History
The college was founded in 1961 as an adult education program for the local public school system, operating out of the former Failing Elementary School since 1959 and renamed Portland Community College in 1961. Voters approved the establishment of an independent district for the college in 1968. Amo DeBernardis (ca 1914-2010), former assistant superintendent of Portland Public Schools, was the founding president of the school, serving from 1961 to 1979.
In 1971 the Cascade Campus opened in North Portland, and the Rock Creek Campus in Washington County opened in 1976. The district passed a $374 million bond measure in 2008. PCC's $25 million Willow Creek Center opened in 2009 and earned a platinum LEED certification the next year. A new campus in Newberg, named Newberg Center, opened in October 2011, replacing a temporary arrangement in use for the 2010–11 school year, in which PCC courses were offered at the Chehalem Cultural Center. The new center's 13,000-square-foot (1,200 m2) building was reported as being predicted to earn platinum LEED certification.
Read more about this topic: Portland Community College
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