Future Facility Planning C.A. Dillon Dobbs Samarkand Stonewall Jackson Swannanoa Valley Education Services Gender Specific Resource Manual

Swannanoa Valley Youth Development Center, opened in 1961, provides custody and treatment to adjudicated males ranging in age from ten to eighteen. As a result of the Juvenile Justice Reform Act, violent offenders can remain at a YDC until age 21. Swannanoa Valley is the fenced facility that provides treatment for violent offenders and sex offenders, and has programs for juveniles who have substance abuse problems.

Swannanoa's academic school operates on a block schedule, which allows treatment programs to be integrated into the school day. The school offers a wide variety of electives, including: pottery, welding, computer engineering, agriculture, and construction technology. Swannanoa Valley Youth Development Center also offers special services to students who do not speak English as their first language.

For the past few years, Swannanoa has had a partnership with Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College. This partnership contributed the success in their GED program and allowed Swannanoa to expand their program to include three more periods of instruction per day so that students are afforded the opportunity to earn their GED. Beginning in the Fall 2004, students will have a pre-GED class, and two more periods of GED preparation added to their course load. The partnership has also produced a contract that allows the teachers of the Community College to come to campus three times a week to teach a Culinary Arts class. This class is currently offered to GED graduates and participants receive a certificate upon completion.

Swannaoa Valley YDC has recently begun offering students a mentoring program, grief support groups, and an incentive program.

Contact Information:

741 Old Highway 70
Swannanoa, N. C. 28778

Phone: (828) 686-5411
Fax: (828) 686-8189

Number of Beds: 186

Director: June Fowler

Directions to Swannanoa Valley:

• From the East on Interstate 40:
  Follow I-40 to Exit 65 (Black Mountain). This exit merges with U.S. 70 West (also called State Street). Take this into the town of Black Mountain. Come to a stoplight in the center of town (where Montreat Rd. crosses). From this light, travel another .9 miles on U.S. 70 West until you come to a large green sign noting various state facilities to your right. Turn right here and immediately turn back to your left onto Old Hwy 70. Travel 2.2 miles until you come to the entrance to the Swannanoa Valley Youth Development Center on your right.
• From the West on Interstate 40:
  Follow I-40 to Exit 59 (Swannanoa). Turn left at end of exit ramp traveling back over
  I-40 until the road dead ends at a light. Turn right at the light onto US 70 West. At the next light turn left across a small bridge. Turn right at the end of the bridge onto Old Hwy 70. Swannanoa Valley Youth Development Center is about .8 mile on the left.