkwak name, which is transcribed in lowercase, came to us through an engagement process with the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, including linguistic and historical experts.

During the board meeting, Dorian Russell, the Hillsboro board representative said:

“Tremendous kudos for your government relations and community engagement approach. It makes me proud that your staff respected tribal sovereignty in the way that you engaged with the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde and deferred to their expertise and history. I also appreciate that this district engaged with other forms of government, like the City. I know that many folks have done a tremendous amount of community engagement at the City in terms of their street naming program so I appreciated that you didn’t overburden our shared families…I just have so much gratitude and know that this is going to have a really positive impact in the community that raised me and hopefully for seven more generations of children to come, so thank you.” 

Aloclek Drive was named by Mas Tomita, departed Epson Portland president. In Tomita’s Japanese culture, there is a parable of a frog who struggles to leap higher and higher toward its goal. By never giving up, the frog eventually achieves success. In a community-sourced Kalapuyan dictionary, “loq leq”  translates to bullfrog, though this dictionary was not created by linguists and draws from several dialects spoken outside of our region.

We will schedule a name dedication ceremony and soft opening for May when we can share more about the Tualatin tribal history and welcome families into the space.

antkwak will be home to several teams of specialists who provide a variety of services to children, families and early childhood professionals. 

These include:

• Evaluating babies, toddlers and preschoolers to determine whether they are eligible for special education services
• Providing early intervention services to babies and toddlers ages birth to 3 with developmental delays using a caregiver coaching model.
• Offering specialized preschool experiences to children with disabilities from ages 3-5 so they are prepared for kindergarten and beyond
• Working with preschool partners to ensure children with disabilities have the support they need to thrive in their preschools
• Providing children with disabilities from ages 3-5 with an opportunity to interact with and learn alongside typically developing peers in an inclusive classroom
• Increasing the number of child care slots in Washington County, which has just over one opening for every two children in the county. 

 
Office-based staff for the Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education teams will also be based at the center. 

About 130 staff staff members—including our evaluation team, staff who provide special education services for children under five from western Washington County, and other early learning administrative positions—will be based at the new center. Staff who are currently working at two locations in Hillsboro will transition to the new location this spring and summer. About 65 staff from our Washington Service Center and 65 staff from our Hillsboro Early Childhood Center will eventually move to the new site. 

The two-story building was built a little over 20 years ago. With input from dozens of staff members, community partners and families, the space has been redesigned by local architects to meet the needs of the diverse people it will serve. The planning committee met with families and community partners who participate in our local interagency coordinating council about the plans for the new building. We also consulted with sustainability and accessibility architects and early childhood specialists to ensure the space meets the needs of people with various disabilities and sensory needs.

The facility is nearly 50,000 square-feet and will include 11 classrooms all with natural light, a large assessment center and professional learning spaces for early care professionals. The theme reflects the Pacific Northwest and will include colors and tones reminiscent of the forests, rivers and mountains of our region.  

Structural upgrades will include:

• a new heating, ventilation and air conditioning system
• new wiring, plumbing and interior construction
• an updated roof
• new landscaping 
• outdoor and indoor play areas including playground equipment 
• a seismic retrofit so the facility is safer during an earthquake
• a new stormwater system

 

Great care has been taken with the design, including:

• making classrooms large so children have ample space to move around and explore.
• ensuring all classrooms are on the ground floor.
• installing child-sized toilets and multiple sinks in every classroom, reducing the need for children to make additional transitions, leave class or wait in the hallway.
• installing dimmable lighting in every classroom to accommodate various sensory needs.
• naming classroom spaces after oceanic and land animals native to our region. Examples of class names include the tufted puffins, river otters, gray whales, owlets, hummingbirds and black bears.
• selecting outdoor playground equipment that mirrors what families would find in public spaces, enabling children to gain the skills needed to explore local playgrounds.
• constructing indoor play spaces with safe flooring, appropriate padding and noise reduction so children get their wiggles out regardless of the weather.

We will open our doors to staff and families starting this spring and summer. Staff who are currently based at the Washington Service Center will make the move in late March and begin working there soon after. Staff who are currently based at the Hillsboro Early Childhood Center will transition about four months later in July of 2025. 

