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Montcalm School
Albion, Michigan
Norman Ostrum,
Dean of Students, Director of Admissions
(517) 629-5591
http://www.montcalmschool.org
wilsonh@montcalmschool.org
[Visit on July 10 By Ethna Hopper, ethna@schoolcounseling.com]
I drove through the gates at Montcalm School
with a sense of wonder at the serene expanse of lawns and
graceful trees, and amazement at the plethora of buildings,
graceful architecture, and the sculpture installations
everywhere.
When I arrived at the school, situated on
the shore of the natural lake from which the school takes
its name, wonderment gave way to admiration! As I began
to talk with the administrator, various teachers and staff,
I felt that serenity prevailed: each person I met projected
a calm and professional manner. My strongest impression
was that Montcalm and its surrounding community, the Starr
Commonwealth, is a kind and lovingly structured place.
There is no haste or hurry, no pressure, no competitive
edge—just a place where boys can find a better way to live
their lives.
Starr Commonwealth is a 350-acre community founded by Floyd
Starr in the early 1900’s. A native of England, Starr’s vocation
was to provide a healthy place for underprivileged, deprived
and boys in trouble—to grow up. He developed his Commonwealth
over many years, serving the social needs of juveniles from
many states. It was he, and not Father Flanagan of Hollywood
fame, who said and is often quoted: “There is no such thing
as a bad boy!”
The programs of the Commonwealth are intact, but the Montcalm
School was founded only a couple of years ago by a board
that was facing the inevitable cuts in funding that the rest
of the country has been experiencing. There is a capacity
for at least 29 boys, ages 12 to 18 at present, who have
social difficulties, problems with parents, substance abuse
issues. Some of their students have been diagnosed with Asperger’s
Syndrome with accompanying behavioral difficulties. The Board
is also considering the establishment of a Montcalm School
for Girls, using existing girls’ programs as a model.
What is different about Montcalm School is that they are
open to serving a very broad range of students: some may
indeed be emotionally impaired or have threatened suicide,
perhaps with secondary drug and alcohol issues, and some
may have exhibited self-injurious behavior such as cutting.
They are willing to deal with allergies, even serious ones,
and children who are physically handicapped (although they
are not a barrier-free campus.) They are about to enroll
a youngster who is hearing impaired. Montcalm draws the line
only at actively homicidal or suicidal behavior, or the primary
diagnosis of addiction. Montcalm sees itself as an appropriate
placement if a youngster has not succeeded in another residential
program, and applying the philosophy of Mr. Starr, it provides
young men with a structured environment where they can begin
to be successful, where “change can occur from the inside
out”.
Touring the very large campus is best done in a car, accompanied
as I was by Norm Ostrum, Dean of Students and effectively,
Director of Admission. As we drove and talked, I observed
the many other boys who are resident at the Commonwealth,
courtesy of the courts in their home states. These youngsters
were lively, friendly, and very open and agreeable with the
staff and to this visitor. As we moved around the campus
we visited the gym with its Olympic sized pool, handball
courts, and of course basketball. We stopped in at the lovely
little chapel, built to duplicate the church in Mr. Starr’s
home village in England. Most surprising of all, we visited
the museum on the campus, heard the recording of Paul Harvey
telling “the rest of the story” about Starr Commonwealth,
and viewed the many mementos of the program’s history and
growth.
Several very salient aspects of the Montcalm program must
be noted. First, they use a peer culture counseling approach.
There are five group meetings a week, but individual therapy
is available as needed. The group leaders are at a minimum
of a Master’s level in counseling with each group having
10-12 boys. The approach is nurturing, not confrontational,
and school is very much a part of the therapeutic setting.
The daily routine is very structured. Boys live in cottages
in groups, and each group has a Family Worker who is the
liaison between the child, therapist and the family. The
cottage is always staffed, day time counselors and night
time awake staff. The treatment team consists of the lead
therapist Dana Richards, the “youth specialist” (a counselor)
and a teacher.
Cottage life for the boys, including those in the Montcalm
School, is active. They do the food preparation (under supervision),
clean (very well) and each student takes a turn doing the
laundry for the whole cottage..
There is a module of sport every day, with a great gym as
needed and all the outdoor activities –canoeing, swimming,
ice skating and skiing— one could wish for, including fishing
in the lake!
There is a teacher for every cottage, and all the classes
a youngster has are taught by that one teacher. I observed
two classes in the Montcalm program; even though it was a
“one room schoolhouse” situation, it was orderly and pleasant,
bright and big enough that all the students had sufficient
distance from one another. The object is that each youngster
will learn “at his own pace” but the program is better developed
and supervised than some I have seen, due to the special
ed background of the school head. I also visited the school
building of the Commonwealth, which was dynamic and alive.
The Director of Education, Patti Hiatt, is a special education
person long employed by the public school system. Mrs. Hiatt
is just wonderful. Her empathy for the youngster who has
so consistently been beaten up by school was refreshing to
hear.
Montcalm has had a fair amount of experience with Asperger’s
Syndrome. As educational consultants know, a common dynamic
in these families is that the child and mother become “enmeshed”
and the father becomes distant. Often in adolescence the
balance shifts and the child is angry that he is unable to
separate from the mother whose over-protectiveness is both
smothering and enticing. At that point the school frequently
cannot handle the behaviors the child exhibits and neither
can the parents. Montcalm welcomes these youngsters with
the goal of helping them to develop care and concern for
others, and a measure of independence from both parents.
They are, in fact, considering development of a post-high
school program for 18 year old Asperger’s Syndrome young
people.
Montcalm has a consulting psychiatrist who is on campus once
a week, and can deal with students on medications of varying
types. The staff is trained in physical restraint, “life
space crisis” intervention, working through to lessen the
crisis. Even though the campus is very open, one-half mile
from the interstate highway, runaways are most infrequent.
It’s easy to see why. As I drove away from the campus to
make the one-hour trip to Detroit airport, I reflected on
Mr. Starr’s oft-spoken dictum: “Beauty is a silent teacher.”
Everything about the campus and the people at Montcalm teaches
much about what is good and loving in life.
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