| Schools,
Programs, & Visit Reports - Aug, 1992 Issue
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Carson Long Institute
Col. Juan I. Tejera
(717) 582-2121
Visit by Tom Croke - January 22,
1992
(412) 532-0490
A school I visited
last January deserves brief mention here. Although it is somewhat
outside the mainstream of WOODBURY REPORTS. Carson Long Institute
simply should no longer be the best kept secret in American
Education.
Carson Long is a
very simple, basic, military school, for boys in grades six
through twelve. Located in Central Pennsylvania, it provides
structure at a level comparable to many structured boarding
schools (although unlike those schools it is not and does
not support to be a therapeutic school, in any sense).
Although I would
have needed more time to assure myself in greater depth, initial
appearances would suggest that CLI really does maintain a
clean, conservative standard of conduct on campus, free of
significant substance abuse and other nuisances of the 1990’s.
In fact, I felt like I was back in a 1950’s era Boy Scout
Camp.
The amazing thing
is that it does all of this for $6,500 per year, for room,
board, tuition, AND TEXTBOOKS, plus a one-time $950 charge
for uniforms (i.e., first year only, unless uniforms are outgrown)
and an estimated $600 (only) for incidentals and recreation
CLI offers some support for ESL and mildly learning disabled
students. I did not evaluate this closely, so ask many questions.
The academic program
is simple and concrete, with no frills and a young faculty,
but well in touch with the needs of the boys. A student who
happened to offer me directions (a random choice, not an admission
office plant), said, “At first, I didn’t want to come here.
Back home in New York, I was truant, failing in school and
just running wild. This place saved my life.” His father is
the doorman in a New York City apartment building, able to
afford his son’s tuition.
CLI does into want
to be typed as a school for the behaviorally dysfunctional,
and would have many questions before accepting a student who
would border on being a candidate for a special purpose school.
But, they deserve consideration for many boys who need more
structure, especially when the family’s resources are modest.
CLI’s approach to
marketing has been to wait for people to knock on the door,
and since 1837, people have done just that. Partly due to
my persuasion, Col. Juan Tejera, Academic Dean, will be at
the Boston IECA meeting this fall. I hope you will introduce
yourself.
Copyright
© 1992, Woodbury Reports, Inc. (This article may be reproduced
without prior approval if the copyright notice and proper
publication and author attribution accompanies the copy.)
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