The Southwest Idaho Juvenile Detention Center is a 90-bed juvenile detention center located in Caldwell. The center opened with 20 beds on March 2, 1992. The center houses juveniles from five of the southwest Idaho counties that make up the 3rd Judicial District; specifically, Canyon, Gem, Owyhee, Payette and Washington counties.

 

Caldwell School District provides two classroom teachers and one paraprofessional for the students housed at the center. Christine McMillen, principal at Canyon Springs High School, oversees the instructional programs at the detention center. Additionally, the district provides support for students housed at the center through use of Canyon Springs High School's special education program and its English Learner program.

 

The district funds instructors who work with the students in career, art, and social/group activities. All students are involved in a daily program of language arts, reading, mathematics, language acquisition/language development, and PLATO CAI instruction. The classes are each in excess of 90 minutes, and every student is assessed to determine if there are skill areas needing remedial support.

 

Based on student competencies demonstrated, lessons are then tailored to meet each learner placed in the class. Although classes are focused on providing skill and knowledge development in the curricular areas of math and language arts, additional curricular areas such as science and social science are networked into the instructional day as a strategy to help students better comprehend the meta-cognitive relationships existing between all areas of knowledge.