Chuck Ransom

Chuck Ransom spent almost 20 years with the Woodburn school district as a superintendent, curriculum director, and principal after starting as a Spanish teacher and soccer coach.

Mr. Ransom retired July 31, 2019. He served on the MPELH Board of Director’s since 2012 with his term ending June 30, 2019.

Chuck was ahead of his time in advocating for and supporting preschool programs as part of what Woodburn School District offers. In addition, Kindergarten has been full day long before it was a statewide approach.

During his time at Woodburn School District a dual language program was implemented and at that time was somewhat controversial. The idea was to expand the program to teach students in two languages, not just in the early years, but kindergarten through 12th grade. Ultimately, they become proficient in two languages (Spanish or Russian and English) by the time they graduate. (Some students graduate speaking and writing in all three.)

The dual language program has been actively duplicated by other school districts in the country. In Oregon, parents want to send their children to Woodburn schools so they will have the advantage of knowing two or three languages by graduation. The most important benefit is that students are graduating in record numbers and testing higher than their monolingual peers.

The Marion & Polk Early Learning Hub expresses our deepest gratitude to Superintendent Ransom for his hard work and dedication to improving the lives of children and families in Woodburn and in the entire Hub region. He will be greatly missed.