This week’s Carbon School District update is about Castle Valley Center and Principal Amy Bell stopped into talk about some of the latest programs and give some general information about the school.

Castle Valley Center is the Special Needs School in the Carbon District that works with students from ages 3-22. They have a pre-school, a transitional kindergarten program for students that may need an extra year or may have some developmental concerns, they also have a school age program and then this coming fall they will add the Transitions Program.

All students at Castle Valley Center are on an I.E.P. (Individualized Educational Plan) or has special education, so it is not open to just any students, as Bell explained.

“An I.E.P is part of a special education program, so you qualify for special education, there are certain areas that you can qualify and we do that all over the district. We have testing procedures and what that is, is that you have a disability that meets the criteria that the federal government sets out and if you have a special education qualification you have what is called an Individualized Educational Plan. We help individuals with disabilities to access their education.”

Bell went on to say that a lot of people think that Castle Valley Center is an autism school and it is not, however they do have students that are on the autism spectrum but there are also students on the autism spectrum in all the schools in the district so just having a diagnosis doesn’t qualify you for the program.

The Transitions Program will be starting this fall and it will cover students from 18-22 and will focus on helping them gain skills and prepare them to “transition” from school life into adulthood.

“There are still some individuals who still receive services after 18 or grade 12. If you graduate from high school, you would no longer require or qualify for special education services, but we have some students in the district who are not on track, on a separate track or an alternate track or maybe are not completing high school graduation components and so they are on a certificate of completion. The focus of the program is how do we help these individuals gain skills, maybe to do some pre-employment or to do daily living or independence, how do we help them access their community on an even greater level than we already do at Castle Valley Center.”

The Transitions Program will start this fall and will be a great addition to the services already offered at Castle Valley Center. If you have any questions about the school feel free reach out to Principal Amy Bell. You can also reach out to her if you have questions about your child’s development as she is also the Special Education Coordinator for the district.