Kids who are sent to Echo Glen Children’s Center in Snoqualmie arrive broken. Most have come from detention. Many arrive with substance abuse issues. Some have been sexually abused and in turn have become offenders themselves. They don’t understand boundaries. Others have committed very serious crimes.

Driving onto the grounds visitors must pass through a metal gate after being buzzed in. You are advised to leave everything in your car except your keys and absolute necessities.

“You’d be surprised at what can happen if you put your purse down,” the receptionist says.

There is a metal detector.But there is also a lot of hope and love.

The Issaquah School District has been the educational service provider for Echo Glen since 1967 when it opened. Echo Glen is a state run medium/maximum security facility that is not fenced, but bordered by natural wetlands on approximately 40 acres. It provides treatment services for younger male offenders and is the only institution for young female offenders and the only co-ed facility of its type in the state. It currently houses about 150 kids; the youngest is 12-years-old, the oldest is 20.

The average reading level when they arrive is seventh-grade and the average math level is fifth-grade said principal Mike Williams.

“They come here a few years behind on their education,” Williams said.

Williams said this year’s average student age is 15.2 years of age, with an average reading level of 8.27, about two years behind grade level. The average math level at 6.37, is three and one-half to four years behind grade level. Both scores are an improvement over last year’s scores, he said. It’s important to note these are averages since some students ability is as low as first-grade, and some are as high as post-secondary.

“Many classes have ranges that span several grade levels, making it quite challenging for the teachers,” he said.

ISD employs 15 teachers and six educational assistants at Echo Glen, plus a library tech specialist. That pales in comparison to the 175 state employees who provide round-the-clock psychiatric care, security and maintenance. Williams said for the past 10 years, staff has been using a skill set called Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or DBT, to teach the kids how to deal with challenging situations. A form of psychotherapy, it’s been used to treat people with borderline personality disorder using mindful awareness.

Each teacher has a panic phone in the classroom, which rings to the receptionist in the school. Some students are on individual education plans. Stepping into the library two young women were taking practice tests on computers to get their GEDs. Kids on good behavior often are rewarded by becoming a teacher’s assistant. The student of the month gets a pizza party with other students who met that month’s goal, which is based on a character trait. February’s character trait was self-control.

In the family consumer science classroom, the day before Valentine’s Day, the smell of freshly baked cupcakes wafts through the room. The students baked them to give to another class said teacher, Pat Barry. She said they were also planning a guest event for staff and state workers which they would be preparing all the food for.

“It’s a chance for them to interact with adults and up their social register,” Barry said.

Part of the preparation also included a lesson in etiquette. Barry started at Echo Glen seven years ago as a teacher’s assistant.

“I love it here — it’s my home away from home,” she said. “Of course safety and security are always in the forefront.”

Barry said the kids really like being in her class. It’s an elective, so they want to be there. Most of her students are boys, but that’s because two-thirds of Echo Glen’s population is male. The reward from taking her class is that her students leave with a two-year certificate in food handling, which can help them get work in a grocery store, restaurant or anywhere food is involved. They also get a chance to cater, learn to make nutritious meals on a budget and how to use leftovers.

“They make freezer meals for Timber Lake Church, which distributes the meals to various needy organizations,” Barry said. She pays for the ingredients out of her own pocket.

Next door in parenting class, Debbie McBee, a 23-year teacher at Echo Glen, had the kids engrossed in a lesson on the male reproductive system. Her goal is to teach them how to properly raise children, to learn about sex and abuse — in terms other than slang. The course begins with teaching abstinence but often it’s too late.The parenting class was requested by the courts McBee said, for pregnant girls and expectant fathers, not unheard of in Echo Glen. She uses a closet full of mechanical babies to teach the kids how to take care of an infant. One boy will have a 3-year-old when he gets out of Echo Glen, so this is a valuable tool McBee said.

“If you do hard drugs but don’t ejaculate for two weeks, will the kid still be messed up?” one boy asks.

McBee patiently explains that drugs do effect their sperm, but if they want to be sure a child is not impaired they should wait until their sperm is clean. This class has definitely raised questions, as hands pop up all over the room. One boy asks McBee “what can’t you guys eat when you’re pregnant?” She tells him the expectant mother can eat almost anything, but a healthy diet and no drugs or alcohol will lead to a healthier infant.

