Pendleton High School and Hawthorne Alternative High School will merge
By Terry Murry on Wednesday, April 15th, 2026 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
PENDLETON – The Pendleton School District has approved petitioning the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) to merge Pendleton High School and Hawthorne Alternative High School into one school. Superintendent Michelle Jensen said that will save paperwork and streamline the educational process.
“Because they are two separate institutions with ODE, it creates a lot of work for a lot of people,” she said.
Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Matt Yoshioka presented the reasons for the merger to the board. Those reasons include the two schools sharing the same campus, administrators, and teachers. In addition, all students at Hawthorne are dual-enrolled as PHS students to take electives, advanced placement, and career and technical education classes. Ending the dual enrollment requirement will save hours of enrollment work, he said.
Once merged, all students would receive PHS diplomas when they graduate high school. He added that the current Hawthorne program/schedule and staffing structure are not expected to change. Further, the merger will mean a reduction in reports, records, and audits for each school.
The district will apply to ODE for approval of the merger.
