Bend-La Pine Schools administration building. (Dean Guernsey/Bulletin file photo)

Bend-La Pine’s new strand high schools will be permanently placed in leased space.

After looking at three different options of where to permanently place its two small high schools that will open in fall 2018, Bend-La Pine Schools decided on leasing space for the strand schools.

Superintendent Shay Mikalson announced the decision at Tuesday evening’s school board meeting, held at Three Rivers K-8 School in Sunriver. The district decided against two other options: To place the strand schools in existing high schools, or move Bend High School to a new building and move the strand high schools into the facility that currently houses Bend High.

Mikalson said the option chosen, to put the strand schools in leased space, meets the need of increasing capacity.

“The capacity challenge is real for us, at all levels, but specifically at the high school level,” Mikalson said.

The two small high schools will open in a year, under the leadership of two existing Bend-La Pine principals. Alice DeWittie will leave her position as Summit High principal at the end of this school year to start what Bend-La Pine is calling “the Academy” and Roger White, principal at REALMS, or Rimrock Expeditionary Alternative Learning Middle School, will lead the new expeditionary learning high school.

The Academy will be a “personalized school” that will cater to individual students’ interests, focus on interdisciplinary learning, internships and advanced credit options.

Bend-La Pine is working on securing a site near Brinson Boulevard in northeast Bend for schools to open there in fall 2018, although its undecided whether that will be the permanent leased space.