Portland wants to place high-need special education students in their neighborhood schools. Can the district make it work?

Sitton Elementary School in North Portland

General education teacher MaryMargaret Fuller engages with a student with complex needs in her third grade classroom at Sitton Elementary School in North Portland. At left is paraeducator Sarah Barton. Fuller's classroom is on the leading edge of a push for neighborhood inclusion for special education students throughout the city.Beth Nakamura

In MaryMargaret Fuller’s classroom at Sitton Elementary School in Portland’s St. Johns neighborhood, all eyes are on the moon.

Or more precisely, on the space race and how the third graders feel about the 1960s battle to be the first nation to plant a flag on Earth’s nearest satellite.

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