Sierra School of Weld County

Sierra School of Weld County is a partnership with Centennial Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES). Since Sierra School opened in June 2014, it has quickly become the program of choice for districts in Weld and Larimer Counties due to the success of our students. We measure success in a variety of ways, including successful transition back to a general education setting, progress on IEP goals, academic achievement as measured by formal assessments, and most importantly, student reports of learning to love school again.

(P) 970.888.3150
(F) 970.515.5390
2040 Clubhouse Drive
Greeley, CO 80634
Meet the Team

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Students & Staff

Our Students

Students are referred by their school district to attend Sierra School and are generally in grades K–12 (aged 5 to 21). They face disabilities in a variety of areas, including autism, serious emotional disability, specific learning disability, multiple disabilities, intellectual disabilities, other health impairments, and traumatic brain injury

Our Staff

We are proud to employ special education teachers and a school social worker, all of which are certified through the Colorado Department of Education. Centennial BOCES provides related services such as Speech and Language, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, audiology, teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing, and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). All Sierra School staff are trained in Handle With Care for crisis intervention.

Overview

At Sierra School, we believe that education isn’t about memorizing facts or taking tests — it’s about teaching children how to learn so they can carry this skill and enthusiasm with them throughout their lives to produce positive outcomes and fulfilling futures. Our child-centered approach thus focuses on fostering emotional growth; increasing academic, language, and behavioral competencies; and enhancing each student’s natural strengths. Our prime objective for all students is to help shape them into independent young adults who can productively interact in a variety of mainstream social settings and situations. We accomplish this by providing individualized programming to teach to each child’s skill set and adapt to each child’s learning style. The Sierra School of Weld County’s partnership with Centennial Board of Corporative Educational Services provides local-area school districts with an effective alternative for their students to explore their full potential and achieve their full capabilities.

Academic Rotational Model

By focusing on key areas — academics, behavior modifications, support services, and transition / life planning services — we are able to meet the individual needs of all students through these varied approaches to instruction. Through collaboration with a student’s IEP team, we are able to choose the most appropriate learning model based on a given student’s present levels of performance, social capabilities, motor coordination, and ability to learn in a group setting.

Utilizing four specific instructional rotations, students are assessed academically, gain self-regulation skills, learn with district-aligned academic curriculums, and utilize integrated technology.

Learn More About Our Academic Model

Broad-Based Education Services & Therapies (BEST) Model

Serving students with significant autism and developmental disabilities, our model takes learned skills and practically applies them to the multiple environments in which a student would use those skills. Students spends portions of their day rotating through different modalities of instruction, the length and the frequency of each rotation is individuality designed for each learner and based on their current skills and future goals.

Each student enrolled in the model has individualized behavior programming which is driven by Functional Behavioral Assessments (FBA). We aim to identify the behaviors that continue to disrupt our student’s ability to access their environment and learning. We then use the data collected from the FBA and classroom data to device strategies that get to the root function of the students disrupted behaviors.

Learn More About Our Model

Transitional Program & Community Outreach

Sierra School works closely with the Centennial BOCES Transition Coordinator and the School to Work Alliance Program (SWAP) Coordinator to ensure that students have ample opportunities to explore potential post-secondary education and career opportunities.

We offer school community jobs through Arc of Weld County all school year. We also volunteer at the local food pantry during the extended school year (ESY) summer program.