As Bend Tech Academy and Realms High School discontinue their education programs, Deschutes River High School opens up to students coming for the next school year. The school will be located on North East 5th Street, on Bend Tech Academy’s former campus.
Deschutes River High School, will be a choice school accepting students in the Bend-La Pine disctrict. The current curriculum will include technical coursework such as medical, business, construction, STEM and engineering, advanced placement and college transferrable classes.
“Bend-La Pine Schools believes in the power of educational choice. Our new choice high school will provide students opportunities to explore future pathways while being a part of a school community centered in leadership and belonging,” Deputy Superintendent Lisa Birk stated in a recent press release.
According to Scott Maben, director of communication for Bend-La Pine Schools, the closing of Realms was a financial decision after the lease for Realms Middle and High School ended. Maben says they would have had to renegotiate the lease if they chose to stay at the location which he described as a “warehouse” type building.
Although the BLPS website states the new school will be a merger, Maben made clear the purpose of opening DRHS was not to absorb and merge Realms students. The goal was for DRHS to welcome students from a variety of neighborhoods as a new choice school option.
As such, DRHS would not require students to live in the same zone a school is located in. Currently, DRHS has “full enrollment” and a waitlist for students to join.
While students from Realms High School will be able to apply to DRHS, Realms Middle School students will move to Buckingham Elementary School campus. RMS will remain a distinct school operating separately from BES.
According to the BLPS website, the class sizes will likely increase, though still small in comparison to other high schools in the district. The capacity of DRHS campus is “a little over 200.”
According to Maben, the current enrollment for DRHS stands at 218 students. The number consists of 123 students from BTA and 93 students from Realms High.
Among other concerns for the new change, some parents and families questioned the new school’s ability to cater to students from RHS.
Officials from BLPS responded by stating, “support for specialized student needs will continue as it is available at all schools.”
According to Maben, school officials are too early in the process to get specific about what staffing levels will look like for the next school year. Even so, he says that with the school capacity being 225 students they can project staff to be somewhere around 20 members.
Additionally, the 2026 and 2027 district budget has been proposed by the budget committee and is meeting next Tuesday to discuss plans. Once they have an idea of what the budget looks like for next year, they will build their staffing plans accordingly.
Maben added that if there appears to be a need for more staff, the administration will make those decisions later this spring or in the summer.
The process for figuring out the name for DRHS began in January.
The school board surveyed students, families, and staff for ideas. They also gathered volunteers to develop a naming committee. The top three names were then presented in February.
DRHS centers its values around character, community and service. The press release states they also value “excellence through purposeful work, industry and higher education readiness.”
“We are excited to have a waitlist for incoming 9th grade students, and as the school builds more community awareness of our outstanding programming, we hope to grow our community even more,” Bend Tech Academy Principal LaKisha Clark says.
This story has been updated to clarify details about the closure of Bend Tech Academy and Realms High School.
This article appears in the Source March 19, 2026.
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