Glenhaven Academy

Having worked at Glenhaven for over five years, I have had the privilege of seeing first hand the numerous ways that students are taught, encouraged, cared for, and supported. The opportunities for students to interact and grow both on campus and off are truly amazing. Our students do community trips to museums and festivals, engage in skill building trips to the bank or post office, and of course just be kids at the movies or the mall. On site, they engage in music lessons, cooking, physical activity, running their own cosmetology and dance groups, and pretty much anything else that inspires them. We are also part of a therapeutic sports league, which encourages physical activity, team work, and positive attitudes. In addition, staff are constantly trained in competency, relationship building, teaching skills, sensory techniques, and much much more, in order to be as supportive to our students as possible. Our students are creating their own identities, learning skills and building competencies to assist them in moving forward.
--Submitted by a teacher

As a former employee of Glenhaven Academy I was given the solid training and skills that allows me to run one of the states most well known and successful residential schools in the state of Massachusetts. I gained much knowledge and insight on how to work with emotional and behavioral adolescents by the intense training hours and guidance from the staff and administration team at Glenhaven Academy. Without this, I would not be in the position that I am in today. Glenhaven Acacdemy is truly committed to each and every student who walks through their door in an effort to give them the skill set and an identity which they will need to be successful when discharged

Glenhaven Academy is also known as The van der Kolk Center Glenhaven Academy. The program serves 30 students from all over the country. 22-24 students reside in our on campus residential program at Glenhaven and 6-8 reside in our off campus independent living program called Lanewood. Both programs are therapeutic and provide students with academic, residential and clinical services including trauma informed practices. We as a program utilize ARC as a treatment model which allows us to individualize for each kid. The program as a whole is warm and inviting. The staff are well trained and are provided with consistent supervision. I am the Program Director and I can be reached at (508) 481-8077 ext. 233 or please visit our site at http://www.jri.org/vanderkolk/. We are leaders in providing kids with state of the art treatment. I welcome and encourage visits anytime!
--Submitted by a teacher

I worked here and it was terrible. I loved the girls I worked with, they are in desperate need of mentors. Unfortunately, they dont hire qualified personell and most of the "students" weren't let outside. If they didnt "lose priveleges, they maybe could be outside for about 15 minutes a day. The food was usually cold, they would run out of forks, or bread, and I witnessed staff breaking the rules over and over again. Yes, some of these girls could be violent or dangerous, but I found most of them just needed someone to talk to. Seeing a counselor once a week (if that) isnt hardly enough for these girls. It was heartbreaking to leave them. This place definately needs more supervision for the higher up employees.