We will also welcome families starting in April and will slowly expand our services over several months:

• Families will begin receiving evaluations at antkwak in early April 2025
• Children who come in for Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education services will transition to receiving those services at this site starting in July of 2025 
• Regional early care professionals will begin attending meetings and professional learning starting in mid-April 

For years, staff based at the Hillsboro Early Childhood Center have voiced concerns about the current location – limited parking and with it access issues, challenges conducting business effectively after outgrowing the space, and safety concerns. In 2022, the idea for a new facility entered the realm of possibility when we received pandemic relief funds. In January of 2023 our board passed a resolution authorizing the purchase of a new building. In June of 2023, we closed on the property at 3030 NE Aloclek Drive in Hillsboro.  

Since closing on the property, we convened various groups to move the project forward. The planning committee includes several NWRESD staff members from our early learning, technology and facilities teams. 

This group has coordinated the work with:

• Wenaha Group, a Washington State-based and Native American-owned construction management and consulting firm
• Opsis Architects, a Portland-based architectural group 
• INLINE Construction, an Aloha-based construction firm 

 

During that time, the planning committee:

• attended multiple listening sessions with NWRESD staff and reviewed requests weekly to ensure ideas were considered and implemented
• consulted with community members and families from our Early Learning Advisory Committee
• coordinated with the architectural firm to ensure the space meets accessibility/ADA requirements and would reflect the needs of the diverse people we work with
  

The new building is located near US-26 Exit 62/Cornelius Pass and abuts a popular cycling and pedestrian path called the Rock Creek Trail. It is located about .2 miles from a TriMet bus stop and 5 bus stops away from a red/blue Max line. 

It has nearly 250 more parking spaces, reducing the need for families to spend time searching for parking. It also includes quadruple the number of wheelchair accessible spots. Additionally, the new location enables us to separate car and bus parking, which greatly reduces safety issues and aligns with how school districts organize bus and car drop-offs and pick-ups. 

The new antkwak Early Childhood Center is located near the intersection of Cornell and Cornelius Pass roads. 

The change in location will mean that some children are closer to the program while others are farther away. School districts will continue to provide transportation for students who are receiving early childhood special education services. 

The estimated travel times for the communities served by this program (excluding Hillsboro where the facility is located) are below: 

• Banks is about 13 miles from the new location, which is 16 minutes away by car (more by school bus depending on the route). This is the same distance as the previous location.
• Forest Grove is 11 miles away, which is 24 minutes away by car (more by school bus depending on the route). This is a change of about +4 miles or 10 additional minutes. 
• Gaston is 17 miles away, which takes about 28 minutes by car (more by school bus depending on the route). This is a change of +5 miles or 9 additional minutes. 
  

Yes, we will host a dedication ceremony and soft opening at the new space in May. We’ll share more details when we know the date. This event will be open to families, partners and the public. Attendees will have an opportunity to preview the new space and hear from the people who have been involved in making it a reality. 

Our budget landscape put us in a good position to make this purchase in 2023. The ESD had just paid off our debt on the 30-year loan for our Washington Service Center in Hillsboro – a facility funded through general fund dollars even while housing employees from several contract and grant-funded services such as EI/ECSE. This made it possible for us to hold a public bond sale and raise enough capital to make this purchase. The ESD will pay this debt off over time as documented in our adopted budget’s debt service fund. 

Second, we received federal money during the COVID-19 pandemic through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) fund and committed a portion of that money to purchase and renovate this building. Given that this was one-time unsustained funding, our board and leadership team determined it would be wiser to prioritize this investment over new staff positions. The Oregon Department of Education approved our use of ESSER funds for this purpose. 

Further, the state had been increasing investments in EI/ECSE thanks to the passage of the Student Success Act. Revenue created through Student Success Act legislation was supposed to provide an infusion of new resources, not replace existing state funds in the program. Unfortunately, after a period of positive growth, funding slid. (view the chart showing revenue over time on the second page of the one-pager we are using to advocate for this program)

Even still, facilities costs do not play a significant role in the overall budget compared to staffing costs – 89% of the EI/ECSE budget is personnel. In response to the EI/ECSE state funding shortfall, the ESD transferred $3.3 million from general funds and other grants to backfill the program and new facility costs. In the future, the EI/ECSE contract will pay rent as it does in other ESD facilities.