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Home > Juvenile Services > MVYDC > Educational Programs

Educational Programs

Cheryl Quinn, Principal

Our mission is "to cultivate the mind and to restore the spirit.”

Mountain View Youth Development Center (MVYDC) is dedicated to building a community of learners. The MVYDC school faculty is comprised of certified classroom teachers, guidance counselor, librarian, vocation trades instructors, special education teachers, director of special education, and principal.

Teachers work together in unit teams and are generally assigned to resident housing areas for morning classes. Teachers plan their content area in eight-week units with lesson plans that meet the standards of Maine Learning Results (MLR) and General Educational Development (GED) objectives. Afternoon classes are pre-vocational or academic interest area classes offered in eight week sessions with student choices earned as part of their program.

Female students receive gender-specific programming in their morning classes. This approach provides the attention they need and the ability to discuss topics important to them in a comfortable instructional environment.

Mountain View Youth Development Center                                       

 SCHOOL

Program- Mountain View Youth Development Center’s (MVYDC) Educational Program, based on Learning for Life, meets all requirements of the Maine Department of Education. Gardner, Goleman, Glasser, and Greene philosophies provide the school with treatment and instructional frameworks to develop and maintain a constructivist approach to education. Our approach to the Learning for Life Program is based on the integration of the Promising Futures model, a constructivist approach to the planning and implementation of instruction, and the Cog skills program, which includes the behavior management and Collaborative Problem Solving research of psychologist Ross Green, author of The Explosive Child. 

Our fully approved school awards credits and diplomas using the same criteria as other Maine public schools and comports with standards created through the No Child Left Behind act (NCLB). Students are given transcript reports every eight weeks.

Students receive instruction based on units designed in compliance with the Maine Learning Results (MLR) and also aligned with General Educational Development (GED) objectives. We also offer high school and college on-line courses, GED Preparation and we are an approved GED test site.  

Meeting students at their level, restoring pride and confidence through success, matching students with personal interests, and teaching to a student’s learning style, provides the basis for the alternative educational program at MVYDC. We believe that everyone can and wants to learn and “it is not how smart you are, but how you are smart”.  Methods employed by the educational staff consider multiple intelligence factors, emotional quotients, and learning styles in conjunction with coursework that focuses on experiential learning activities integrated into lesson plans and MLR based unit designs.     

Assessment - All students are assessed upon entering our school. Each student receives a battery of tests and is interviewed by various professionals (i.e. medical, psychologists, social workers, unit coaches, psychiatrist, substance abuse counselors, program managers, Project Impact, and special educators).  The student is enrolled in the Assessment/Orientation (A/O) program where school records are requested and reviewed, Multiple Intelligences/strengths-based inventories are completed, academic achievement testing is administered, present levels of performance are updated, and transition planning is initiated by Project IMPACT professionals. The student is placed into the morning A/O classroom and is enrolled in an afternoon interest area class within 48 hours upon arrival. 

Students are assessed up to four times throughout their stay. Assessment is done by using the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) program, which is based on the MLR Standards. As a student answers questions, the complexity of the problems fluctuates up and down grade levels, depending on whether the student answers the questions correctly or not.  The assessment results are used to show student academic progress over time. The test proctor uses this test to determine the educational needs of the student and to design individualized instruction. 

Students who are close to eighteen are given the pre-GED tests to assess their readiness for this option. The GED program is a very effective program with a high success rate.

The school’s CHOICES program and the Basic Skills Survey help our students find their learning strengths. The survey also identifies what type of activities the student enjoy and the Interest Inventory helps to match his/her interests to occupations.

Other student assessments include individual portfolios, which show case completed academic projects and products made in the vocational arts classes. The portfolios include rubric guided performance-based activities all aligned with the Maine Learning Results and/or Technical Standards, and transcripts. The faculty is currently working on developing standards based assessments, which will better document student progress in meeting targeted content area standards.

The Guidance Counselor, Project Impact Coordinator, and the A/O teachers prepare a report and the student is assigned to classes.  Students are placed in classes according to their strengths, needs and interests.   A Personal Learning Plan (PLP) advisor is also assigned to help guide the student with their academics and vocational or educational planning prior to their leaving the school.

Unit Treatment Teams and Classification Meetings – Once assessments are completed, all professionals involved with a student, meet to report results and develop an individualized case plan that is updated monthly.  Community school representatives, parents, student, Juvenile Community Corrections Officer, and other service providers are encouraged to attend.

