Élan School: Difference between revisions
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'''Élan School''' is a private, [[coeducational]], controversial residential [[behavior modification]] program and [[therapeutic boarding school]] (beginning with 8th grade and extending beyond high school completion) in [[Poland, Maine|Poland]], [[Androscoggin County, Maine|Androscoggin County]], [[Maine]]. |
'''Élan School''' is a private, [[coeducational]], controversial residential [[behavior modification]] program and [[therapeutic boarding school]] (beginning with 8th grade and extending beyond high school completion) in [[Poland, Maine|Poland]], [[Androscoggin County, Maine|Androscoggin County]], [[Maine]]. It is a full member of the [[National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs]] (NATSAP). |
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As of 2010, the school reported enrollment of 150 students.<ref>[http://www.elanschool.com/population.htm Population at Élan School], Élan School website, accessed February 21, 2010</ref> The school is located on a {{convert|33|acre|ha|adj=on}} [[campus]]<ref name=Wack/> that was formerly a [[hunting lodge]].<ref>[http://www.elanalum.com/ Elan Alum website], accessed February 21, 2010</ref> |
As of 2010, the school reported enrollment of 150 students.<ref>[http://www.elanschool.com/population.htm Population at Élan School], Élan School website, accessed February 21, 2010</ref> The school is located on a {{convert|33|acre|ha|adj=on}} [[campus]]<ref name=Wack/> that was formerly a [[hunting lodge]].<ref>[http://www.elanalum.com/ Elan Alum website], accessed February 21, 2010</ref> |
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== Further reading == |
== Further reading == |
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* Eva Pappas (2006), ''The Other Son - One Family's Personal War on Drugs'', Lagrimas & Clean Slate Publishers Group. ISBN 0977718719, ISBN 978-0977718719. This book describes Elan's program under a fictitious name. |
* Eva Pappas (2006), ''The Other Son - One Family's Personal War on Drugs'', Lagrimas & Clean Slate Publishers Group. ISBN 0977718719, ISBN 978-0977718719. This book describes Elan's program under a fictitious name. |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Elan School}} |
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Revision as of 18:10, 15 December 2010
| ÉLAN SCHOOL | |
|---|---|
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| Address | |
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PO Box 578 , 04274 | |
| Coordinates | 44°00′27″N 70°23′10″W / 44.0075°N 70.386°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Private therapeutic boarding school |
| Opened | 1970 |
| Grades | 8-12 |
| Age range | 14-18 |
| Affiliations | NATSAP |
Élan School is a private, coeducational, controversial residential behavior modification program and therapeutic boarding school (beginning with 8th grade and extending beyond high school completion) in Poland, Androscoggin County, Maine. It is a full member of the National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs (NATSAP).
As of 2010, the school reported enrollment of 150 students.[1] The school is located on a 33-acre (13 ha) campus[2] that was formerly a hunting lodge.[3]
The school acquired some notoriety during the 1990s and early 2000s when former classmates of Michael Skakel, who had attended Élan in the 1970s, testified against him in his trial for an unsolved murder that had occurred about two years before he enrolled at Élan.[4] The school has also been the subject of persistent allegations of abuse in their behavioral modification program. [5][6]
History
Élan School was founded in 1970 by psychiatrist Gerald Davidson and Joseph Ricci. Ricci was head of the school for most of its history. Since his death in 2001, his widow Sharon Terry has headed the school.[7][8]
Program
The school specializes in helping teenagers with behavioral problems. Students attend year-round.[9] In 2002, a New Jersey educational consultant who had referred students to Elan for 22 years told the New York Times that he would refer only "the most serious cases" to the school, which he said would "take kids who haven't responded to other programs and who are really out of control."[8]
The school's treatment methods are based on the "TC" or therapeutic community modality popularized in the 1960s at facilities such as Synanon, and later at Daytop Village.[10]
In 2002, a New Jersey educational consultant told the New York Times that the school was "certainly not for the faint-hearted." He said "There's lots of confrontation," but added "and yet there are lots of hugs."[8]
Controversy
Throughout its history the school has been faced with numerous allegations of student mistreatment. In 2001, Details Magazine cited Elan as "among the most controversial of the nation's residential therapeutic communities."[11]
In 1975, Illinois state officials pulled 11 children out of the Élan program, charging that they had been mistreated.[2]
In 2002 during the trial of Michael Skakel witnesses testified that beatings and public humiliation were parts of life at Élan during the late 1970s.[2] In trial testimony, former students also described the practice of placing a student in a "boxing ring" surrounded by classmates who confronted the student.[12][13] The New York Times has reported that, at the school, "smiling without permission can lead to a session of cleaning urinals with a toothbrush that can last for hours."[14].
The New York State Education Department, which has paid tuition for special education students to attend Élan School, gave the school a favorable review in 2005.[15] In 2007, however, New York education officials raised questions about the school's practices, alleging in a letter to the school and Maine education officials that Élan students were physically restraining their peers and being deprived of sleep. The allegations prompted the state of New York to threaten to withdraw tuition money for taxpayer-funded students. The school's lawyer contested the allegations.[2]
Notable alumni
See also
References
- ^ Population at Élan School, Élan School website, accessed February 21, 2010
- ^ a b c d New York seeks change at Elan School, By Kevin Wack, Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram, March 25, 2007
- ^ Elan Alum website, accessed February 21, 2010
- ^ a b A Miscarriage of Justice: Reform-School Witnesses, The Atlantic, January/February 2003
- ^ [1], The Huffington Post, January 2009
- ^ [2], The New York Times, June 2002
- ^ About Elan School, Elan School website, accessed February 21, 2010
- ^ a b c Warren St. John, Skeletons in the Classroom, New York Times, June 2, 2002
- ^ Basic School Approval Report Pertaining to the Elan School, Maine Department of Education, September 3, 2002; archived by archive.org on January 1, 2007
- ^ a b DeRogatis, Jim (2001). "Screeching Halt". SPIN Magazine. 17 (3). SPIN Media LLC: 124.
- ^ "Bad Company: The Elan School." Details Magazine, [3], November 2001.
- ^ Associated Press, Possible motive surfaces in murder trial, May 18, 2002
- ^ Moxley case puts school's methods on trial, undated article on MarthaMoxley.com website, attributed to Brian MacQuarrie and A.J. Higgins of the Boston Globe, retrieved November 15, 2009
- ^ New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/02/style/skeletons-in-the-classroom.html, June 02, 2002
- ^ Special Education Quality Assurance Nondistrict Program Review: Final Report, Élan School, New York State Education Department / The University of the State of New York, November 2, 2005; archived on Élan School website, accessed February 21, 2010
External links
- Elan School
- Elan School Alumni
- Elan School Visit Report, by Tom Croke, Struggling Teens, June 1992
- Elan School Visit Report, by Louise Kreiner and Amy D'Uva, May 17, 2007; Struggling Teens website, Jun 26, 2007
- Kevin Gray, Bad Company: The Elan School, Details magazine, November 2001, pages 88–97
- David Gurliacci, Ex-students at Skakel trial describe Elan as 'horrific', Portland Press Herald, May 31, 2002
Further reading
- Maura Curley (1991), Duck in a Raincoat, Menuki Press. ISBN 0962952206. An unauthorized biography of the founder of the Elan School, Joe Ricci.
- Eva Pappas (2006), The Other Son - One Family's Personal War on Drugs, Lagrimas & Clean Slate Publishers Group. ISBN 0977718719, ISBN 978-0977718719. This book describes Elan's program under a fictitious name.