BEND, OR -- Bend-La Pine Schools is pushing forward with plans to open two small high schools in the fall. Realms High School and Skyline both have principals and a building.
Roger White is currently the principal at Realms Middle School; he’ll expand its “Expeditionary Learning” model as principal of Realms High School. He tells KBND News there will be "Lots and lots of opportunities for hands-on learning, both in the classroom and in the field." He says, "Students at Realms Middle School, and this will be true for students at Realms High School, as well, will have an opportunity to pursue lots of field work; hands-on activities where they’re taking content from their classroom studies and applying it in the real world."
Deputy Superintendent Jay Mathisen says Skyline will feature flexible schedules for students looking for something beyond the traditional 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. day, "Lots of opportunities for, in particular, older students to have internships for large chunks of their school week, where they’re earning high school credit; perhaps taking numbers of courses at our local college campuses while being high school students. So, we’re interested in flexibility, harnessing some blended learning or some online learning, mixing it with face-to-face."
Realms and Skyline will open together inside a facility on Northeast Brinson Boulevard. They’ll start with a combined enrollment of 200 ninth and 10th graders. While the programs will be in the same building, White says students will be separated, for the most part. "There will be an opportunity, especially early in the two schools’ development as they’re both really small schools, to pursue some shared, building-wide culture pieces that help students between the two programs understand each other and get to know each other; and also potentially some shared staffing for some of those specialty positions."
Bend-La Pine Schools will host an informational session for families interested in one or both schools. It begins Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at the district's admin. building in downtown Bend.
To hear our full conversation with Realms Principal Roger White and Dep. Superintendent Jay Mathisen, click HERE or visit our Podcast Page.
