Carlbrook Expands Educational Department

Carlbrook School, a college-preparatory boarding school for high-potential, college-bound students in need of therapeutic support and structure, is bolstering its Experiential Education (EE) Department after several months of successful trials. The EE program provides a research-validated course of onsite outdoor and adventure-based programming designed to improve student engagement, provide therapeutic and behavioral interventions, build pro-social skills, and provide adventure-based recreation.

Carlbrook School's balance of rigorous academics, character education, extra-curricular programming, and therapeutic support, can be "pretty intense," said Headmaster Tim Brace. "We expect a lot of our students, knowing that their success depends upon a high level of intellectual engagement, social maturity, and emotional health. All the pistons need to be firing, so our programming is dense. This programmatic intensity means that students sometimes need an opportunity to get away and hit the reset button," said Brace.

Depending on a student's situation, "away" used to mean traditional detentions, offsite suspensions, or third-party therapeutic or wilderness interventions. But these approaches often created a disconnect from the holistic approach of the school and, in the case of off-site interventions, were academically disruptive and expensive. "We are now using off-site interventions less frequently but more effectively when a student needs an intensive course of clinical treatment," said Brace.

According to Carlbrook's Director of Program Development, Anna Gerard, D.S.W., students who begin to act out or shut down can benefit from pulling out of their day-to-day routine to gain perspective, recharge, reflect, and have some fun. "Our EE program is based on voluminous research showing the efficacy of experiential and adventure-based education for improving engagement, teaching pro-social skills, and promoting personal growth and healing," said Gerard. "Plus, it's a lot of fun."

Students at Carlbrook experience a customized program of recreational and therapeutic activities from high and low-ropes courses, to mountain biking, to reflective solos and hiking treks. Activities are combined with group and individual processing supervised by Carlbrook's full-time experiential-education staff as well as the school's therapeutic and medical team. EE is also integrated into the academic program as part of the weekly extracurricular and club activities. The structure of the EE program allows for experiences to be customized based on student needs as an after-school, weekend, or longer-term therapeutic or behavioral intervention. "It's a great way to provide immediate customized interventions that maximize therapeutic impact but minimize academic, social, and financial disruption," says Gerard. "Our students love it, our team sees great results, and our parents are grateful."

Carlbrook School is a college-preparatory boarding school for high-potential, college-bound students who would benefit from therapeutic support and structure. Our program of rigorous academics, character development, therapeutic support, and extra-curricular programming is designed to prepare students for competitive college admission and sustainable success.