Valley Star High School is a fully accredited nonpublic high school that offers behavioral support to assist students in achieving their academic and mainstream behavioral goals. The High School and, for qualified students, a Day Rehabilitation Treatment Center staffed and operated by Valley Star Children and Family Services treatment staff.
Welcome to the 2012-2013 school year!
Great things are happening at Valley Star High School! Our school is nestled in the rural community of Mentone, California, amidst the fragrant orange groves and white-capped San Bernardino Mountains as its backdrop. In this picturesque and peaceful environment, our students experience the structure and support of a small campus, plentiful staffing and individualized attention. Holidays and special events enrich the calendar.
School Mission Statement
To empower youth to obtain the skills necessary to integrate themselves successfully into the community through: An environment that is safe, healthy, academic and therapeutic that promotes both healthy social and emotional growth for each student.
Valley Star High School is committed to delivering a psycho-educational approach to learning. An educational and therapeutic milieu is created to effectively model pro-social behavior and positive relationship skills while developing increased awareness of the consequential impact of negative behaviors on the life of each student. In order to achieve this milieu, the classrooms are both self-contained and semi-departmentalized, comprised of educational and (for those students/classes that are approved for the Day Rehabilitation Program) rehabilitation specialists (including a staff-to-student ratio of 4:1), so that a consistent, specialized environment can exist to meet the needs of the students. This structure enables our teaching staff to identify and address the student's underlying conflicts affecting their learning while still instituting the realistic demands of everyday personal and school responsibilities. An effective psycho-educational school program entails extensive communication among educators, clinical therapists, rehabilitation specialists, parent/guardians and allied district educational, County Probation/CFS and mental health professionals.
School Philosophy
The High School and Day Rehabilitation Treatment Center are part of the Stars Behavioral Health Group (SBHG), an organization of programs dedicated to serving clients with serious mental health problems with the highest dignity and quality of service.
This High School was established to meet the following purposes within the mission of the Stars Behavioral Health Group:
- To provide a positive and structured educational experience for adolescents who are tasked with the responsibility to regularly attend school.
- To provide a curriculum driven education program that uses best practices in special education to help students learn, progress, and successfully complete their academic programs.
- To create an educational and therapeutic milieu that can assist in the diagnosis of academic, social and emotional deficits and effectively utilize this information in the development of the student's individualized Educational & Behavior Support Plans (BSP).
- To teach proper social skills and coping strategies needed to function in more formal aspects of their world such as school, work, community events, etc.
- To teach students appropriate behavior and coping skills to enable them to transfer to a less restrictive environment.
- To assist students in making progress toward high school graduation.
- To assist in the development and communication of transition plans to assist students and graduates to transition back to their community schools, move into the workforce or a higher level of study.
Valley Star High School serves students from ages 11-18 who are dealing with severe emotional, behavioral, and learning challenges. All students have an IEP for nonpublic school placement. Valley Star provides a 5-day per week day treatment program running concurrent and integrated into the school day for qualified students. Students may also (or instead) qualify for Designated Instruction and Services (DIS) Services, depending on needs identified within the IEP process. DIS services offer individualized support for behaviors or special counseling in areas designed to support the learning process.
The primary goal of the school program is to offer students, families and school districts a 1-2 year special education alternative to a large public high school campus. We provide an array of individualized academic, emotional, behavioral, and vocational support to foster the greatest possible achievement of the student's educational goals. The IEP team will determine if this will lead to a successful transition back to a mainstream educational setting and/or a high school diploma.
The therapeutic classrooms provide a structured, safe, and supportive educational setting for students with special needs. We promote the physical, emotional, and cognitive development of the students with particular focus on social and emotional needs and skill development. Parent communication and involvement in all aspects of the program is encouraged, including an emphasis on practical strategies related to behavioral issues. There is continual communication and collaboration with classroom staff, consultants, and service providers along with the school district of residence.
Administration and Staffing
All school services are provided by appropriately credentialed, licensed, and/or trained staff. Services are provided by a Principal, Classroom Teacher, Instructional Assistant, Mental Health Staff, Speech Therapist and School Psychologist.
Hours of operation and calendar
The school programs all offer a 180 day + extended year calendar. Specific days are based on the Redlands Unified School District annual school calendar.
School hours are 9:00 am to 2:30 pm. Classroom instruction last 240 minutes per day which enables students to participate fully in the day rehabilitation treatment program. Lunch is 30 minutes and morning break is 10 minutes.
Classrooms are staffed by the Teacher and an Instructional Assistant (a Rehabilitation Specialist is included in each Day Treatment classroom). The teacher-student ratio is low so students are able to get the support that they need. Computers are available for student use as is other equipment that may be needed specified by the IEP. Students participate in all appropriate state and district testing and receive tutoring to take and pass the CAHSEE exams in accordance with district policies.
On-site modified physical education is provided to fulfill state and district physical education requirements. Art, Music and Competitive Sports program instruction is also provided as a school elective. The schedules for those classes vary from semester to semester.
Related Services
Related services and Designated Instructional and Services (DIS) identified on each student's Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) are provided at the school. Individual and Family counseling is available along with AB3632 mental health services. Speech and Language services are also available if stipulated on the IEP.
Other Services
- Community Experience
- Field trips
- Competitive Sports program (competing against other NPS students)
- Individual skills as needed
- Individualized Programs including Independent Studies or GED Preparation
- Support Services
- Support for students in the transition from the secondary school environment to an array of adult services.
- Social skills, anger management, substance abuse psycho-education, boys/girls issues groups.
- Inter-agency and inter-departmental coordination with service providers in school and community.
- Coordination of designated individual services per student's IEP.
Positive Behavior Support
One of the major objectives of Valley Star High School is to teach students appropriate behavior and coping skills for the classroom through our Behavioral Support Plans (BSP), an approach to behavior in which individuals are supported in adopting socially meaningful behaviors, avoiding inappropriate behaviors, and learning functional skills as a replacement for problem behavior. The BSP's are utilized and available to staff in the classroom such that each educational and day rehabilitation staff are using the same individually tailored interventions to address problem behaviors and reinforce positive actions. The BSP's are designed to be a dynamic document that can be revised, as often as necessary, when it is demonstrated to be ineffective or when the student has shown improvement and objectives need to be revised to reflect the student's success.
It is our goal to help students learn the necessary skills so that they can attend school in a less restrictive environment. In order to accomplish this, Valley Star High School offers highly structured psycho-educational classrooms. Teachers are part of the multidisciplinary treatment teams and keep in close communication with the student's social worker and mental health therapist. Teachers are involved in formulating the treatment plan and are kept apprised of the psychological issues surrounding each child. This enables the teacher to implement a strong, positively enforced behavior management system based on each child's individual needs. All students attending Valley Star High School have a school point card that reflects the behavioral objectives listed on the IEP. Students receive points for exhibiting appropriate behaviors that are specified on their card. These points can be used towards gaining permission for participation in special activities.
School Schedule
9:00 am to 2:30 pm
1st Period 9:00 - 9:55
2nd Period 9:45-10:30
Break 10:30 - 10:40
3rd Period 10:40-11:10
4th Period 11:10 - 11:45
Lunch #1 11:45 - 12:15
Lunch #2 12:15 - 12:45
5th Period 12:15 - 1:10
6th Period 1:10 - 2:00
Community Group 2:00 - 2:30
