A community based
licensed residential treatment center.

Offering services to neurodiverse adolescents and young adults with cognitive, social, emotional and behavioral struggles.

Adolescent Programs

Waterfall Canyon Academy provides a structured and supported residential treatment program for adolescent males from 13-18 years old.  Our students live in a home environment that feels safe and nurturing while attending our own OakGrove school for academic services.

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Our Students

Waterfall Canyon Academy provides structure and support to neurodiverse students exhibiting complex needs that cannot be met in a traditional educational or home setting. Our students have significant challenges in multiple areas, including communication, social interaction, sensory processing, and behavioral regulation. They often demonstrate difficulty with understanding and expressing their emotions, struggle with self-care tasks, and experience difficulties in forming and maintaining relationships.

Young Adult Programs

Waterfall Canyon Academy offers several transitional programs supporting males from 18-25 years old.   These young men start in a home-like setting progressing towards varying degrees of independence while our team works to assess and determine what their “ceiling” may look like going forward.

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About Us

Waterfall Canyon Academy has been working with youth and young adults for over 25 years. In 2005 we honed in on our current population and began a very rewarding journey.

We pride ourselves on the personal connection we have with our students, their families and our amazing employees. Our “Waterfall Family” extends far beyond the program homes nestled in Historic Downtown Ogden, Utah. We want our students and visiting family members to feel “at home” in our beautiful and dynamic community. This setting gives our students opportunities to not only learn daily living and social skills, but to apply them in “real life” scenarios.

Meet the Team

  • Mission & Philosophy

    Waterfall Canyon Academy is dedicated to helping our students and their families overcome current and past difficulties in order to live happy and productive lives.

    We believe through our team approach, therapeutic services, and nurturing environment, each student can define and achieve “their” success. WCA provides support and guidance congruent to students learning the skills needed to function at their highest potential while identified strengths and healthy interests are expounded upon and cultivated to encourage peak independence and self-reliance.

  • History

    Waterfall Canyon Academy has been providing services to our current population since 2005.  Prior to working with Waterfall students we provided residential care and therapy services to local Utah youth and their families beginning in 1996. We are a solid organization in which our students, employees and governing body can truly enjoy the environment in which they live/work.

Parent Testimonials

Here you can read a few testimonials from parents of the children in our programs.

“After years of adjusting and re-adjusting my expectations, dreams, and hopes, I had to ask myself, “what do I want for my son?” There are three things I want for him. First is I want him to feel personally successful. Secondly, I would love to gain back some connection with him after months of battles in our home.  And three, I want to see him gain skill at making and keeping friends so I can know he might be able to have community one day when I’m not around.  After giving my best efforts at home, I came to the realization that I was not able to provide the level of structure and nurture that he needed in his teens.  This program provided a way for our son to approach adulthood with his own success stories and good memories from time spent building friendships.  With all the bumps along the way he graduated from high school with excellent grades, and we are so proud of him.  The staff at Waterfall and Oakgrove are the bottomless pit of patience!  I also loved the constant communication and updates from teachers, house staff, therapist, community advocates, and Nurse Practitioner.  I can’t express enough gratitude for what Waterfall Canyon has done for my son, my family, myself, and my son’s future.”

“My son’s attendance at WCA was transformative for him. The dedication and patience of his therapist allowed him to open up and respect her guidance. My son made incredible progress towards his goals and developed strong connections with peers that could not be replicated by any other type of environment. The family therapy piece of the program taught me how to be a better parent. Our son was able to complete the program and be recognized for his hard work. His independence, self awareness and ability to advocate for himself dramatically improved. I am so grateful that WCA is a part of my son’s journey.”

“The teamwork and communication at Waterfall Canyon across school, therapist and the home environment is outstanding!  Consistency for our son is very important and this consistency across all settings has been a huge factor in our son’s success. Also the team has always been very responsive to our concerns and suggestions as parents and are always willing to tweak our sons program as needed.  It is truly an individualized plan and our son has benefited greatly!  He especially likes rooming with other guys, learning how to be a good roommate. The support and programming was so well thought out and implemented. He likes that progress was easily measured and so do we.”

