Youth development center buys Waverly School

By JoAn Bjarko
North Forty News

Waverly School will once again resound with youthful voices as it becomes the academic home to dozens of teenagers enrolled in programs with Turning Point, a center for youth and family development.

The nonprofit organization in late March purchased the building from Poudre School District for $311,000. Its 14,279 square feet and 4.6 acres is just the right size for Turning Point, according to research and development coordinator Lilias Jarding.

Founded as LARICO in 1967, Turning Point serves Colorado high-risk adolescents by providing a safe environment, therapy, education and community involvement. The youth will be bused to school each day from their residential treatment facilities.

Jarding explained that Turning Point needed a school building to consolidate its education program and become compliant with No Child Left Behind legislation. Turning Point's curriculum integrates state educational standards with a hands-on service learning approach.

"We were looking for a building to use, and all of a sudden this building came up for bid," Jarding said.

Waverly residents will start seeing more activity there in mid-May when Turning Point holds a staff field day and training. Offices will move into the building this summer, and classes will start in the fall.

Jarding said Turning Point also wants to make the building available to the community evenings and weekends. "I think this bodes well for the community as a whole," she said.

The school has long been the focal point of the Waverly community. Its construction started in 1918, with additions built through 1929 to accommodate high school classes. In the 1960s, the high school ceased to operate, but elementary classes continued through 1992. The building more recently served students in PSD's Teen Learning Center. That program was moved to Fort Collins, however, to provide a more central location.

Turning Point has allocated $150,000 for renovations at the school. Priorities, Jarding said, are a commercial kitchen, new windows and landscaping in the front yard. Turning Point already uses gardening and a greenhouse in its programs, and they could be transplanted in Waverly. Students learn about biology and soil science through their gardening efforts and then donate their produce to homeless shelters.

Haila White, development assistant, noted that the school gym - with a climbing wall - and the acreage will save a lot of travel time during the center's therapeutic recreation programs. Turning Point uses recreation to teach self-confidence, teamwork and healthy lifestyles. The center was named Agency of the Year by the Colorado Juvenile Council two consecutive years.

Young people come to Turning Point from around the state. Jarding noted that the youths are carefully screened to determine whether they will fit into a highly structured program, which is not a lock-up facility. "They have to be willing and ready to change," she said. The youngest clients are age 12, but the most common age is 15 to 18, she said. The program has a heavy emphasis on substance abuse treatment.

Once established in Turning Point, the youth begin working with numerous community agencies. Last year, they contributed about 6,000 hours of community service in the Fort Collins area, Jarding said. The center also benefits from the help of 500 local volunteers.

"It goes both ways," she noted.