Student looking at the camera smiling

Work Experience Life Skills (WELS) North serves students ages 18-21 who have emotional behavioral disorders (EBD), autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and developmental cognitive disabilities (DCD).

WELS North prepares students to progress toward graduation at an individual pace. Our students experience intensive special education services so they can participate as fully and independently as possible in school, at home, and in the community.

Vision: WELS-N is a supportive and respectful transitional community that inspires student ownership and achievement through individualized instruction. 

To communicate with WELS-North in a language other than English, please dial (651) 378-3822.

للتواصل مع مدرسة ابنك باللغة العربية، يرجى الاتصال بالرقم 3822-378 (651).

လၢနကဆဲးကျိးတၢ်ဒီး တၢ်မၤလိကၠိလၢ နဖိဆံးထီၣ်အီၤ လၢကညီကျိာ်အဂီၢ်,ဝံသးစူၤ စံၢ်လီၤ လီတဲစိနီၣ်ဂံၢ် (651) 378-3822 တက့ၢ်.

Si aad Af-Soomaali ugula xiriirtid iskuulka ilmahaagu dhigto, fadlan soo wac telefoonka (651) 378-3822.

Para comunicarte con la escuela de tu hijo en español, llama al (651) 378-3822.

We succeed by:

  • Modeling and teaching prosocial behaviors in all interactions.
  • Providing engaging instruction linked to transition standards.
  • Guiding students to create realistic and achievable goals and instilling ownership in their future.
  • Recognizing and celebrating accomplishments as a community.
  • Creating a safe, consistent, and predictable environment.

Our approach

Staff works in close partnership with the young adults, their families, and community providers so students can achieve a smooth and meaningful transition to adult life. Our students:

  • Develop daily living, work, and recreational skills to prepare them for graduation and beyond.
  • Enjoy a calm learning environment with tools for effective communication, social-emotional skills, and self-regulation.
  • Make clear connections between what they learn in school and what they need to succeed.
  • Experience individualized instruction based on their unique strengths, interests, and learning styles.
  • The are treated with respect, dignity, and compassion by teachers and staff.

Additional services and benefits

  • Small class sizes
  • Highly structured classroom settings
  • Partnerships with families and community providers
  • Work experience opportunities
  • Speech, occupational, and physical therapy
  • Social workers and mental health support
  • Nursing
  • The latest in educational and assistive technology
  • Customized graduation plans and individualized educational plans (IEPs)
  • Optional coursework at the Career & Tech Center

WELS North logo
 


WELS–North
3500 Willow Lake Blvd #500
Vadnais Heights, MN 55110
(map of location)

651-415-6280
Fax: 651-415-6299
[email protected]

Staff directory

School hours:

Monday - Friday
7:45 a.m. – 2:02 p.m.

School leaders

Kristin Salava
Manager
651-415-5402

Mary Moore
Assistant Manager
651-415-5437

Kelly Meir
Assistant Manager
651-415-5458