From the Superintendent
Our mission is to improve student outcomes with excellence, equity, and efficiency. Implement best practices for educators gleaned from investigation, innovation, and incubation of ideas and efforts from the public and private sectors.
Success story: When work makes you happy, with Andrew Withrow
Ask Andrew Withrow what he likes best about his job at Bigfoot Beverages, and he’ll tell you that there are a lot of things he likes. But most of all, he’ll answer that “Work makes me happy.” Withrow, age 19, is a student at the Transition Co-op in Bend. He works...
New Tools to Identify Mental Health Disorders
How local transition students can help Spend time with any teenager, whether they are neurotypical or have a disability, and you’ll soon learn that mood swings are normal. But in some young adults, extreme moods or behaviors can signal a mental health problem that...
Celebrating a Year of Employment
Not many teenagers can say they’ve stayed at one job for an entire year. Sticking with a job takes persistence, dedication, and problem-solving. Marissa Cross, age 19, is one of those teens. Cross (pictured right with transition teacher Ken Thorp) is a transition...
Camp LEAD: A summer work experience like no other
Transition students in Central Oregon have many opportunities to build their employment skills. Students can try job shadowing, internships, or visiting different kinds of businesses through a job club or on their own time. Many of these experiences focus on stores or...
Success story: Taking the initiative, with Daisy Robison
How does a student start making their future dreams come true? Taking that first step is the key, and then one thing will lead to another. Just ask Daisy Robison, a senior at Crook County High School. She took the initiative to apply for a job at Dominos Pizza in...
ID cards. What’s in your wallet?
Why all students need a state ID card before age 18 Can you guess what these common activities have in common? Opening a bank account Buying a fishing license Going to a doctor appointment To do any of the tasks above, you need to show a state-issued identification...
Watch our 2019 highlights video showcasing Central Oregon transition and life skills students.
Congratulations to all of the young adults who are working towards independence, confidence and empowerment!
Student Summits: A new experience for Transition Students
If you were given a chance to travel across the state, and spend three days building job skills and meeting new people, would you go? This past October, 30 transition students from school districts around Oregon were offered an opportunity to be part of a Statewide...
The Sky’s the Limit
Making air travel easier for all In most cases, a scheduled flight that never actually takes off might cause concern. But that exact event happened at the Redmond airport on October 19th, 2019, and the passengers considered it a big success. The Redmond Airport...
ABLE To Save!
A new financial tool for people with IDD. Just a few years ago, families of a child with IDD faced some real challenges when it came to saving money for their child’s future. The problem was that saving money beyond a certain point could put their child’s benefits at...
Hands-on learning
Elementary school teachers and instructional coaches from Redmond, Culver and Sisters school districts gathered at Central Oregon Community College in Redmond for hands-on computational thinking learning. SAM Labs instructors were on site to lead K-8 teachers through...
Building a Culture of Caring for Students with Trauma
High Desert Education Service District recently hired staff for three new positions that will forward the idea of a “Culture of Care” across Central Oregon. The Culture of Care is an initiative of Better Together that aims to equip adults in schools with information...
Every Day Matters
Shout out to Sage Elementary School, from Redmond School District, for kicking off the year with the message that "Every Day Matters!" As students arrived for the first day of school, staff, including librarian Suzanne Yeakey pictured here, wore EDM t-shirts and...
AP Institute of the Cascades
Summer learning is in full swing at the 2019 AP Institute of the Cascades. With over 125 participants from 21 states, these teachers will spend four days learning Advanced Placement (AP) courses. The AP Institute offers a unique summer learning experience that...
Summer learning around the world
The Migrant Education Program celebrated another year of summer learning by four weeks of traveling around the world. The program has served 29 preschool, 108 elementary and 65 middle school students. During the summer learning program, students learned about...
Vision Adventure Day Camp
The HDESD Vision Team was excited to host its second annual Vision Adventure Day Camp on June 18-20, 2019. They partnered with Oregon Adaptive Sports and had a warm, fun-filled day at Prineville Reservoir. The students tried kayaking, paddle boarding and straddle...
Advocating for Students
Revamping a school starts at the top. But it also begins with small change. For teachers, educational assistants, counselors and students to feel like they can make a difference with their ideas, they need a leader who will support them. High Desert Education Service...
Learning to make stick figures dance by using code
Central Oregon STEM Hub invited Crook County Middle School Computer Science (CS) students to experience the coding of music and lights. Each student was given a doll part to code and then come together to make the dolls appear to be dancing to the music. This...