The Valley Day School believes that, within a trauma-informed environment, clinical and behavioral support is critical for the personal and academic growth of our students. We believe the root of many behavioral issues that students face can be linked to traumatic experiences. Our behavioral and clinical support teams play an important role in fulfilling our mission by helping students identify past trauma and learning new strategies for growth and change. About 20% of VDS staff serve in positions that provide our students with clinical or behavioral support. These professionals include:

Clinical Therapists - VDS has two licensed clinical therapists on staff to work with students who have acute behavioral and emotional needs. Approximately 60% of our students can receive individual therapy on a weekly basis, as needed, from our clinical office.  Our therapists also work with community mental health agencies to help families access resources provided within their community.

Student Case Managers - VDS has three case managers on staff who serve as the primary liaison between the home, family, and referring districts. Two of the case managers are certified school psychologists and the third is a certified guidance counselor.  Case managers work closely with classroom teachers to help draft and implement student IEP's and assist in the development of action plans or safety plans should the need arise. They also provide direct counseling when needed, conduct social clubs and groups, and coordinate services with community mental health agencies.

Behavioralists - VDS  behavioralists on staff work directly with students to identify healthy behaviors and take measures to help students demonstrate those behaviors in and out of school.  When negative behavior occurs, the behavioralists will try to determine the causes of the behavior and work with the student, teachers, case managers, and family to determine a course of action to prevent further actions from occurring. They also work within the school's positive behavioral support plan to reinforce pro-social student behavior.  

Clinical and behavioral staff participate in special education and treatment team meetings and play a vital role in the child's instructional program.