|
SHORTRIDGE ACADEMY
Milton, New Hampshire
Roger Topp - Admissions Director
603-755-3096
Rogertopp@shortridgeacademy.com
www.shortridgeacademy.com
Visit by: Kristie Henley - September 12, 2004
Kristie@woodbury.com
 As
I drove down the narrow country road leading to Shortridge
Academy, I tried to imagine what the campus might look like.
I turned off the country road and pulled into the driveway,
which opened up to a wide and beautiful campus. Driving up
to the school, I observed that there was an overall relaxed
and comfortable feeling on the campus kids lounged in the
yard doing homework, played in the soccer field and played
basketball. The main building is large and they were building
an addition at the time of my visit. Despite the construction,
it felt safe and warm as I got out of my car and headed toward
the doors.
When I walked up to the building, there were two doors to
choose from, and I was unsure of exactly which door to enter.
I asked a couple of the students where I might find Roger
Topp, Admission Director, and they quickly took me inside
and showed me the staircase to the administrative offices.
The administrative offices are located on the upper level
of the building.
Walking toward the admissions office, I saw the familiar
face of Bruce Wilson, Co-Program Director who introduced me
to Roger. A short tour around the administration office gave
me a feel for some of the structure at Shortridge. After talking
with Roger for an initial overview of the Shortridge program,
I met Adam Rainer, Founder/ Co-Program Director.
Students rarely get to come into the administration offices,
but that day, two neatly dressed students walked up as I talked
with Adam, they introduced themselves and led me off for a
tour around the campus. As we walked, they shared their stories
and described life at Shortridge.
Shortridge is a college prep boarding school, with an impressive
curriculum, and one-on-one tutoring for students if needed.
Appropriate students often struggle with low self-esteem,
poor decision making, poor relationships, sexual promiscuity,
experimentation with drugs and/or alcohol, lying and/or a
lack of direction in their lives. The school can accept students
with very mild learning disabilities or ADD/ ADHD, but cannot
work with dual-diagnosis students. They can take up to 42
students, ages 14-17. Shortridge does not offer a clinical
component; however, there is a therapist on staff just in
case. Approximately 75 percent of the students come into the
program on psychotropic medications.
One of the students who toured me around the campus had spent
13-months at Shortridge. She was in phase III, made excellent
eye contact and was comfortable sharing her story with me.
The other student was a boy who had been there approximately
nine months. The students talked realistically, rather than
as if they had been programmed. They didn't use 'buzz words'
or concepts, but talked openly about themselves and why they
were here. They wanted to share not only the good things about
the school, but also their personal struggles; not wanting
to be there in the beginning, broken agreements during their
experience, and how they overcame their obstacles. I felt
very comfortable opening up and sharing my experiences as
a student in the early 90's as we toured the campus.
The main level of the building consists of classrooms, a
dining hall, an industrial kitchen and a cubby area, comparable
to an open mini-locker for each of the students to store their
belongings during school. Some of the renovations underway
while I was there, included adding more classrooms, and renovating
the storage facilities in the basement where they were creating
better cubby facilities. Also in the basement of the admin
building was the pantry and the yard tool and sporting equipment
storage rooms.
 We
followed the road from the basement of the admin building
down to the girls' cabin. Each cabin consists of one main
gathering/ study room in the middle as you walk in, and four
bedrooms with two bathrooms. Laundry facilities are located
in one of the bathrooms of the cabin as well, and there is
an apartment for live-in staff. Each cabin can house up to
20 students, with four to five bunks in each room. Students
are responsible for the upkeep of the cabin and use chore
rotations to help hold each other accountable.
The girls' dorm was very clean with everything put away and
beds made. Each girl has a cubby near her bunk with personal
effects, books, decorations from home, and personal bedding
covering her bunk. Stuffed animals littered some of the beds
in the rooms I visited, and personal pictures lined the walls
in collage fashion. The bathroom in the girl's dorm was vibrant
with decorations. Dried flowers in vases lined the sinks and
colorful bathrobes lined the walls. There were even pictures
and artwork hung on the walls, and ribbons' framed the bathroom
stalls. A lot of pride went into decorating this cabin, which
told me good things were happening here, for many of these
students came to Shortridge with low self-esteem and motivation.
While in the girls' dorm, I met a girl who had been at Shortridge
only three months. She was still in a compliant stage, admitting
that she needed to be here, but not necessarily believing
this was a better option for her than her previous direction.
We left the girls' dorm and headed up the road to the boys'
dorm. In the main room of the boys' dorm, there were two couches
rather than the desks as in the girls' dorm. Although not
quite as clean as the girls' dorm, the boys' dorm was also
tidy, and decorated with pictures and personal effects. Several
of their beds also contained stuffed animals. Childhood was
ever present in each of the rooms I visited.
 As
we walked further up the road, we came across a nature trail
that students in the orientation phase were creating. We deviated
from the road to walk the loop and the students explained
the level system of Shortridge Academy.
Phase I, Foundations, allows students to slow down, simplify
their world in a safe and structured environment while taking
a look at what they do - not necessarily taking responsibility
for it yet. The students explore the questions: "Who
am I?" "Why am I here?" and "Am I honest?"
Students at this point (as witnessed with the girl who'd only
been at Shortridge for three months) will typically begin
to open up and acknowledge the behaviors that brought them
to Shortridge Academy.
In Phase II, Relationships, students ponder questions like,
“Where am I going?” “What are my goals and dreams?” and “Are
my relationships supportive?” Students begin to realize that
healthy friendships are important and start taking accountability
for their behaviors. They write letters to family and healthy
friends from home and start setting up support networks both
back home and at the school.
Phase III, Leadership, is the most independent portion of
the Shortridge program. Students in Phase III obtain a high
level of trust, and therefore have more freedoms. The girl
on the tour explained that her phase work included questions
such as “How do I get to where I want to go? And “How do I
define success for myself?” She shared how her role transformed
from focusing on her issues/ behaviors, to helping newer students
with their phase work and working outside the school around
the community. She also shared that she was a little apprehensive
about her leadership skills.
One thing that struck me about the students at Shortridge
was how they referred to each other in age terms. The girl
who toured me was “older” than the boy, not because she was
chronologically older, but because she had been at Shortridge
longer. Another factor that impressed me was that almost every
student came from a wilderness program prior to attending
Shortridge. Although it's not required, students who come
from a wilderness tend to respond better to the emotional
growth components of the school. If a student comes and is
resistant, Shortridge will request the student go to a wilderness
before returning to the school.
Walking back up to the school, we passed a house where one
of the staff members lived with his family. The students explained
that six of the staff members live on campus with their families
and animals. The students feel safe having dogs on campus
and it creates more of a homelike feeling than a strict boarding
school.
Before leaving Shortridge, I looked around the campus, and
noticed how involved all the staff are with the students.
Adam Rainer was down in the field playing relay games with
a PE group, Roger was working with another group, and teachers
were talking with smaller groups or helping students in a
one-on-one setting. The students continued with their normal
routine and did not appear distracted by my visit. I felt
both safe and at peace as I ended my visit and drove away.
Return to Strugglingteens.com
Home
Copyright ©
2005, Woodbury Reports, Inc. (This article may be reproduced
without prior approval if the copyright notice and proper
publication and author attribution accompanies the copy.)
|