“We are beyond thrilled with the progress our son has made at WCA. WCA let him progress at his own pace and he keeps exceeding everyone’s expectations. He moves at a snail’s pace, but that’s okay because he keeps moving further and further along. We have been through programs that made promises that remained unfulfilled. We have only good things to say about WCA from the Director, Rich Dimick, to the staff members that run the houses, the CAs and RAs that work directly with our son, and his therapist, a game changer. We have developed a much better relationship with our son; he is working, volunteering, and learning to manage his money, maintain his apartment and socialize better with others. He is a work in progress. We would be happy to speak with any family considering placing their child/young adult at WCA as we have only good things to say. It has been a blessing for our family.”

“WCA was the right choice for my son.  When he entered WCA in the fall of 2008 he was angry, depressed and dependent.  He was 15 years old and his world was falling apart. Over the next 2 years he made amazing progress in all three of these areas. Finally, it was determined that it was time to graduate from WCA and transition home.  My son left WCA in the fall of 2010. His life, as well as the life of my family, has forever changed for the better because of WCA and for that I will always be very grateful.”

“Waterfall Canyon gets it all right: Behavioral, Emotional, Educational and Medication management.  It is a gut-wrenching feeling to send your child far away from home. Waterfall Canyon understands the emotional decision that the parents have to make. They know we are not giving up as parents. Exactly the opposite, we want to save and reclaim our children. WCA uses a holistic approach to treat all aspects of your child’s life. Some schools and programs are good at special education, some are good at behavioral therapy, some handle psychiatric problems well and some treat children with loving care.”

“Waterfall Canyon Academy was really great all around. It’s scary to send your child off to a place where you know very little about and we were all wondering if this was the right thing to do.  The staff there made that transition easy from the very beginning and I felt like we were in good hands.  As we moved along there, Waterfall really went above and beyond to try and help my child – they kept us in the loop the whole time and were really great about advising us and guiding us through.  It was so clear that the staff really cared about my child and they did everything they could to help. The communication was also great and I always felt like I could talk to them anytime and that they would respond in a timely manner if they weren’t available.  Oftentimes, events would happen after hours and staff were never hesitant to talk to me at any time.”

Why Waterfall Canyon?

 

We Offer A Continuum of Services

Waterfall Canyon Academy has a continuum of services. We offer a range of programs including Residential Treatment, Transitional Living, Advanced Transitional Living and Support Services.  As students progress through the continuum programs become less restrictive and offer increased community access such as; employment, extracurricular activities and higher education.

Our School is Offsite & Set Up To Feel “Normal”

Waterfall Canyon Academy wanted to apply our community based philosophy to our academic setting leading to the opening of OakGrove School in 2008. OakGrove School is a non-profit, accredited, private school located a few miles from each program home and expressly serves Waterfall Canyon Academy students. The school setting is small yet encompasses a feeling of normalcy. Students attend six 45 minute classes from 10am until 330 pm Monday through Friday. OakGrove School offers small class sizes, individualized academic plans, accommodations for any learning style, engaged faculty and staff, and extra-curricular activities such as dances, Student Leadership Counsel, field trips, and assemblies. OakGrove Bulldogs have school spirit!

Healthy Nutrition Program

Our nutrition program focuses on providing homemade meals that are both healthy and hearty. We prioritize the care and well-being of the students we serve, with a particular emphasis on catering to the needs of students on the autism spectrum. Our dedicated team of cooks, present in every program (except Advanced Transitional Living), ensures that each meal is thoughtfully prepared to meet the nutritional requirements and preferences of our students. We understand the importance of providing nourishing meals that contribute to their overall well-being and development. Through our program, we aim to create a positive and supportive environment where students can enjoy delicious, homemade meals while receiving the nutrition they need to thrive.

We recognize Success Looks Different For Every Student

Although many of our students share similar diagnosis, we recognize “success” looks different for every student. Waterfall Canyon Academy provides support and guidance congruent to students learning the skills needed to function at their highest potential. Additionally, identified strengths and healthy interests are expounded upon and cultivated to encourage peak independence and self-reliance.

We Value Relationships With Our Students & Their Families

Waterfall Canyon Academy finds value in the relationships we have with our students and their families. In addition to connecting with our team, we encourage those who join the “Waterfall family” to connect with one another to support and network all of which increases the likelihood of student and family success.

 

Interested in learning more?

Here are a few ways to get more information.

Call us Today

Questions?  Call our administrative office.

801.621.3901

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