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.
How Transition Students Fund Their Dreams
Understanding the Three Parts of Financial Planning What happens to a three-legged stool when one leg is wobbly? Well, you sure can’t rely on that stool to hold you up! A solid platform needs three sturdy legs to function well. Creating a well-constructed financial...
Are You Ready to Drive?
How to start learning the rules of the road Transition students set a lot of goals for themselves. They work on gaining job skills, figuring out public transportation, maybe even learning to cook! For many students, the list also includes passing the driver permit...
Get Cooking!
Tips on success in the kitchen for teens with disabilities. How do you make a perfect grilled cheese sandwich? Ask Alexis Daniels, because she has it dialed. Alexis, age 17, is a junior at Bend High School, and she plans to continue her education in a...
Making Youth Voices Heard in Oregon
Isaac Shannon and the SRC Youth Council Isaac Shannon has been advocating for education almost as long as he has been a student. Growing up in San Diego, he learned to speak up about adjusting his IEP and participate in traditional classrooms. After moving to Bend...
Are you ready for a grown-up doctor?
Tips for graduating from a pediatrician to a primary care physician for adults. For Dr. Brenna Lewis, helping her patients switch to a different doctor is a bittersweet experience. Lewis is a pediatrician at Mosaic Medical in Bend. She cares for children from birth...
Virtual job club reaches students statewide
Last month, 149 transition students across the state of Oregon came together virtually to learn what’s it like to work at a Panda Express restaurant. Through videos and online conferencing, they got a glimpse into a day in the life of a Panda Express employee. The...
Mark your calendar for the Oregon Statewide Transition Conference 2021
Five reasons to tune in to our favorite annual conference. Do you look forward to the Oregon Statewide Transition Conference as much as we do? Every spring, the OSTC brings together students, teachers, parents, caregivers, job coaches and other professionals...
Transition students: Looking for the next step?
Heart of Oregon's Americorps program may be right for you! Now that we’ve settled into the new year, many transition students are starting to think about what their next step might be. What happens after graduation? A new job or internship? College classes at COCC?...
Feeling Uncertain about the Future? This Framework Can Help
An Interview with Nick Kaasa, Self-Advocacy Consultant Making decisions can be difficult. Whether the problem is large (should I buy a car?) or small (what should I cook for dinner?) working out the best choice can feel overwhelming. Sometimes there are too many...
Start the New Year Strong and Hopeful
5 resources for support in 2021 One thing we can all agree on is that 2020 was a tough year. Between virtual learning, social distancing, risks of getting sick, and losing job opportunities, many transition students and their families experienced setbacks and...
Five Ways to Make Virtual Meetings More Meaningful
This holiday season, let’s be grateful for technology For most of us, this has been a year of challenges—and a year of finding silver linings, too. One challenge has been learning to communicate through screens instead of in-person. That process was often frustrating...
Success Story: Focus on the Future, with Nick Linn
When Nick Linn signed up for the Digital Photography and Yearbook classes as a high school student, he didn’t know they would make such an impact on his life. He learned about cameras and how to use different functions, and he also learned that he really enjoyed...
Preparing for Emergencies: Don’t Be Stressed – Be Ready!
When is the right time to prepare for an emergency? The best answer is to be ready before the emergency takes place. This summer’s wildfires reminded us how important it is to be ready for an emergency. Living under smokey skies and watching the news was scary and...
Are You a Transit-Smart Transition Student?
How well do you know our transit system in Central Oregon? Take our quiz and find out! Jobs, Internships, college classes…these are exciting opportunities for transition students! For many young adults with disabilities, learning to use public transportation is a key...
Having a ball with virtual speech therapy
"George Cocores and Alicia Fox, with the Early Intervention Evaluation Team, spent some time with our grandson for speech concerns back in July. Due to COVID, the entire evaluation was virtual. When they determined Henry could benefit from speech therapy, I wondered...
Success Story: Staying on the BrightSide, with Luke Johnson
Every work experience helps students figure out what kind of employment could be a good fit for them—whether its job shadowing, interning, volunteering. Just ask Luke Johnson, who has recently returned to a volunteer work experience that was interrupted by the COVID...
Central Oregon rallies around families to address pandemic school aged child care crisis
September 22, 2020 Central Oregon rallies around families to address pandemic school aged child care crisis Regional partners identify short-term school aged child care solution, Better Together secures initial $750,000 Rapid response to support local families In a...
Transition Students: Are you ready to VOTE this November?
Five FAQs about voting in Oregon What makes this year’s election so special for transition students? For most students in Central Oregon’s transition programs and coops, this will be their first chance to vote in a national election. Most of our students range from 18...