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: Finding a job that helps people, with Evelyn Zaragoza
Every step brought her closer to her goal “The best part of my job is knowing that I make other people’s days better,” said Evelyn Zaragoza. Zaragoza, age 21, works in cleaning at the Asante medical office building in White City, Oregon. She enjoys her job,...
Success Story: Finding strength and focus, with Travis Flores
Meeting challenges and finding new opportunities Travis Flores didn’t have high expectations when he attended a tour of Rogue Community College (RCC). When he agreed to join the tour, he thought they’d probably spend a lot of time on things that didn’t interest him....
Transition Students Get Creative at Shark Tank Student Summit
Transition students get creative in Eastern Oregon What kind of transition students would jump into a tank full of sharks? Any creative, fun student who likes to invent things, that’s who! Last spring, 32 transition students from throughout Eastern Oregon came...
Opportunities Abound at Job Fairs in Oregon
Three reasons transition students should attend If you thought job fairs were only for students ready for full-time careers, you might be missing out on a world of opportunities. All over Oregon, job fairs and career expos help transition students gain a better...
Transforming Family Engagement
In 2019 Oregon passed the Student Success Act, which allocates $1 billion a year to early learning and K–12 education. This legislation also requires districts to create family and community engagement initiatives in their plans for spending these funds. The Southern...
“Peer 2 Peer” helps transition students gain confidence
Making new work experiences feel friendlier For Ashlee Everett and Jenna Norstadt, learning how to manage a new job happens best when you start as a team. Last spring, the pair began working at a local retirement home. Their duties started with cleaning and helping in...
How to be a good roommate
You’re ready to live independently, but are you ready for a roommate? Questions to discuss before you share a house What do Bert and Ernie, the Golden Girls, and the cast of Friends have in common? They all were roommates, at least on television. These characters...
Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation grants $13,500 to Healthy Families of the High Desert
Healthy Families of the High Desert has been awarded a $13,500 grant from Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation to support the basic needs of families in Deschutes County. The funding will help families get baby birth certificates, pay fines, purchase hygiene items, car...
HDESD Job Fair
Shell Gas – an Employment First Award Winning Employer!
Shell Gas in Bend: Committed to Employing People of Different Abilities Because everyone deserves a chance When you ask Alan Perez what he likes most about working at the Shell station on highway 20 in Bend, he’ll tell you he likes stocking shelves and making things...
The National Deaf Center Engage for Change Initiative
Closing the education and employment gap Did you know that more than 3% of Oregonians are deaf? How about the fact that 57% of Oregon’s deaf population attends some college, compared to the nationwide average of 49%? Or that only 46% of deaf Oregonians are employed,...
In May, young Deaf/hard of hearing (DHH) students of Central Oregon had the opportunity to visit a farm in Madras, Oregon. Once they arrived there were introductions and ice breakers to encourage the students to socialize. They went on a scavenger hunt around...
Records Request
Former students served by the High Desert ESD may request their records. Records will remain confidentially filed until the age of 26 for the Central Oregon Regional Program and until the age of 22 for the Early Childhood Program, at which time they will be destroyed....
What can you learn on a college tour?
Every student discovers something different. Transition and high school students have a lot of questions when it comes to thinking about college. What should I study? Will I get lost between the student center and the library? What’s it like to live in a dorm room?...
HDESD celebrates Grow Your Own/Teacher Pathways grant candidates
Photo: Gabriela Peden, Olivia Servantes and Janae Adams With support from The Oregon Department of Education and the Educator Advancement Council, 30 Central Oregon candidates have taken steps towards obtaining or advancing their degrees in education. The Grow Your...
Four employment questions you should be asking…
And a few resources for finding answers. Everyone has heard that there is no such thing as a dumb question. If one person is wondering about something, there must be other people unsure about the same thing, right? But most of us have questions we hesitate to ask,...
Bend Autism program designated as training site for Oregon Educators
High Desert Education Service District’s Bridges program has been designated as an autism training site for educators statewide. A partnership with Bend-La Pine Schools, Bridges is a specialized classroom, housed at Lava Ridge Elementary School, that provides...
Brewing up business skills in La Grande
Students stay energized at Taste of the Tiger Coffee Kiosk Where can you find a student-run business that combines customer service, managing payments, inventory control and a perfect hot mocha with extra whip cream? In LaGrande, Oregon, at the Taste of the Tiger...