• OUR HISTORY

    Valley Day School (VDS) was founded in 1958 as a PA Private Academic School dedicated to providing viable quality educational day-programming placement options designed to serve students (4-13 years of age) with special learning and/or adjustment needs.   

    Prior to PARC or  IDEA or the subsequent enactment of early intervention legislation, Valley Day School’s three visionary founders (a local Educator, a local Social Worker, and a local Therapist) opened VDS to “stop special needs children (and their families) from falling through the cracks.”

    VDS was initially located in Yardley, PA.  Over the next 26 years, the school’s location changed repeatedly in order to support growth in programming, related services, and student enrollment.  VDS is a non-profit organization. It provides educational and clinical supports for students within a therapeutic milieu.   

    Through the years, VDS’s location has remained rooted in lower Bucks County.  In the early 1980s, VDS became an Approved Private School (APS). At that time, the school’s licensing was expanded to allow VDS to serve children and youth (4-21 years of age) classified as ED (Emotionally Disturbed) and/or NI (Neurologically Impaired).   

    Since 1984, the VDS organization has been based on its current 10.4-acre suburban campus in Morrisville, PA.  This location allows VDS to provide day programming and related services for students referred by Local Education Agencies (LEAs) located in Southeastern Pennsylvania as well as in neighboring New Jersey.   

    When PA education laws changed to recognize ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder) and PDD (Pervasive Developmental Disorder) as educational classifications, our licensure was again expanded to allow the school to receive such referrals and to serve students with such classifications. VDS was a founding member of AAPS (the PA Alliance of Approved Private Schools).