alley View School is a small, private, residential treatment center providing a year-round therapeutic environment for boys between the ages of eleven and sixteen who are having difficulty coping with their family, the world around them, and themselves. While these boys are generally bright, healthy and attractive youngsters from a wide variety of family and geographic backgrounds, they all share a common experience -- performing below their academic and social potential and behaving in a self-defeating manner.

Located a mile and a half from the rural, central Massachusetts town of North Brookfield, Valley View School provides an ideal setting for experiencing a wide variety of wholesome and stimulating activities. The property encompasses 215 acres of timberland and fields bordering the town reservoir. The main building, a completely remodeled farm structure dating back to the 1830s, contains comfortable single, double, and triple dormitory rooms, a large dining room, and several lounges and recreational areas. Other facilities of the school include two academic buildings, educational resource/computer center, and creative arts studio. Athletic facilities include a full court gymnasium and a multi-purpose athletic field. Most importantly, however, the school maintains a staff, equal in number to that of the students, to offer a comprehensive program integrating the range of services -- educational, psychotherapeutic, medical, and recreational -- necessary to achieve each youngster's greatest individual potential.

he school provides a relaxed yet distinctly structured environment for adolescents who, for a variety of reasons, are not adjusting to life with their families or to a more traditional boarding school. Some of our boys have experienced problems with authority and are oppositional; others are unhappy and restless and possess great quantities of physical energy which they are unable to channel in meaningful ways. Other boys are overly lethargic, bored, or depressed. The majority of students have had difficulty dealing with traditional educational instruction and are behind in schoolwork. Many lack an awareness of the effect that their behavior has upon others and often seem to "not get it."

This is a phenomenon usually associated with the diagnostic picture of a non-verbal learning difficulty. Whatever the case, however, all have become a source of frustration to their families.

Because more traditional psychotherapeutic intervention has been ineffective for so many of the boys referred to us, we must first attempt to communicate with a youngster at his level of willingness rather than subscribe to any narrow theoretical model. An environment is provided which offers each boy the quality of human interaction and instruction necessary to develop a better feeling about himself, a greater sense of self-confidence, and an ability to interact with others in a more meaningful way. From these attitudinal and behavioral changes arises the maturity which is gained through increased awareness of self and the surrounding world.

he philosophy of Valley View derives from the rather simple theoretical position which states that effective, positive change can occur only within a context of honest communication, where expectations for responsible actions are clear and when the experiences provided can be integrated meaningfully. Because our task is to help prepare a boy for life in the "real world," we clearly indicate that we expect normalcy from him although we are fully aware that he will, at times, fall short. Much of the program is designed so that each boy is held accountable for his behavior and is expected to assume some responsibility for obtaining rewards. For example, all boys must work for their activity spending money through a point-earning system which is translated into cash each week.

Implicit in our approach is the need for sensitive and competent staff who project a healthy and conservative value system, and who are available for therapeutic intervention whenever the need arises, as opposed to artificially scheduling such contacts. A critical component of our therapeutic milieu is in providing our youngsters with a variety of success-oriented experiences. This need is clearly indicated from the clinical observation that most boys who come to Valley View School feel that they are, and indeed have been , failures in some critical areas of their adjustment. The opportunity for a boy to experience success must be healthy and real, and viewed as fun, challenging, and personally gratifying. Only through each boy's willingness to recognize new options will his potential be realized.

This approach does not negate the need for a boy to get to know himself better and to develop some degree of self-reflection to address the frequent feeling that his difficulties belong to someone else. Accordingly, all students are assigned a senior staff advisor who meets with his or her advisees on a regular basis either individually or in a small group. All work of the advisors is monitored on an ongoing basis by members of the clinical-administrative staff. In addition, adjunct staff, all highly experienced psychotherapists are available to work closely with boys and their families. Many boys make use of individual sessions on a weekly basis where it is deemed that such meetings can be useful to examine more sensitive issues not addressed by Valley View's milieu. Psychiatric consultation is provided on a regularly scheduled basis to supervise psychopharmacological intervention.

raditional classroom methods and practices have frustrated rather than encouraged our boys, who have been labeled and characterized as "learning disabled," "unmotivated," "hyperactive," and "disruptive" in the classroom setting. These descriptions are often associated with the diagnosis of Attention Deficit Disorder or Non Verbal Learning Disability. Here, with a maximum population of fifty-four youngsters, we are able to provide more beneficial and intensive remedial instruction. The school's relatively small enrollment allows an average class size of six boys and enables the provision of individual and small group tutorials. The school's program stresses the development and strengthening of traditional, basic subject matter through instruction in language arts, math, social and physical sciences, physical education, and creative arts; however, of equal concern is the need to motivate the students' curiosity about their world, to stimulate a desire to learn, and to help develop more effective study skills and habits. To supplement the full day's program, a small library and educational resource facility is available and a required supervised study period exists in the evening during the week. In addition, from time to time exploratory courses are provided in such subjects as video production, drama, music appreciation, photography, and cooking. Field trips are conducted throughout New England to various points of cultural interest. Computers are utilized extensively as tutorial aides as well as in teaching word processing.

Achievement tests are administered at the middle and end of each school year and academic progress is evaluated quarterly. Academic credit is earned for course work. Almost all boys continue their education after leaving the school by returning to public school or attending a more traditional boarding school.

he twelve month program at Valley View School represents a balance between a comprehensive, formal, corrective educational experience and the opportunity for a boy to engage in a wide variety of success-oriented extra-curricular activities. For example, there are nearby resources for numerous outdoor activities such as fishing, camping, hiking, skiing, and ice skating. Frequent trips are made to Worcester and Boston where a group might attend a play or a movie, visit a museum, or attend a professional athletic event. Activities provided on our own campus include organized athletic competition, a number of indoor games, involvement in drama and use of a student designed skateboard ramp. In addition, ample time is provided for boys to pursue individual areas of interest such as taking lessons in tennis, attending scuba diving classes, or playing a musical instrument.

Since we believe learning cannot take place in a vacuum but must be lived as an experience, we have continued to explore the parameters of travel (both in the United States and abroad) to give our boys a meaningful and stimulating experience. We have conducted week-long study tours of Washington D.C., bicycled extensively to various points in New England and Canada, and provided camping adventures in the White Mountains. The school averages one overseas trip a year, having visited countries such as Russia, including Siberia, Israel, The People's Republic of China, with special emphasis on Inner Mongolia, India, and South Africa. There have been hiking tours in the Moselle region of Germany and the Netherlands. More recently, there has been an option for a small group of boys to spend a more extended period of three weeks during the summer in the Dordogne Region of Southern France. All aspects of the program are closely supervised by well trained staff, and activities usually occur in small groups.

Students are encouraged to maintain contact with their families, who are continuously appraised of their progress. Occasional weekends and scheduled vacation periods at home are permitted. The average length of stay at Valley View is two to three years.