Deschutes River High School Offers Students Hands-On Career Training

Bend, Ore. (KTVZ) --- Deschutes River High School in Bend is expanding education beyond traditional classrooms by offering four vocational tracks that link academic instruction directly with professional environments. The school's career technical education curriculum covers business, science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), construction and medicine.

The career-focused tracks provide students with practical training and specialized instruction throughout their high school studies. As the school builds its inaugural graduating class, both faculty and students are working to establish the educational culture and career pathways offered at the institution.

Lakisha Clark, principal of Deschutes River High School, detailed the school's career technical education options. “We have four CTE programs here, Career Technical Education. One is our business program... We also have a STEM engineering program...” Clark said.

Students participating in the medical track receive practical exposure to the health care field. Michaela, a student at Deschutes River High School, is enrolled in the medical academy and plans to shadow working professionals. “I'm part of a medical academy, which means I'll be able to actually do rotations next trimester. So that's where we go in job shadow, like actual doctors, vets and people like that,” Michaela said. She noted that experiencing specific career branches helped her focus on hospice nursing rather than registered nursing, adding, “I think it's a lot more helpful because you get to see through these pathways... There's so many wider branches between those. And so I was able to like look more into like hospice nursing instead of like registered nursing.”

Other students cited both the specialized career focus and school culture as key factors in their education. Ashlyn, another student at Deschutes River High School, chose to remain at the school due to its supportive environment and academic tracks. “I decided to stay at our school because we have a really good community here... And then I also know that we were continuing to do academies, which are like specific career paths and I'm really interested in going into medicine,” Ashlyn said.

Clark emphasized that the school's culture aims to empower students across all programs. “It's building leaders, building the idea that every single one of us can lead. That's the idea of crew. Like the L motto is we are crew, not passengers. And that is about taking ownership of our path, our education, our future,” Clark said.

School administrators indicate that families interested in attending Deschutes River High School can participate in winter information sessions prior to the enrollment lottery for the 2027-28 academic year.