Sunridge Middle School Registration - Aug 14 from 7:30-1 pm and 2-7 pm

All incoming 6-8th graders need to register for the 2025-26 school year.

High School Registration - Aug 12 from 7-1 and 2-7 pm

The format is the same as in previous years, with all Registration Stations housed on the first floor. You start at the west side of the hallway and finish at the main office window. It is important that you come in to register your student during this time. If you are a new student to the district or did not attend Pendleton High School in the previous year, please contact Renee Moore, Registrar, at 541-966-3848 at any time. If you are unable to attend on this day, please call Shelby McQuinn, PHS Secretary, at 541-966-3804.

PELC Art

Students and Local Arts Center Team Up to Create Books

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Kindergartners at the Pendleton Early Learning Center (PELC) recently flexed their artistic skills and had a great time working with staff from the Pendleton Center for the Arts to make their own small books.

The project happened through Roberta Lavadour, Executive Director at Pendleton Center for the Arts. She works with a group called Arts Learning Northwest that supports teaching artists; the organization had some funding available for an in-classroom art activity. Lavadour said that because the arts center loves working with the staff at PELC, it seemed like a perfect partnership.

Lavadour and Kate Brizendine, Coordinator of Education and Outreach at the arts center, spent two days teaching all PELC students how to make their own little book. Lavadour said the simple structures are perfect for highlighting the amazing growth the kids have had this one school year. Once they put together the book structure, students drew pictures and wrote words to make little how-to books. “They were absolutely adorable, and I had one parent tell me a week later that her son was still carrying it with him everywhere,” Lavadour said.

She added that there’s a particular pride in making your own book, and in addition to teaching them the skill, they wanted to provide materials so students could continue to explore handmade books and other art-making activities with their teachers. “Having nice materials to work with really helps engage people of any age in creative expression,” Lavadour said.

Pendleton Center for the Arts donated paint, sticks, liquid watercolors, crayons, cardstock, and a few other items to the school.

PELC Principal Angela Lattin said they appreciate the donation of the art supplies and the ongoing collaboration with the Pendleton Center for the Arts.

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PELC Library

PELC Thanks Wildhorse Foundation & Others for Library Upgrade

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Kindergartners at the Pendleton Early Learning Center (PELC) have an upgraded school library with new shelving to display hundreds of new books, thanks to the Wildhorse Foundation and other donors.

On Thursday, May 8, 2025, PELC staff gathered in the library to thank the donors and celebrate the new space. The Wildhorse Foundation grant was for $10,000. Other funding came from Title 1A, a TAPP (Tribal Attendance Promising Practices) Grant, and Title VI.

Angela Lattin, Principal of the PELC, thanked the Wildhorse Foundation. “This grant, braided with the other funding sources, was really game-changing for our school library. If not for the grant, we would have spent the next 10 years working on these projects.”

Ella Meyers, representing the Wildhorse Foundation, said the organization is really honored to be involved in something that directly impacts the youth in Pendleton and especially the connection to tribal culture. “It’s wonderful to be attending this event today, and it’s really lovely to see it turn into reality,” Meyers said.

The funding made these projects possible:

  • 6 units of book shelving across stage area
  • 4 units of book shelving on west wall
  • Shelving units on front wall
  • 806 new books
  • Native American book section with 144 books written by Native authors or about Native American topics
  • Stuffed animal buddies that students can read with

Principal Lattin said the PELC’s library is well utilized by students. After doing some calculations, she said this school year, there were 6,437 student trips to the library and 3,145 opportunities for students to check out books.

PELC Library PELC Library

read books

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.

 

PELC sign

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!

 

Meghan Hoyt

Welcome to PSD – Meghan Hoyt

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Meghan Hoyt
Kindergarten Teacher
Pendleton Early Learning Center

Meghan grew up in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and western Washington. She moved to Pendleton this past summer.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Central Washington University and her master’s degree in Elementary Education with an emphasis on social and emotional learning from The University of Washington.

About working in the Pendleton School District, Meghan said, “I am so excited to connect with all of my students; I am looking forward to seeing their growth once spring comes. I enjoyed my initial teacher training through PSD. They inspired so many ideas that I look forward to implementing in the classroom, from academics to classroom management.”

When she has free time, Meghan said, “I am a new mom, so spending time with my daughter is my absolute favorite thing to do. We also love camping, hiking, and fishing.”

Meghan Hoyt

Haley Kannard

Welcome to PSD – Haley Kannard

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Haley Kannard
Behavior Support Specialist
Pendleton Early Learning Center & McKay Creek Elementary School

Haley grew up in Pilot Rock and has lived in Pendleton since 2011.

She went to college at Oregon State University, where she majored in Sociology with a minor in Health Management & Policy.

What is Haley most excited about working in the Pendleton School District? “I am very excited to be a part of the Pendleton School District and support our children in two of our amazing schools!”

In her free time, she enjoys watching her kids play sports and traveling with friends and family.

Haley Kannard

PELC sign

PELC Field Day

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All kindergarten students at the Pendleton Early Learning Center had a great time at the school’s field day on May 30, 2024.

PELC Fish Hatchery

Salmon Hatchery Field Trip for PELC Students

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In early April, all of the kindergartners at the Pendleton Early Learning Center went on a field trip to the CTUIR’s salmon hatchery facility.

As the district’s young learners made their way around the facility, they got to see and touch coho and steelhead salmon, feed the fish, and examine a lamprey.

Easton Powaukee, a Technician III at the fisheries site, said he is always happy to see students visit. “To have the kids see the different types of salmon in the rivers they live near is good and to experience the involvement of the schools with the tribe is positive,” Powaukee said.

The facility houses about 660,000 fish at this time of year and is part of the large effort to increase the number of salmon in the region’s waterways.

Squeals of surprise and excitement could be heard at all the stations, especially from those who held the lamprey. Lamprey technician Kanim Moses-Conner said he loves to see the reaction of the students when they see the lamprey’s teeth, which some see as scary. “Most of the students have never seen a lamprey, so I want them to have a memorable experience here, to be introduced to the lamprey and be able to pass on their knowledge,” Moses-Conner said.

The PELC thanks those who helped with the field trips:

Umatilla Hatchery Satellite Facilities Staff:
Iron Cody
Tysen Minthorn
Shaun Montgomery
Easton Powaukee

Lamprey Project:
Aaron Jackson
Kanim Moses-Conner
Paul Sheoships
Jerrid Weaskus

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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.

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