McBee said with sex offenders, which there are some in her class, the counseling staff tries to go over the cycle of abuse and intervene to break the cycle. She said she tries not to read her students records before she meets them.

“I’m dealing with their education,” she said. “I try not to get a preconceived opinion. I don’t want to hold anything against them. I want them to know they’re starting fresh.”

The boy who asked about what they can eat is an example, she said. No on has ever explained any of this to him. He lives in the sex offender cottage.

“They’re so curious, but they’ve never had anyone to ask,” McBee said. “They need to learn the appropriate vocabulary, not use words like ‘nuts.'”

An AIDS awareness segment was included in the curriculum one week.

“One of the students said he’d never get AIDS from a shared needle because none of his homies would do that to him,” McBee said.

Then there is LaShae Lee, in her first year at Echo Glen. She is tasked with teaching math, language arts and Washington state history to the maximum security kids, all boys, ages 13 to 16. Their classroom is within a fenced structure; she has staff from both maximum security cottages in the room with her. Somedays, she said, they learn more about being an appropriate student than a math concept or writing skill.

Lee interviewed to be a special education teacher with the district, but was offered this job, and she loves it. Both she and McBee said you either love or hate working at Echo Glen, but you know it right away.

“It’s a big variety of student ability,” Lee said.

Some of her students are at a first-grade math level, where others are at ninth grade. Reading levels range from second grade level to college level. But they are all in her classroom because of their behavior or their crime.

“I’ve never been frightened or challenged,” she said.

A mother of teenagers herself, Lee said her students humor and attention span is pretty similar to her own teenagers.

“Only these boys have gaps of knowledge they didn’t get growing up,” she said. “Bits and pieces are missing.”

That’s because the boys have not experienced much support or guidance by an adult. Interestingly, they treat the security staff like rock stars Lee said, because they are consistent and supportive adults, something many of them have never experienced. If a boy or girl is tried as a juvenile and got juvenile “life,” they can be released at 21.Some will move on to a group home if it’s a good next step for them, assuming the student is doing well academically and their behavior is trustworthy.

“The reason I’m here is because I think these kids can turn themselves around,” McBee said.

There is a full dental clinic at Echo Glen Children’s Center. Principal Mike Williams said kids who come in who have been involved with methamphetamine usually need a great deal of dental care.

A breakdown of the facility:

The kids at Echo Glen are housed in cottages, with 16 to 20 per building, each in their own individual cells. Each cottage is geared toward a specific type of treatment model. Upon intake, each child is tested to determine where they need to be. There are cottages for those dealing with substance abuse, sex offenses, female mental health, male mental health, anger management issues and then there are the maximum security cottages. The only cottage that is co-ed is the drug treatment cottage, but it’s divided into zones. There is one restroom per four kids, but only one is allowed in the restroom at a time.

Both mental and physical health needs are met at Echo Glen, with a doctor on staff three days a week, and dentists every day. Youths who arrive with methamphetamine mouth desperately need dental work. A psychiatrist is on staff three days a week, and three consulting psychologists are always available.

There are usually four security officers on duty, but some days only two due to budget cuts. But all of the staff is trained in de-escalation and dealing with resistive youth.

Recreation is an integral part of daily life at Echo Glen. A large field is used for football, soccer and baseball. A gymnasium and indoor pool are on campus. One hour a day each student is expected to engage in some sort of physical activity.

There is also a chapel for spiritual nourishment.

The kids at Echo Glen are there six months on average but some have been there for as long as three years. Girls can stay until they are 21 – if a girl was tried as an adult and has additional time to serve a sentence, she will be transferred to an adult Department of Corrections Facility at age 21.

Without any PTSA or built-in community support, the teachers at Echo have made an Amazon Wish List of books, and they are asking for broad community support.

Debbie McBee, left, has taught at Echo Glen for 23 years. LaShae Lee, right, is in her first year at Echo Glen, teaching math, language arts and Washington State History to maximum security students.

Garden beds are tended by the students in a horticulture class. They sell their harvest to the public to earn money, while learning about growing healthy food.