About us

The skills centers in Washington State exist to fill the need for local school districts to operate programs cooperatively that are too expensive or too specialized to operate individually. After operating a few programs since 1974 as the "West Valley Coop," the Spokane Skills Center opened the doors of its current building in the Fall of 1982.

The Spokane Skills Center originally served 8 districts and has since expanded to 11 districts covering all of Spokane County. It currently operates 15 different programs.

In 1982, the legislature authorized funding to expand skills centers' operations to provide a summer session, which has resulted in the skills centers operating as a year-‘round school. Additional funding has since been provided to reduce the barriers for our at-risk youth.