Center for Change
Salt Lake City, UT

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Mountain Springs Prep Opens
Independent Living House

Mountain Springs Preparatory Academy is excited to announce the opening of our Independent Living House for girls! This represents an important step in continuing to provide cutting edge opportunities for our teens to practice life skills and transition to young adulthood.

The Independent Living House will be a part of the Mountain Springs program and will be for adolescents who have proven themselves responsible and trustworthy and who are 17 years of age or older. The students who transition over to our independent living house will receive a monthly allotment of funds that they will be responsible to budget in order to pay all their obligations (including rent, utilities, fuel, food, etc.). There is staff supervision and direction in assisting them with their budgets and work on personal goals, but they will also have many more freedoms than the students who are attending the main campus. Jon Larsen, Head of School at Mountain Springs commented, "this is a fantastic addition to our program and allows us to expand the breadth of opportunities we can afford our students. The Independent Living House provides students who are ready for this move to experience real life, having to pay bills and work out how to manage their various responsibilities; ultimately to prepare them to live on their own after they leave us".

Students living in the Independent House will continue to attend high school at Mountain Springs as well as going to college classes at the University and working jobs in the community. Stay tuned as Mountain Springs will be opening an independent house for boys some time in the future.

Mountain Springs is designed as a practice environment where students have greater access to community involvement (through varsity athletics, University classes, employment/volunteering, and other extracurricular activities) and more opportunity to make choices. It is an experiential learning environment where students have the chance to bump up against challenges and learn from mistakes with mentoring and support. We utilize a strength-based and solution-focused approach. Mountain Springs provides a small, intimate environment with a highly individualized approach. Therapy is available off-site and the minimum length of stay is only 6 months. Mountain Springs is a proud member of the CERTS programs.

Mountain Springs Preparatory Academy is a co-ed transitional boarding school for adolescents ages 14-18. We specialize in helping student's step-down from a higher level of care (residential treatment or wilderness).