Terrance Ross, voted The Oregonian Class 5A player of the year in boys basketball after helping lead Jefferson to the 2008 OSAA championship, began classes across the country in Maryland on Monday.
Ross has transferred to Montrose Christian, a private school with a high-profile basketball team, in Rockville, Md.
Marcine Ross, Terrance's mother, said Tuesday she agreed to send her son east because she was concerned that he was not thriving academically at Jefferson.
"I didn't want him to fall behind,"
Marcine Ross said.
Montrose Christian's Web site lists annual high school tuition as $8,700. Marcine Ross said a financial aid package is being worked out and the Ross family is making sacrifices to send her son to the school.
Ross has been rated a top-50 player in the high school class of 2010 and has received recruiting interest from dozens of colleges.
His mother pulled him out of Jefferson after his freshman year and home-schooled him as a sophomore. He was eligible to participate for Jefferson, but Marcine Ross said she was having trouble getting the home-schooled credits accepted at the school.
"His parents made the choice that they felt was best for the family,"
Jefferson principal Cynthia Harris said. "If he chooses to come back, we'd welcome him back with open arms."
Terrance Ross has been in Maryland for two weeks, and his mother is confident that Montrose Christian will provide her son with the academic attention and help he needs to stay on track for college.
Marcine Ross said the departure of Jefferson coach Marshall Haskins to a new administrative role at Wilson High School was not a factor in the family's decison but that it "didn't help."
"Whenever you're rebuilding a program, there are a lot of unknowns,"
she said.
At Montrose Christian, where Kevin Durant -- a Seattle SuperSonics guard and the 2008 NBA rookie of the year -- spent his senior year and numerous other Division I players are basketball alumni, Marcine Ross said she believes her son would thrive.
"They showed an interest in helping him, which is the main reason I said 'Yes,'"
Marcine Ross said. "I know they're going to take care of him."
Harris, Jefferson's principal, believes that despite Ross' departure, the school works for students.
"My goal,"
Harris said, "is to have a good school with powerful athletics and strong academics."
Marcine Ross hasn't turned her back on Jefferson.
"We're still a big part of Jefferson,"
said Ross, who has a daughter in the Jefferson enrollment area. "I went to a meeting on Sunday with parents that were asking, 'How can we help Jefferson?'"
