This week’s Carbon School District weekly update shines a light on the Castle Valley Center. Principal Amy Bell stopped by Castle Country Radio to share some information about what is taking place at the school.

“We’re happy to be back after the break. We had great activities and fun things going on right before the winter break, and it was good to have a break and now it’s good to be back,” said Bell. The students got to enjoy days of games and activities to kick off the holiday season. The school had a lot of community partners that came in to help and brought items for the students to celebrate the holidays.

Now that school is back in session, its back to business as usual. “One of the big focuses right now, for me, particularly with one of my teachers, is we have our Post-high Program. Our Post-high program is for our students 18 to 21, so it’s a switch, it’s not a school-based program, it’s a transition to adulthood program. It’s where we really focus on helping the students in that group learn to access the community, build independence, and if possible work towards some employment. So we do a lot of pre-employment skills, training,” said Bell. The program works closely with other resources in the community like Active Re-Entry and Vocational Rehab. The agencies help with employment training and other skills to assist the students to become more independent.

“Our school is a special school which means it’s a school for individuals with severe disabilities. I’m also the Special Education Director for the district too, so I work with all of the Special Ed programs district-wide. We have a number of special programs out in the regular school programs to help with students with significant disabilities. But if they reach a point where they require a very high level or really significantly disabled then they end up coming to my school. My school is all special education school,” said Bell. If a parent feels that their student could benefit from the services offered at Castle Valley Center they are urged to speak with their current school’s Special Ed Teacher to get a referral.

For more information about Castle Valley Center visit their website at https://www.carbonschools.org/o/castle-valley-center