Alumnae

Success stories

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Charlton School heart icon
Tina
Unfortunately, our family is familiar with many different parts of the mental health system --including psychiatric hospitals, acute care residential hospitals, and the mental health wards in emergency rooms. The care they provide ranges from mediocre at best to downright horrifying.The best I can say about them is they kept my daughter alive - but in each case her mental health actually deteriorated. Read more...
All of that changed once she went to the Charlton School. The differences between Charlton and these other health care settings are almost too many to name. The biggest differences in my opinion are:

Personalized care.  Many places promise this, but only Charlton actually delivered.
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Multiple therapeutic approaches, including traditional talk, group, music, art, and equine therapies. Every child responds differently, and Charlton works hard to understand how best to reach each kid. Good luck trying to get my daughter to respond to talk therapy --she'll shut you down. But talk with her while she's grooming her horse Hawkeye or working on a painting, and you can have success. This is truly unique to Charlton.
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Family therapy. Some places actually isolate the child from their family while others treat the family as an afterthought. Not Charlton. They know the importance of keeping the children close to their families and they regularly and actively engage with the parents.
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Ultimately it comes down to this. Charlton treats a relatively small number of young women. And while some philanthropic foundations view this as a weakness, it's actually Charlton's greatest strength. They provide comprehensive, holistic care. Other places may keep the kids alive, but Charlton helps them heal and thrive.
I've said this before, and it's not hyperbole. Before Charlton, I worried that my daughter wouldn't live to graduate high school. Now I get to worry about how to pay for her college. I gave my daughter to Charlton for a year - they gave her back for a lifetime.

I've connected with many other families who have children undergoing a mental health crisis, and I want to help ensure Charlton is available for them in their time of need. I'm particularly impressed with how Alex and the rest of the Charlton team are constantly looking for ways to improve. They're not content to coast - they always want to provide even better care for the girls. And it's that ambition that motivated me to join the Board of Trustees and to donate. WhileI can never fully repay Charlton for the amazing help they gave my daughter - and our whole family - I want to help them in any way I can.

I wanted to Chair this new Committee because I think I can help promote the school through out the Northeast Corridor and motivate other committee members to do so too. As the only Board member who had a child at the school, an Alum Parent as we refer to them here, I have a unique perspective and a compelling story to share. Thank you all for choosing to work with us to increase awareness of Charlton and for prioritizing quality mental health care for young women – which there is not enough of in our society.
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Charlton School heart icon
Erica
Based on our family's experiences at Charlton, I would say that it's a place that tries to meet every student where they are, and figure out what each child and family needs to repair the damage of the past and move into a healthier future. I appreciate that there isn't a point or tier system but that each child is treated as an individual and moves at her own pace. Read more...
Everyone seems really dedicated to the kids. It's also a mental health center that takes the kids' academic learning seriously. My daughter loves learning and I found it frustrating at other settings to be repeatedly told that academics had to take a back seat to mental health. For her, they go hand in hand as academic interest and success have a really positive effect on her mental health and her connections to others.

My daughter had been hospitalized four times, participated in partial hospitalizations and day treatment programs four times, and spent seven weeks in a residential treatment center before coming to Charlton. At Charlton I feel for the first time that people really appreciate her as a person and see all of her positive qualities along with the difficulties that she has had. There has been a very healthy balance between supporting her in a positive way and holding her accountable for her own behavior.

Charlton has made a huge difference to my daughter and our whole family. She had been in crisis for over two years by the time we got to Charlton. Any step forward was followed by a big step back. It was very frightening. There was no consistency in her therapeutic treatment overtime, and none of the settings supported her academic interests and abilities. At Charlton there has really been a thorough line of progress, and occasional setbacks have been treated as opportunities for recovery and growth. I feel that all the staff are on the same page and communicate well with each other, with my daughter, and with our family. I have so much more hope for my daughter's future now. Having the support of everyone at Charlton has also been extremely important for my own mental health as I had basically been struggling alone to help her, which was a losing battle.

Aftercare

We offer a 6-month program designed to support the student and her family after successful graduation from Charlton. This Include weekly support families.

Scholarship - CLASP

The Charlton Loan and Scholarship Program (CLASP) is an academic, merit based, program that financially awards students who have successfully matriculated from The Charlton School or wish to pursue postsecondary education. CLASP gives preference for students, in the judgment of the Trustees, for which without such support could not afford such education. The institution that the student chooses must be eligible for Federal financial assistance, unless waived by the Executive Committee. The program works in tandem with the Gay Brown Foundation as well as the Anna C. Manley Memorial Scholarship Fund.

Eligibility

Who is eligible to apply for financial assistance through C.L.A.S.P
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Any student who is successfully involved in or has successfully completed The Charlton Schoolprogram is eligible to apply for financial assistance through C.L.A.S.P.
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Students must be enrolled and provide a transcript of their most recent grades, or have applied to and been accepted by a post-secondary program of study.
Who is C.L.A.S.P goal?
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The goal of the program is to encourage self-improvement through education.
How are subsequent awards in the C.L.A.S.P determined?
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Subsequent awards should be based on successful completion of the previous
semester/term work

What you will need after you apply for C.L.A.S.P:

Enclose a copy of most recent grades

Enclose a copy of your upcoming semester schedule

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Copy of your college class registration

All applications must be received 10 business days prior to Executive Committee meetings.

Are you ready to apply?

START THE APPLICATION

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