Monarch School

I make plans to go visit the short list of schools. Monarch is first...and when I make my list of pros and cons, accessibility is definitely not one of the pros for this school. I fly to Spokane via Seattle, rent a car and drive east through Idaho and on to Heron, Montana. It's three hours east of Spokane and 50 miles or so south of the Canadian border. I guess that long, cold winters will be another con for this school.


The main campus has some dorms and classroom buildings clustered around the main common area/dining hall. All of the buildings are made of rough hewn logs so it feels more like a summer camp than a school. The barn with the horses, goats ad chickens is a little farther off near the student garden.

After speaking to the admission director I leave for a tour of campus with two students- they are very open and answer all my questions candidly. I get behind schedule because I spend too long patting and talking to each of the horses. Horses are definitely a selling point for me.

The high point of my day is lunch with the students. The food is fabulous and I learn that they have a 5 star chef who gave up the rat race to come teach culinary arts at the school. All the meals are prepared by the kids, who rotate through the culinary arts program. The kids I speak to tell me their stories: why they are there, what they have learned and what they aspire to do after they leave. They seem so mature and well-adjusted. As I watch the interactions of the students with each other and with the staff, I can see how incredibly nurturing and supportive this environment is. It is very structured but at the same time feels very casual and comfortable.

One of the things that appeals to me about this school is the variety of courses and activities it offers...in addition to the typical high school curriculum they offer things like forest management, equestrian studies, culinary arts, gardening, construction, creative arts, etc. I feel that this could be key for Josh.He needs to replace his passion for World of Warcraft with other passions and interests, so that he doesn't fall off the wagon, and this school offers enough variety that he is sure to find something that appeals to him.

Despite the inaccessibility and the long winter, this school has some real pluses. I am anxius to see how the other school stacks up.

We Face the Next Step After Wilderness

Wilderness therapy is an effective intervention for teens who are at risk. It removes them from toxic influences and breaks the destructive cycle they are in. We are told by our educational consultant and the folks at Elements that it is not usually a stand-alone treatment. A few weeks is not long enough for a kid to make long term changes, and they will go right back to their old self-destructive patterns once they get back to their old environment. In order to sustain and build on the progress made at wilderness therapy, it is usually recommended that kids go on to some sort of therapeutic boarding school. I have been in denial about this. I had held out hope that Josh would be "fixed" and come home for the start of sophomore year. But now it is very clear that is not where we're headed.

Our educational consultant talks to us about boarding schools and recommends three that she believes would be a good fit for Josh. These are not ordinary boarding schools...there is a high staff to student ratio and therapy is an integral part of the program. We discuss the schools with Josh's therapist, who helps us narrow the list to two schools, based on Josh's issues and what he needs to work on. The two schools we agree to explore further are Carlbrook, in Virginia, and Monarch, in Montana. Both of these schools are relatively new (7 years) and both were founded by alums of therapeutic boarding schools who had had a positive experience and yet felt that they could improve upon what existing schools were offering. While on paper many aspects of these two schools are similar, they feel very different. Carlbrook is more like a traditional prep school and has a high level of academic rigor. Our consultant has recommended it because Josh is extrememly bright and she feels he would be challenged here. Monarch is more rustic and outdoorsy feeling, places more emphasis on creating a nurturing environment and has a greater variety of activities to participate in. I am drawn to it because of this. I feel that it's critical for Josh to find new interests and passions to replace his interest in World of Warcraft. Otherwise, I fear he will go right back to it.