Recovery High School Helps Teens Stay on Track
Every year, more than 341,000 young people between the ages of 12 and 17 are enrolled in rehab—that's 1 in 70. And many of these teenagers return to their former high schools after being released from rehab, which means returning to their old friends and their old habits, often including drug and alcohol abuse. But with the 2006 opening of Northshore Recovery High School in Beverly, Massachusetts, students have the option of a safe, drug-free environment where they can finish their education.
Funded by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the local school districts, Northshore offers a traditional curriculum in addition to a 12-step program that helps prevent relapse. Group sessions are held every day where kids can talk about their recovery and any problems they are having. And weekly random drug tests are required of students, which also helps keep them clean. When they graduate, students are presented with a state-certified diploma.
Northshore Principal Michelle Lipinski says that recovery high schools are a lifeline for these students. "The main difference between a recovery high school and a public high school is that we’re the true safe and drug-free zone—I mean zero tolerance. As long as there’s drugs, you’re gonna need a recovery high school. Until you’ve eradicated drugs, then you can stop having to help the adolescents. Drugs are in every school."
The Association of Recovery Schools has 21 high school and 14 college members helping students transition to high schools, colleges, and careers. Most are alternative or charter schools and get their funding from local school districts. Students can be referred to recovery high schools like Northshore by their school, parents, a treatment program, or a court. They have to be sober for at least 30 days and sign a contract agreeing not to use drugs, to attend three meetings a week, and to undergo weekly random drug testing.
The first recovery high school, Sobriety High, opened in 1987 in Edina, Minnesota. Director Judy Hanson, a licensed alcohol and drug counselor, has been there for 18 years. “I would be so tired of seeing students that I transitioned from the treatment center to their former high school fail within the first month. You tell these kids to go back to high school and tell them not to see their old using friends and build a new network of friends, and it’s so hard.”
Joe Maternowski’s 17-year-old daughter Maria, who was treated twice for abusing marijuana and other drugs, is now a junior at Sobriety High and has been sober for two years. “It’s been a wonderful thing for her,” Maternowski said. “The school is great. The teachers and everyone there realize what the kids have been through and so it’s a very supportive environment where she can learn safely.”
Judy Hanson also explained that Sobriety High’s graduation rates are usually above 90 percent, which is better than most public schools. Lucy Gross, who started smoking marijuana at age 12 and was drinking and using cocaine and other drugs by high school, is graduating from Northshore in June with two years of sobriety, and starts college in the fall. She said, “It helps me so much to be there. I can’t imagine staying clean without it.”
Lucy’s father, Tony Gross, said, “Recovery high, the real gift that it gives to the kids is the soft landing when they come out of rehab or a longer-term facility…It just allows them to reintegrate at their own pace, gently.”
Source: CNN, Saundra Young, Recovery high school a 'soft landing' for post-rehab teens, April 14, 2009
