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Herbicide Notice

The Pendleton School District Facilities will be applying an herbicide treatment across the district to all lawns, ornamentals, and sports fields the week of March 23-27, 2026.

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PELC Celebrates March Madness with Books

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College basketball teams and their fans across America were consumed by the March Madness basketball tournaments last month. But the Pendleton Early Learning Center was busy with its own March Madness!

For the fourth year in a row, the school staged its March Madness Book Battle, a competition to promote the love of books, reading and fun. The program is organized in much the same way as the big basketball competitions. First, the kindergarten teachers choose the Sweet Sixteen – 16 books they want to compete. Each classroom reads the books, then votes on which ones they like best, whittling down the 16 books to the Elite Eight.

Students in classrooms read the books again until they are down to the Final Four. Eventually, the competition comes down to two contenders. This year, they were Mortimer by Robert Munsch, about a boy who won’t be quiet and go to sleep, and Frankie by Mary Sullivan, about a new puppy who has to share with the dog already living in a house.

On the morning of Monday, April 7th, all classes read the two books for a final time and chose their champion. Then they waited for all the votes from all the classrooms to come in.

Teacher Rachele Johnson said the kids love getting to read two stories every single day, and reading the books repeatedly helps the students learn about intonation and punctuation. In the case of the Mortimer book, students were able to sing the song and thump their feet like the characters in the book.

“As teachers, we love to see their excitement about reading, and we get to read picture books that might not normally fit the themes we are doing,” Johnson said. Plus, teachers mix in math related to counting the votes and concepts like having your own opinion no matter what the group thinks, and having your favorite book.

So, who was the school’s March Madness Champion? It was Frankie by quite a lot of votes. It’s hard to compete with a story about a cute puppy.

 

Karen Demianew

Congratulations, Karen Demianew

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CONGRATULATIONS to Karen Demianew!!! She is the CTE Career Guidance Counselor of the year for the State of Oregon.Karen Demianew Karen Demianew

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Bus Routes 13 & 16 on April 10, 2025

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This morning, during bus route pick up and delivery, the driver of route 13 suffered a medical emergency. The driver was able to pull over safely, and Emergency Medical Services were contacted. Students were kept safe on the bus; a replacement driver was able to transport students to their schools. In a separate incident, route 16 was in an accident. The bus was rear-ended by a car. No student injuries occurred, and the students were safely moved to two different buses to transport them to their schools. We are grateful to the First Student drivers for keeping our students safe during these unfortunate events.

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McKay Students Artwork for District Art Show

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Students at McKay Creek Elementary have been creating artwork for the Pendleton School District Art Show in May 2025.

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Community Read-In at the PELC

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In early March, the Pendleton Early Learning Center celebrated its annual Community Read-In. More than 90 volunteers came to the school to read with the Kindergarten students. Volunteers included students from Sunridge Middle School, parents, grandparents, ALTRUSA members, law enforcement officers, and more!

 

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District Recommends New Sunridge Middle School Principal

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The Pendleton School District School Board will be asked at their next board meeting to approve the recommendation to hire Angie Horton to be the new principal of Sunridge Middle School, effective July 1st, 2025.

Horton is currently a principal in the Warrenton Hammond School District.  Horton has held Principal, Vice Principal, Behavior Support Classroom Teacher, and a 3rd Grade teacher positions in her district.  Before her time in Warrenton, she was a Child Treatment Specialist at the Grande Ronde Child Care Centre in La Grande.

Mrs. Horton attended Wallowa High School, earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and business administration in 2001 from Eastern Oregon University, a master’s degree in Special Education in 2019 from Western Governor’s University, and a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Western Governor’s University in 2022.

Mrs. Horton will officially take over as principal on July 1st.  She is replacing Principal, Piper Kelm, who is retiring effective June 30th.

Angie Horton

PHS CTE Thomas Feller

CTE Spotlight – Thomas Feller

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Pendleton High School
2025 CTE Month Spotlight

Meet Thomas Feller, Senior at Pendleton High School
He is taking classes in Robotics.

What do you enjoy about your CTE classes at PHS?
I enjoy the teacher and the tech. I’ve learned a lot from this pathway. I learned how to run 3D printers here, and now I run my own printer and print things for myself and my friends/family.

How are CTE classes making a difference in your education?
They are furthering my knowledge in this field. I knew a decent amount of things, but these CTE classes have helped me a lot.

