HDESD receives music grant for kids with special needs

Published 7:59 am Friday, August 1, 2025

By Noemi Arellano-Summer

Adriel climbs on an apparatus above a giant butterfly on the new playground at the Alyce Hatch Center in Bend. 02/18/25 (Dean Guernsey/The Bulletin)

The High Desert Education Service District has been awarded a $5,000 grant from the Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation to support the Music is Magic program for children who need early intervention and early childhood special education in Deschutes County.

The Music is Magic program is a new initiative to help kids with developmental delays and disabilities build skills in motor development, communication and social-emotional growth. The education service district’s early intervention and early childhood special education programs serve 700 children under age 5.

The education service district will integrate music enrichment experiences into Head Start preschool programs, classrooms and home visitations. A music specialist will provide activities to support language acquisition, brain development, self-regulation and social skills.

Family Access Network, which partners with the education service district, additionally received $12,000 from the foundation to support disadvantaged children with basic needs in Deschutes County.

About Noemi Arellano-Summer

Noemi Arellano-Summer is schools, youth and families reporter at the Bulletin. She previously reported on homelessness and the 2020 eviction moratorium with the Howard Center of Investigative Journalism through Boston University. She was raised in Long Beach, California, where she started her journalism career reporting for her high school newspaper. In her free time, she can be found meandering through a bookstore or writing short stories.

She can be reached at noemi.arellano-summer@bendbulletin.com and 541-383-0325.

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