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Boarding School Prepares Students, Parents for Transitions

Though they often represent great opportunities, times of transition can also be fraught with obstacles and misgivings.

From the fifth grader facing his first day at a new school to the college graduate preparing for her first day on the job, individuals in transition often experience conflicting emotions. And in many cases, the difference between success and failure is determined by how prepared a person is to handle these emotions during these stressful times.

For students who are entering, progressing through or graduating from a therapeutic boarding school, times of change can be particularly critical to long-term success.

Recognizing this reality, the Academy at Swift River (ASR), a therapeutic boarding school in Cummington, Massachusetts, has instituted a number of effective transition support programs for students and their parents.

From the time they arrive on the academy’s stunning 630-acre campus until they become proud members of the school’s alumni corps, ASR students and their families benefit from a comprehensive system of transition support. Though ongoing and integrated throughout a student’s time at ASR, the academy’s emphasis on transition support is particularly notable in the following five areas:

1. Orientation
2. Initial Working Visit
3. Parent Workshops
4. Transition Seminar
5. Alumni Support

Orientation

The vast majority of students come to the Academy at Swift River from prior placement -- and in most cases, this prior placement was a therapeutic wilderness program. Though wilderness offers a wide range of benefits for young people in crisis, the transition back into the “real” world can be counterproductive if not managed appropriately.

“When they were in the wilderness, the students were in a natural environment, yet paradoxically one that was also artificial,” said Frank Bartolomeo, Ph.D., the executive director of the Academy at Swift River. “Suddenly, the students are back in a more normalized environment, with all the stresses and pressures that go along with that.”

In order to help the students make a smooth adjustment from a wilderness program to academy life, the school designed the Pathways Orientation Program.

“For the first two weeks, all students participate in the orientation program during the school day,” Bartolomeo said. “It serves as kind of a debriefing period between wilderness or other intensive intervention and a boarding school. All the new kids are orienting and going through a curriculum where we explain our model, introduce our principles and get them accommodated to our environment.”

During this gradual introduction, the students have the opportunity to meet, interact with and learn from their peers.They eat meals, play sports and live in the dorms with more veteran students.

By having the time during the academic portion of the day to focus on their transition and complete the Pathways program, Bartolomeo said, “they are becoming acclimated to what it means to be a Swift River student.”

Initial Working Visit

After the teens have been at Swift River for about five weeks, their parents come to campus for an Initial Working Visit. During this daylong meeting, the students and their parents sit down with academy personnel (including the academic director, academic advisors and therapists) to discuss issues including length of stay and objectives.

“During this meeting we’re really emphasizing that the students and their parents are collaborators in this process,“ Bartolomeo said. “It’s not just a fun visit or supervised family meeting. It’s focused on a specific objective. They’re involved in the treatment plan and the academic plan.”

Following the working visit, an academy therapist leads the student and parents through a family therapy session to process what just occurred and address any issues that may have arisen during the meetings.

Parent Workshops

With an average stay of about 15 months, teens at ASR have an excellent opportunity to adapt to academy life and embrace their potential for growth and development. To help parents develop a similar sense of support, the school sponsors two types of parent workshops:

• New Family Orientation -- Scheduled every three to four months, these daylong workshops are designed to re-introduce parents to academy policies, practices and personnel. “The placement process can be such an emotional time that info they receive doesn’t always stick with them,” Bartolomeo said. “So, we found that inviting them back up for a structured day is very beneficial for the parents. They get to meet other parents, exchange stories and realize that they’re not alone in what their family is experiencing.”

• Team Parent Workshops -- Occurring about every five months, the two-day Team Parent Workshops bring together parents of students who have been at the academy for varying lengths of time. “At the Team Parent Workshops, parents of new students have the opportunity to interact and learn from parents of students who are further along the process,” Bartolomeo said. “This helps the parents put their kids’ experiences in perspective, reduces their sense of isolation and helps parents to develop a support network within the program.”

Transition Seminar

The day before graduation, the academy holds a transition seminar for all graduating students and their families. The purpose of this workshop is to finalize each family’s transition plan, and to ensure that both parents and teens are prepared for the next phase of their lives.

The school also typically invites former students and their parents to attend the transition seminars to discuss their experiences since leaving the Academy at Swift River.

“Change is most frequently not a linear process, it’s a back-and-forth process,” Bartolomeo said. “So we educate our students and our families that there will be setbacks and bumps in the road, and we provide them with the support and guidance they need to navigate over and around those obstacles.”

Alumni Support

Though a student’s day-to-day interactions with Swift River personnel ends with graduation, the school’s guidance and support does not disappear when a diploma is granted or an enrollment period comes to a close.

For families who desire additional transitional support once the teen has returned home, the academy offers an alumni service that consists of weekly phone calls for six months following the student’s time on campus.

Also, months prior to the student’s departure, academy personnel may take a number of steps to ensure that the family is as prepared as possible for the specific challenges they are likely to encounter.

“We will arrange for families to meet with therapists during their home visit,” Bartolomeo said. “We’ll make bridging calls to the therapists. We’ll have students meet with support personnel at the college they plan to attend, and arrange for them to attend an AA meeting near the college.”

About the Academy at Swift River

The Academy at Swift River is a private therapeutic boarding school designed to help struggling teens get their lives back on track by restoring their ability to establish and maintain healthy relationships, rediscovering their potential for academic success, and preparing them to meet the challenges of adolescence and young adulthood.

The Swift River experience provides students with the structure and support they need to identify, address and overcome issues that are preventing them from achieving their academic, social, spiritual, physical and emotional potential.