There's a shortage of child psychiatrists all across the United States. But that shortage is felt most acutely in rural America.

For example there are only about half-a-dozen psychiatrists in Eastern and Central Oregon. Parents have trouble finding care for their children, they have to wait for extended periods of time to get help, or they have to drive hours to visit a psychiatrist.

So a group of educators in Pendleton, Oregon, have come up with a solution. They're bringing education and specialized mental health care together in a small town.

For this next installment of On Our Minds, Anna King visited a specialized boarding school called Pendleton Academies.

Horse therapy teacher: "Relax, relax. You are not breathing again. Breath. There you go."

We're in downtown Pendleton. This morning two equestrian instructors are trying to calm down a teenage girl atop a tall horse.

Horse therapy teacher: "Breath. There you go. That's better. Shoulders down there you go. You are too tense. He's gonna get tense. You relax he's gonna relax too. If you get all tense, he's going to go up there like that. And you are going to get more nervous. Alright? Ready? Shoulders down. Atta girl. Here we go. "

She still looks plenty nervous. But after an hour she was able to control the horse by herself for short stretches of time.

Pendleton Academies treats  mentally ill children and helps them figure out how to face the world again. Horse riding is just one of the activities designed to build self confidence and improve behavior.

About 30 children ages 5-18 are enrolled right now. The kids are diagnosed with things like child-onset schizophrenia, major depression and  bipolar disorder.

Mary Moore-Suever: "It's proactive to treat children that need mental health services."

Mary Moore-Suever is the school's executive director. She says the goal is to address these problems early, while it's still relatively inexpensive.

Mary Moore-Suever: "Because if they don't get treatment when they grow up they are often very angry adults that commit crimes against other people and end up in prison."

One of the children being helped by the school is 13-year-old John Mattila.

He has depression and attention deficit disorder. John says he used to get into a lot of fights. He says before he came to Pendleton Academies, he spent a lot of his time being really angry.

John Mattila: "Your mind just shuts down. Everything is erased for that period of time. And you get a really adrenaline rush, a blood rush. And you just forget about everything and focus on what you were doing right there. It's pretty much when you get mad that what it feels like. Like riding down a rollercoaster ride, like all of the blood rushing back to your head. That's what it feels like when you get really mad."

John says now he still gets into some fights, but not as often. And he's feeling better about himself. Neverthless, John expects to stay at Pendleton Academies until he's 18 or so.

Many children at the school are less stable than John.

Mary Moore-Suever: "So I am not going to take you back there because those children are not safe at the moment. They are on higher safety risk status."

Director Moore-Suever says the children waving and smiling behind the thick glass window have recently tried to hurt themselves or others. As we are talking, a  young child throws a tantrum.

Moore-Suever isn't fazed. This sort of thing happens often. But here, mentally ill children aren't treated like misfits.

Barbara Ceniga directs the academic side of things.  She says many of the children have had bad experiences in school because they were misunderstood and were never asked the right questions.

Barbara Ceniga: "What kind of person are you? What kind of person do you want to be? What is your future? Many of these kids have never had anyone ask them what do you want to do with the rest of your life?"

At Pendleton Academies there's one teacher for every three students. Children have their own specialized education plan to help with reading, writing and arithmetic. But it's not all academic work.

Ceniga says the school also provides opportunities for fun. That helps kids develop social skills and self confidence.

Barbara Ceniga: "They are very special people and they have wonderful experiences when they are given those opportunities."

But giving those opportunities is expensive: about $5500 a month. Most parents get help from Medicaid. A lot of the cost is for psychiatric services. Doctors are flown in  from Portland twice a month and they also conduct sessions by  teleconference.

Some kids will spend two months here, others will stay  until they graduate from high school.

In the meantime, while they're here getting treatment, they can also just be kids.

At this afternoon pick up game, a half dozen kids are on the court. A 6-foot-tall teenager towers over an 8-year-old. It's surreal in one way, ordinary in another.

Education director Barabara Ceniga says she knows the school is helping the students here.

Barbara Ceniga: "They come back and visit. You would be surprised at the ones that call or write or just stop by when they are in Pendleton."

But for all the good it does, Pendleton Academies can only serve about  150  children a year.

The state of Oregon estimates that of its 900,000 children -- about 13 percent have some sort of mental health disorder.

We're getting help reporting these stories from people in our Public Insight Network.

If you'd like to contribute your knowledge, you can learn more about the Public Insight Network at opb.org/publicinsight.