Grove School (Connecticut)

Grove School, in Madison, Conn., is a private, coeducational college-preparatory therapeutic boarding and day school (grades 7–12 and an optional postgraduate year). It utilizes a year-round trimester calendar, with four two-week breaks. Total enrollment is about 160 students.

History

Grove was founded as a boys’ school in 1934 by Dr. Jess Perlman, who led the school until 1956. From 1956 to 1986, Dr. Jack Sanford Davis served as Executive Director. In 1986, Richard L. Chorney purchased Grove, converted it into a for-profit propriety corporation with a board of directors, and appointed himself Executive Director and President & CEO. In the fall of 1991, Grove School became coeducational. In 2000, Peter J. Chorney replaced his father as the Executive Director.

Students

Grove serves a student body with various needs. Common problems include mood disorders, school truancy, anxiety, depression, ADD/ADHD, OCD, Tourette's, ODD, eating disorders, NVLD, Asperger's, PTSD, learning differences, and borderline personality traits. Grove attempts to provide a supportive therapeutic network for these problems. Grove School typically does not accept students who may be delinquent, chronic runaway, actively psychotic, excessively disruptive, violent, dependent substance abusers, actively suicidal, severely self-injurious, sex offenders, or fire setters.

Most students hail from the Tristate Area and the New York metropolitan area, although some are from states including California, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Texas, and countries including Kuwait, Austria, and Haiti.

Faculty

Members of the employee community include teachers, faculty advisors, psychiatrists, therapists, and nurses, in addition to administrative and maintenance staff, a business office, care staff, and many others. An advisor, therapist, psychiatrist, and academic case manager comprise a treatment team, which maintains close contact with a student's family and school district, if applicable. Most faculty work full-time. Of the thirty teachers, about twenty are dorm counselors as well. Many are recruited from local teaching colleges, and they typically stay on staff for no more than two years Special education teachers also work as academic case managers. Advisors, who are assigned to about five students, double as administrators-on-duty or directors. Therapists typically have an LCSW, PhD, or other credential, and psychiatrists may also work as therapists. Many of the clinicians maintain private practices aside from Grove. Nurses either have an LPN or RN degree. Leading the program, Richard Chorney is the President & CEO of Grove School, and his son, Peter Chorney, is the Executive Director. Dr. Richard Rubin is the clinical director, Sean Kursawe is the principal, and Bob Ruggiero is the education director.

College placement

Students graduate from Grove and matriculate to a variety of two or four year colleges, or to work in a number of vocations Some of the most popular college choices include Middlesex Community College, Mitchell College, Morehouse College, Amherst College, Swarthmore College, Central Connecticut State University, Spellman College, Southern Connecticut State University, the University of Connecticut, Curry College, Yale University, Clark University, and Keene State College.

Co-curricular activities

Grove has an extensive program in the performing arts that creates frequent student productions. Students may also choose to participate in a variety of varsity and junior varsity athletic teams. After the school day and on weekends, there are numerous recreational activities on and off campus. Student-run clubs meet weekly under the direction of a faculty adviser. Grove has a chapter of the National Honor Society. Finally, some students can engage in independent studies at Grove.

ASTEE, or Alternative Site Therapeutic and Educational Experience, is a signature program at Grove. ASTEE strives to connect students to the natural world in a setting outside of the traditional classroom. Typically lasting about a week, the program brings students abroad, where they have the chance to practice responsibility, leadership, and teamwork, while strengthening community.

Campus

Grove School is situated on ninety acres of marshes and woodlands, directly adjacent to the I-95 highway. The dormitories include White House, Middle House, Tessler-Olshin duplex, Lodge, Perlman, Redlich, Patch, Charles, Loomis, Grey House, Red House, and Blue House. Grove has constructed many new buildings in the past five years. In 2010, the Alice Chorney Education Center, with nine classrooms, a science lab, a conference room, and a media center. In 2011, an office was built for the administrators-on-duty (AODs) during the day. In 2012, the Robert A. J. Ranieri III Athletics and Recreation Center was completed. In 2015, construction was finished on two new dormitories, the Tessler-Olshin duplex. Finally, in January 2016, a new dining hall was opened with new office space for therapists that opened in September.

External links

• Grove School website