Best Special Needs Schools in Valparaiso, Indiana (2026)

Porter County Career and Technical Education, or PCCTE, is a career center for high school students in Porter County. Most programs are for grades 11 and 12. It is not a special-education school. Students keep a home high school and add technical, academic, and employability coursework, with dual credit and industry certifications on many pathways. Program areas include horticultural science, CAD and animation, construction trades, HVAC, fashion and textiles, graphic design, radio and television, marketing and sales, early childhood education, education professions, dental careers, sports medicine, and health science. Several courses include a dual-credit option. A grade 12 strategic marketing internship can include paid field experience. Indiana graduation pathways treat career and technical programs as one way to explore work after high school. The career center is a hands-on complement to a student's home campus, not a separate K-12 school.

• Technical school
• Career and technical education
• Dual credit
• Industry certifications

The Special Education Learning Facility, known as SELF, is a public special education school in Valparaiso operated by Porter County Education Services. It houses programs provided through interagency agreements with Duneland, East Porter County, MSD of Boone Township, Portage Township, Porter Township, Union Township, and Valparaiso Community Schools. Special education services cover Porter County children from age 3 through age 22. SELF holds special education preschool, plus elementary, middle, and high school classrooms for students with more severe disabilities and more intensive needs. Each program is individualized through an IEP. Speech services, occupational therapy, and physical therapy are provided based on eligibility. SELF also runs a Community Preschool for Porter County children ages 3 to 5 who do not have an IEP. Those students attend the Early Childhood Program alongside students with disabilities, five days a week, for $100 per month.

• Special education school
• Severe disabilities
• Intensive special education needs
• Intensive special education