Student Profile

Students at The Academy at Swift River therapeutic boarding school in Mass have a great deal in common. They tend to be very bright, creative, powerful and loving young men and women.

At the time of admission, however, these are not the descriptors that many would use to characterize them. Instead, they are typically seen as underachieving, impulsive, and oppositional and defiant. Many of our students begin their journey at Swift River possessing a low self-esteem, making poor decisions, lacking a direction in life, and not understanding the negative impact that they are having on their family and friends. Additionally, many of our students have experimented with drugs and/or alcohol, been sexually promiscuous, are acting out at home and in the classroom, and have shown decreasing respect for themselves and others. These students are also making poor choices of peers and have become unresponsive to authority figures.

Academically, our students are not reaching their full potential in the classroom, and are often discouraged by learning differences that have never been successfully addressed.

Many of our students have been adopted or gone through a family divorce. It is also not uncommon for our students to have experienced a death or other tragic event in their life.

The typical student seeking admission to The Academy at Swift River is 14 to 17.5 years old (at time of enrollment), enrolled in the 9th through 12th grade, and has demonstrated oppositional behavior with a history of gradual (perhaps sudden) decline into a number of the following behaviors:

• Defiance and opposition to authority
• Anger management difficulties
• Withdrawal or sullenness
• Verbal aggression
• Extreme selfishness — lack of respect or responsibility to others
• Major changes in image and personality
• Lack of confidence
• Lying
• Stealing
• Truancy
• Late hours
• Brief runaways
• Drastic changes in peer associations
• Occasional episodes of explosive behaviors

There may also be a number of secondary or co-occurring issues including:

• Emotional and behavioral disturbances
• Mild to moderate mood disorders
• Lack of personal accountability
• Frequent argumentativeness
• ADD, ADHD
• Bipolar Disorder
• OCD
• Dysthymia
• Major Depression
• Anxiety Disorders
• PTSD
• Substance Abuse

Family circumstances may include:

• Adoption
• Divorce
• Death of a loved one
• Various abuses (physical, verbal, sexual)