Would you like to share anything else about CTE at PHS?
I would encourage new students to take CTE classes. They are great hands-on classes and teach you a lot of things about modern technology. These classes are my favorite ones in my schedule.

PHS CTE Thomas Feller

CTE AJ Nez

CTE Spotlight – AJ Nez

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Pendleton High School
2025 CTE Month Spotlight

Meet AJ Nez, Senior at Pendleton High School
She is taking classes in the Digital and Media Arts Pathway.

What do you enjoy about your CTE classes at PHS?
I enjoy being able to express my creativity in my work and being able to be my most authentic self.

How are CTE classes making a difference in your education?
I get to have a break from all my schoolwork to work on art. It is stress relieving so I’m not so foggy minded.

Would you like to share anything else about CTE at PHS?
PHS art classes have been my absolute favorite. Before high school, I felt I hadn’t been able to learn much about art and I felt put in a box. But now, I have learned so much in art class, and I get to use my creativity. I got to learn photography and work with Adobe software, which has definitely broadened my ability by a ton, and I discovered yet another medium I enjoy.

CTE AJ Nez

CTE Gaige Jordan

CTE Spotlight – Gaige Jordan

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Pendleton High School
2025 CTE Spotlight

Meet Gaige Jordan, Sophomore at Pendleton High School
He has taken Metals 1 and Metals 2, plus Multimedia Art, Foods 1 and Robotics.

What do you enjoy about your CTE classes at PHS?
I like the different activities we get to do. I also like the teachers because they make the class interesting.

How are CTE classes making a difference in your education?
They are enhancing my current life skills and teaching me more life skills.

Would you like to share anything else about CTE at PHS?
I highly recommend all of the CTE classes, especially if you want to enhance or learn new skills.

CTE Gaige Jordan

PHS CTE Abbey Prevot

CTE Spotlight – Abbey Prevot

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CTE Month 2025
Pendleton High School Spotlight

Meet Abbey Prevot, Digital & Media Arts Teacher

What do you teach?
I teach Multimedia Art, Visual Design Basics, Digital Art and Studio/Advanced Studio Art. Multimedia Art is a beginning, general art course. Visual Design Basics focuses on the design aspect of the artistic world, geared towards client/customer relationships. Digital Art is an advanced class that focuses on digital photography and Adobe programs for graphic design. Studio and Advanced Studio Art are for students who work independently on art projects throughout the year.

In your classes, what is the CTE focus for the 24-25 school year?
I am still strengthening and refining the foundations of my CTE program, which are connections with industry partners and creating curriculum with real-world simulations and practice.

Students engage with industry professionals through field trips to creative workplaces, gaining insight into careers in arts and graphic design. Our industry partners include Pendleton Center for the Arts, BMCC, Master Printers and Creative Signs.

We encourage students to enter pieces in local and regional art shows. Finally, students work on real-world simulated design challenges through TSA (Technology Student Association) competitions.

How do you think CTE work in your school is making a difference for students?
The Digital & Media Art CTE Pathway helps students build their portfolios, develop professional skills and explore potential career paths. We focus on collaborative teamwork and the design thinking process to help students develop soft skills such as communication and creative problem solving.

At times, students design for real events or publications, such as Main Street Show’s program cover and the Pendleton School District Art Show poster. I have seen the skills gained through CTE help prepare students for any industry. I love how CTE helps my students think outside of the classroom and prepares them for the workforce.

What is something people may not know about CTE in schools?
CTE is a crucial step toward making education more practical and aligned with the real job market and workforce training. Looking back at my own high school and college years, I wish there had been stronger connections between education and industry, as I felt unprepared for the workforce upon graduation.

CTE bridges that gap, ensuring that we, as educators, equip students with the skills and knowledge they need for their future careers—because, quite simply, it just makes sense.

PHS CTE Abbey Prevot

 

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Pendleton School District
107 NW 10th Street, Pendleton, OR 97801
Phone:  541.276.6711  Fax:  541.278.3208

The Pendleton School District assures that no person shall on the grounds of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability or income as provided by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and related authorities, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be otherwise subjected to discrimination under any Pendleton School District sponsored program or activity.

TITLE IX COORDINATOR: Michelle Jensen, PhD Superintendent | Phone: (541) 276-6711 | Email: Michelle Jensen

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