1618 8th St
Bend, OR 97703

Amazing! This is an incredible school with dedicated staff that love what they do. It is a magnet school, os you must either live in the neighborhood zone or get in through the district lottery. They use the Scottish storyline method which fosters so much creativity in their academics. One review mentioned a negative experience because of the lack of a tour.; Highland @ Kenwood is a magnet school with a lottery that has to be submitted by a mandated spring deadline. There are only a few open houses for all Bend magnet schools and they are always on the district website in the the spring. Tours are not given to public wanting to just walk in. In addition, the safety at the school was recently updated with new construction and new district safety protocols. The building will be 100 years old in the fall of 2019.

I went here for a short but wonderful 1 1/2 years, left second semester of my sophomore year and I just say, it's a lovely school. The staff is amazing but it does depend on what you look for in staff members, as they're not strict and act like high schoolers themselves while still being kind and helpful. The building is new and one of the most gorgeous I've ever seen, the area surrounding is nature filled and just lovely. Kids do tend to skip, very often, as the staff isn't very strict when it comes down to it unless you skip constantly. It's an open campus which is a score but I have one issue that just makes it hard to give it a perfect rating, and that's the teaching styles. You cover one subject for a VERY LONG TIME, unless in A.P classes, they really draw out the units which honestly made it more difficult for me to learn as I found myself spacing off for days as the teachers went over the same things repeatedly. Besides that, this school is absolutely amazing c:

Our family LOVES Westside Village! We think it's a hidden gem. We have 2 kids there (kinder and 1st). They are thriving! We feel they learn tons academically and socially/emotionally. We love the teachers, the principal, everyone that works there honestly. Everyone including the principal knows all the kids' names and they greet them by name in the halls! We love their alternative options and field trips: ice skating, watershed investigating, skiing, camping trips, community gardening...We also love that it's K-8, it's a small community, the start times are a bit later than other elementary schools since it goes to 8th... They have aftercare and before care, clubs that our kids love...They mix ages in classes and meet the kiddos where they're at. They are super supportive of their social interactions and them as whole people, not just kids learning school things. We also love their 6 weeks celebrations where your family goes to the school to interact with other families and teachers, see what your kids have been working on, and watch them do a little performance. Can't say enough good things!

Our son is very happy at High Lakes. We are happy with the extra enrichment we see-Scholastic News, Artist in Residency, STEM night, field trips, etc. We also love his teacher. She’s kind, dedicated, communicative, and willing to work together.

I use to go to this school and it was horrible they allow bullying to happen and only care about bullying when it is a student that is “important” Lots of teachers are nice but others are horrible and don’t care about what they are teaching. Some teachers don’t even have a good understanding of what they are teaching. The students are allowed to skip and vape in the bathroom and at this school, I didn’t feel safe around some of the students and even staff. It’s not a place where you learn or become a better person. Most kids come out with horrible education that they are getting not only in this school but around the US is very repulsive. Even though most schools in America are bad this one is especially one to stay away from. Teachers here can be good or just disgusting there is no in-between and I’m disgusted that certain teachers have not been fired.