Classes – The Mountain View Youth Development Center’s Education program provides students with hands-on and minds-on instruction that is connected to world and career interests; addresses individual learning styles and needs; and targets Personal Learning Plan goals utilizing the information provided from the Assessment/Orientation process.

Students receive full-time classroom instruction daily from September through June. During the summer schedule, students participate in half day classes. Morning classes include academic subjects emphasizing experiential and applied learning opportunities. Some morning students take on-line classes. Afternoon classes offer choices between  pre-vocational Interest Areas for eight-week terms in Building Trades, Small Engines, Culinary Arts, Agriculture, Art, Music, Library Skills, Mountaineering, Science Adventures, Robotics, Multi-media, Creative Writing, On-line courses and Health/Independent Living Skills.  The curriculum is designed with a constructivist hands-on format in eight week units that integrate subject area instruction, interdisciplinary cooperation, and career preparation for multi-age and multi-ability classes. Our program utilizes a whole school approach that uses special education instructional methodology and strategies in all classes.  The curriculum is interest and strengths-based, multi-sensory, hands-on, small classes, and provides direct instruction by a special educator in the classroom.

All students are required to take Physical Education and Independent Living/Health prior to their release. Library time is scheduled for all students during the academic day.

Gender specific programming is offered in the morning. The curriculum includes decision making and healthy relationships as well as traditional academics to assist young women to use their voices to speak for themselves and to understand that they have choices.   

Reintegration/Transition- The Project IMPACT team works with the student, family, and other Reintegration Team members to discuss the student’s strengths, needs and progress in their case management plan. Students with special needs receive individualized programming by initially following their most recent Individualized Educational Plan (IEP). A transfer Pupil Evaluation Team (PET) meeting is scheduled to discuss student needs, parent concerns, and to update individualized programming to meet the students’ educational goals.

Students may enroll in our Jobs for Maine Graduates program (JMG) once they earn a diploma. JMG is a transitions program to develop work skills, participate in post-secondary on-line courses, and to explore vocational and post secondary interests through our guidance office.  Students may continue to take classes within the school, online classes, or act as classroom assistants.  Students continue to participate in afternoon pre-vocational interest area classes, which encourage them to consider other vocational and educational choices. The Guidance Counselor may arrange meetings for students with military recruitment Officers and community colleges and may arrange the taking of online college placement tests.  The Guidance Counselor may also take students to visit colleges.

Some students are reintegrated back into their community schools through Project Impact before they earn a diploma.  All coursework at this school is focused on earning credits and meeting the MLR Standards in all offered content areas.

Detention Educational Program-The Educational Program in the Detention Unit at Mountain View Youth Development Center serves students that are pre-adjudicated or are serving Shock sentences of not more than 30 days.  Educational components of the program fall into one of three areas.  If a student is currently enrolled in school, then he/she is encouraged to do the work from the sending school. Project Impact coordinates the transition to and from MVYDC by communicating with a representative from the student’s sending school.  If the student is 17 years old or older and is not currently attending school, we offer a GED preparation program and in many instances are able to test students before they leave the facility.  The school offers a curriculum that offers instruction in the areas of: Math, Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, Current Events, Art, and Physical Education.  The curriculum unit designs are based on MLR Standards.

Since the length of stay in the Detention Unit may vary from 2 days to as many as 60 days (or more), students may choose to work in the general program, do work from their sending school, or work in the GED program.  The educational staff in Detention is focused on meeting the needs of all students.  The Detention Unit academic program follows the same time schedule as the rest of the school, but the students are kept separate from committed students during their instruction.

Vocational Training Programs

For many of our students who have not been in regular school attendance or have not had a positive school experience, we have found their interest in learning is rekindled by offerings in:

  • Diversified Trades:
    • Mechanics, Small Engine, Vehicle, and Equipment Repair
    • Carpentry, Woodworking and Building Trades
  • Art
    • Graphics
    • Drawing
    • Painting
    • Crafts
  • Music
    • Composition
    • Performance
    • Interpretation
    • Multi-media
  • Mountaineering
    • Project Adventure challenges
    • Nature trail
    • Personal Fitness
    • Team building
  • Culinary Arts
    • Food preparation
    • Service
    • Baking
  •   Agriculture
    • Greenhouse Management
    • Soil Preparation
    • Insect Control
  •  Technology:
    • Use of Computers
    • Robotics
    • Multimedia
  •  Library
    • Library Management
    • Service Activities

Updated fall 2007