The residential program at Grove School is designed to create structure and predictability while providing safety and care for each student. Within the residences of our program, students work on their individual issues while learning how they fit into a larger community. Intrapersonal and interpersonal skills are developed within the milieu.
Our students live in dormitories that house six to ten students each. Bedrooms are organized as double and triple accommodations, with a few large bed rooms that house four students. Students are assigned to dorms based on their gender, age and developmental stage.
Students are responsible for the organization and on-going cleaning of their rooms. Students are encouraged to decorate their rooms in their individual style. Each dorm has a communal lounge for socialization. Each lounge has cable television, a telephone, refrigerator and microwave. Our dormitories have internet access from 7:15p-10p nightly with expanded day hours on the weekends.
Each dorm is managed by one residential administrator who oversees two live-in Teacher/Counselors who work a rotating schedule to provide supervision to the students using the Educateur Model. A weekly dorm meeting is held to foster a healthy and productive communal living experience for the collective and individuals it comprises.
The Educateur Model
Our Teacher/Counselors supervise the students in the dormitory, and teach them during the academic day. They eat meals with the students, participate in a wide variety of activities together, lead clubs and oversee students’ daily living skills. The Wholistic nature of this lifestyle encompasses not only the caring implicit in residential life, but also involvement in counseling and the management of a family-like atmosphere. The Educateur Model provides unique continuity and consistency of care that fosters positive relationships among students and staff.
We work to help students in our residential program become independent of our direct supervision, by a carefully modulated increase in self-management and through selective responsibilities. The tone of the entire facility is intended to resemble, as far as possible, a wholesome family situation within the larger context of community.
As the student demonstrates more responsibility and accountability, the amount of direct supervision is decreased. Eventually, students may earn the opportunity to go downtown without direct staff supervision or participate in off-campus employment.
At Grove School, fostering student independence is done both formally and informally by our staff. Grove School recognizes the importance of helping students become individuals and continue to encourage students to be positive contributors toward the community. Advisors, Therapists, Teacher-Counselors and other staff help students gain the skills necessary to be independent and self-reliant.
As students are assisted in becoming more accountable and responsible, their awareness of what independence means is elevated. Helping students find the balance between self-advocacy and community-mindedness becomes the next step in their growth. Learning to appropriately utilize resources and developing a strong work ethic are among the many life lessons worked on in our therapeutic boarding school program.
The Grove program runs year-round. There are four vacation periods, each are about two weeks in duration. During a student’s initial transition period, they may go home once a month. After about six months, students may travel home as often as every other weekend if schoolwork, behavioral, and family issues are being addressed.
Parents and family members are welcome to visit their children at Grove. The timing and logistics of the visits are coordinated with the child’s Advisor, who is a member of the administrative team.