Moving to Bend-schools (La Pine, Amity: to rent, house, neighborhood)

[HB6159]

I'm new to this site but everyone seems so helpful. My family is moving to Bend in several months. We are trying to figure out the school situation. My husband and I have an almost 5 year old son and are interested in knowing what areas have the best schools. We are going to rent at first to get a feel for what area we want to live in. Does anybody know about private schools? We are from north of Chicago and it is ridiculously competetive here to even find a regular old preschool. My son will be in kindergarten next fall. Any information is greatly appreciated.

[HB6159]

Hi. I just thought I'd ask again. Can anyone give me any information/opinions about schools in Bend? My son will be in kindergarten next fall. Thanks.

[Balco9]

Go to (broken link)...
type in Bend, Oregon and you can see all the good schools
and reviews from parents. You will most likely get better
infomation from that site than on here. Good luck to you...
I am also looking into relocating to Bend in the Spring. Let me
know what you think of Bend. Thank you.

[Boxsixpack]

Did you get any info on bend schools? I am moving to the northeast side because that is where my job will be. Like you I think it would be nice to get the opinons of people who live in Bend and have kid's that attend the schools.
I have four kid's. 9th,5th,k and pre-school.

[lnking]

Hi,

Both of my sons attend Cascades Academy in Bend(www.cascadesacademy.org) (broken link). It is an excellent school - it offers a creative and challenging curriculum and has absolutely wonderful teachers. My kids love it!

Good luck in your search for a school,

Lori

[Gary Auxier]

The public schools in Bend are good, above average I believe, but not great. The private schools here are not great either. I was with the Boy Scouts of America for 22 years and saw youth from both public and private schools, not much differance.

[Althea]

I live in Bend and have a 6 year old daughter who is in first grade at High Lakes. I haven't heard bad things about any of the schools here, just not great things. My daughter had a wonderful kindergarten year and is doing fine this year. I wish she was learning more, but that's just me.

I did a lot of research on the schools before I came here and had decided on Elk Meadows Elementary at first because it is a Love and Logic school. I wasn't able to find a house in that area, so my daughter goes to our neighborhood school and it is fine. High Lakes has a very strong PTA and a they promote the arts. The principal is great and the teachers are enthusiastic and motivated. There are just a lot of kids there. I just checked my school's report card for last year and there were 709 students enrolled for K-5. The school was built for 600. I don't have this year's enrollment but it has to be higher than for last year.

They will be building out the second half of Pine Lakes this year, and there are other schools waiting to be built, but it will take some time. At least 2 years. Jewell is the fastest growing school. There are 3 magnet schools, Highland, Westside Village and Amity. The lottery for each just ended on Friday the 23rd. I don't know much about the private schools but there are several, including a Montessori.

That is about all I know on schools here. We moved here before Kindergarten too, and I spent some time on the district website. I looked at the individual school sites for information and report cards.
http://www.bend.k12.or.us

Here are the report cards for Bend La Pine schools.
http://www.ode.state.or.us/data/reportcard/reports.aspx

I also have a helpful tool for finding property by school boundaries.

Good luck!