Our community at Cascade is special, and we work hard to make our schools a big part of that. Cascade School District is a great place to learn, grow, and work.
The 2026-27 school year is my nineteenth year as Superintendent here at Cascade, and I am so glad for our committed staff, growing student body, and our supportive and involved community. We are ready for a great year, and ready to serve your students.
I want to begin with a huge thank you to our community for voting for a construction bond in May of 2026. Your taxes will remain the same, and we will be able to use $30 million dollars from local taxpayers for practical, no-nonsense improvements: roofs, HVAC, septic tank, along with a new kitchen and cafeteria at our oldest buildings and other needs. Not only that, but we qualified for a $10.2 million grant from the state that we can use to extend the bond dollars. Work will begin soon, and continue over the next three summers.
Cascade is a great place because we are family. We know each other, and we know our students. We help each student find the best path for them. For some students, the path is a career right out of high school, and our Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathway gives our students some of the best opportunities in the state. For some students, the path is going to college, and we have a lot of classes that earn college credit for those who want it.
Cascade is a great place because we focus on academics. Our high graduation rate (95.0% for the class of 2025) doesn’t just magically appear in the senior year—it starts when each student walks through the door in Kindergarten. Our staff is committed to serving students each step of the way, all the way through to graduation.
Cascade is a great place because we are stable. We have been careful with our finances and seen student enrollment remain steady over the last few years. People want to be part of our school district, and we keep working hard for each student. We work hard to keep good staff, and careful management of our finances has kept us from staff cuts and helped us navigate the difficult funding issues in education around Oregon. We’re tightening our belts and watching things carefully for the future.
Our district's mission statement says that we are committed to providing a well-rounded education where each student is supported, confident, and graduates college or career-ready. That mission guides what we do every day. We know that working to support the mental health and emotional needs of our students is essential to providing a quality education that helps every student become a contributing member of our community.
I know our staff will engage our students creatively, and I cannot wait to see what this unique group of students will accomplish this year. I am glad we are in this together.
