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Hill Country Youth Ranch

Hill Country Youth Ranch
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Non-ProfitOrganizations

Hours:

M - F
8AM - 5PM

About Us

Established in 1977, Hill Country Youth Ranch is a non-profit charitable corporation licensed by the Texas Department of Family/Protective Services to provide long-term therapeutic care for abused and orphaned children at all levels of trauma and need.

HCYR operates three campuses, all located northwest of San Antonio in the Texas Hill Country. All three campuses feature family-style homes, state-of-the art charter schools for grades K – 12, amazing recreational facilities, and spacious, beautiful grounds.

Taking an individualized approach, HCYR offers a broad continuum of services, including residential treatment for severely traumatized children, family care for those who have stabilized, transitional living for young adults, and life-long family-based support for alumni.

Video Media

Highlights

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Jonah our music minister leading the kids in song during our 2018 Thanksgiving celebration!
We always make sure to have great food for all who come out to any of our awesome events to support our wonderful children!
Registration and fundraising is underway for our 2019 Headwaters of the Frio Marathon/Half Marathon/10K
A family friendly event, our 2018 Headwaters of the Frio Marathon/Half Marathon/10K
Serious runners from around the state enjoy the scenery of our Big Springs Ranch for Children while also qualifying for other runs.
Oma Bell spent ten years visiting various organizations throughout the U.S., finally choosing the son of another hill country ranching family, Gary Priour, who had founded Hill Country Youth Ranch 50 miles away in 1977, to accept the challenge. The year was 1996, and Oma Bell would live long enough to see children playing in the river and studying in the charter school, experiencing the healing qualities of the beautiful land for which she had spent her life caring.
The Brune campus, located near Leakey on the beautiful Big Springs Ranch, extends along the banks of the Frio River with a ten-building complex. In addition to standard classrooms, facilities include a fully equipped science lab, a state of the art computer learning center with video streaming for distance learning, a music room, an art studio, a well-equipped home economics room, and a journalism and photography center.
The Ed Brune Charter School was granted its charter by the Texas Education Agency in 2000 and became the first of three charter schools managed by Hill Country Youth Ranch, giving the Ranch an accredited educational alternative for serving its residents. The school provides high quality individualized education for students in grades K – 12.
The horse program is as old as HCYR, dating to the building of a barn and arena on the Ingram campus in 1980. Donated ponies and camp horses, along with a few capable volunteers, started the program. Michael Priour took it over in 1992 and still runs it.
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A stables and arena provide opportunity for children to learn horse care, and to participate in training them.
Summer is special at HCYR, The staff puts great effort into planning summers full of opportunities, including work, gift-building, play and travel. Every child participates in some way to enhance individual talents, accomplish projects, learn new skills and have fun as well.
Afternoons are full of electives like music, dance, art, photography, sports training, outdoor adventure, cooking, fishing, and more. Instructors encourage participants to plan and executive projects, such as a synchronized swimming show, a new mural, or a play for the community to see.
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Every summer the kids enjoy learning about gardening and eventually the fruits of their labor
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Vocational Education, Our internship programs allow young people to learn woodworking, mechanics, horticulture, landscaping, video or audio studio editing, photography, and computer skills.
With our indoor olympic size pool we are able to teach every child to swim and offer a competitive swim team!
Recreation provides life-changing experience through adventure, challenge, exercise and play. It offers healthy replacements for destructive behavior patterns.
Every member of our staff loves what they do and every child at the ranch; this is why we call it family.
We are so thankful for the love, care and support from all our staff and volunteers.
We learned early in our work that art, music, poetry and theater are powerful healing tools for traumatized children. An otherwise non-responsive child may be able to draw, mold, paint, write, or dramatize what he cannot speak about himself.
Hill Country Youth Ranch is a Christian home for children. The living experience of faith is recorded in each page of our history.
Built in 2008, Najim Charter School serves students in grades 8-12 at HCYR in Ingram. The school includes eight self-contained classrooms, a student learning center, rooms for special education, and an office where counselors can see students throughout the day.
Built in 2005, Cailloux Charter School serves students in grades 1-7 at Hill Country Youth Ranch in Ingram. This school includes eight self-contained classrooms, a student learning center, and an adjacent counseling center. A campus gymnasium, cafeteria, athletic field, playground, and agricultural barn complement the classroom building.
A family is forever. We remain involved in our children’s lives for a lifetime. Each graduate becomes an automatic member of the HCYR Alumni Association, entitling them to apply, regardless of age, for one of HCYR’s college scholarships, for emergency financial aid and for other benefits, such as coming for stays at the Alumni Retreat House or attending reunions.

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