The Charlton School
Over a century of caring for youth
PO Box 47/322 Lake Hill Rd. Burnt Hills, NY 12027 Tel.(518)399-8182 Fax (518)399-8195

Published in The Sunday Gazette on December 7, 2003

GIRLS GET PUT ON BETTER PATH

Charlton School aims to fix problems that land teens in trouble

HARLTON - Teens Sandra and Andrea have only known each other for a few months, but they have formed a tight bond as each struggles to turn her life around in a court-ordered stay at a boarding school for troubled girls.

 The Charlton School is licensed and regulated by the New York state Office of Children and Family Services, as well as the departments of Education and Health.

 The campus occupies 50 acres, and an endowment supplements state funding and donations to the school. The not-for-profit facility, with a voluntary board of trustees, houses up to 35 girls at a time for intensive lessons in how society expects them to behave.

 While the girls are at the school, they receive individual, group and family counseling. They attend classes in a school that has modern facilities and an average class sizes of nine. School officials said most of the girls return to their home schools with study skills and background knowledge that were missing when they arrived at Charlton School 12 months earlier.

 Sandra, 17, is from Saratoga Springs and says she has had many advantages. Although her father lives in another city, she sees him regularly; her mother is supportive and loving.

 Andrea, 15, is from Albany. She said her parents were never married. Her father is in prison, and her older brother is in jail. She said her mother tries to teach Andrea how to behave properly, but there are communication and other problems in the home. Although the teens had different starts in life, they both agree that bad choices of friends have led them to family court-ordered yearlong stays at the Charlton School.

 Both girls were designated as "persons in need of supervision" by judges before the hearings which resulted in their placement at the school.

 According to literature provided to parents and guardians of potential students, the Charlton School is for girls 13 to 17 years old who are emotionally troubled, juvenile delinquent, in need of supervision, or neglected and need intensive therapeutic residential treatment.

 "Students may not be accepted whose level of aggression, medical needs, psychiatric problems, addiction issues or fire-setting behavior is deemed to be too high or unmanageable in the Charlton setting," according to the pamphlet.

 In addition to attending classes and counseling sessions, each girl must perform chores around the campus. Sandra said a bucket is passed each Thursday night and students draw a slip of paper that tells them their assigned chore for the next week. "We get one or two dollars each time we do the chore, and we can do extras if we want more money," she said. Chores include cleaning bathrooms, sweeping and mopping hallways and doing dishes.

   Trust must come first

Executive Director Donald Marshall has run Charlton School for 17 years and has tried to make the experience as homelike as possible for the girls.

 He said most girls who come to the school have to learn to trust before they can absorb lessons in appropriate behavior. "The learning curve is fast as soon as they trust," he said. "We don't use terms like good and bad. We talk about whether something is or isn't working for you," said Marshall.

 Most of the girls have had truancy problems, fights with family members or other people, and some experimentation with drugs and alcohol before they arrive at the school.

 "They have to make the decision that they want their lives to be different," said Marshall. "We ask them, 'Is skipping school and fighting and being in trouble with the cops working for you?' If not, we can help," Marshall said.

 Sandra was a student at Saratoga Springs High School in the fall of 2002 when she said she began hanging out with a new crowd of friends.  "Before, my friends were mostly my age or younger, but last year I started hanging out with kids who were older," she said. "I stopped going to school every day, and I was smoking a lot of pot, and I was very angry."  She said her mother, who had previously been a confidant, became the enemy. She criticized Sandra's new friends and behavior, and that led to arguments or no communication at all. "I thought all my problems were my mom's fault, but now I realize I have to take responsibility, and my mom is like my best friend," said Sandra.

  Fixing troubles

 The school was first opened in 1895 as a "school for wayward and homeless boys," according to its charter. Fire destroyed the school in 1938 and the land was mostly undisturbed for 14 years until the board of trustees planned reconstruction and reopened as a school for girls.

 Marshall said the girls at The Charlton School all come from homes that have problems, but programs at the school are aimed at fixing troubles at home as well as with the students.

 "Kids are part of an emotional system, and we work to change that system and to get relationships working properly," said Marshall. He said family members are present during intake interviews and most of the time there are numerous meetings and counseling sessions involving the family and the girl.

 "There are no locks here," said Marshall. "Sometimes, the girls go AWOL, but they usually come back voluntarily within 24 hours." He said after being AWOL once, most returning girls agree to stay. In fact, he said, it's usually peer condemnation of breaking the rules that has a bigger impression on the offender than the school's punishments, which include loss of privileges.

 "Girls don't end up here unless there has been in-home services or traditional foster care. But they haven't worked. We have the most vulnerable kids here," he said.

 Marshall said a chapel on the campus grounds is available to any student who wishes to enter it, but there are no requirements for students to participate in any church-related activities.

   Seeds of spirituality

 Although organized religion is not practiced on campus, Marshall said spirituality is encouraged. "We talk about spirituality. We try to teach that love is real and forgiveness is real, and healing the spirit is part of the process," he said. "We try to plant the seeds of spirituality so that someday they will be open to it, if they are not now," he added.

 Kristie Day is the Director of Treatment at the school. A licensed psychologist, Day sees students beginning with their intake interviews and has contact with them even after they leave. "We have an after-care program where two social workers continue to assist the girls when they leave," she said. "The board saw to that." Day said the state, which pays for the girls' room, board and schooling, will not pay for the follow-up counseling provided by the school, but the board has dedicated funds to the program.

 "We're still learning," she said. "We have a 5 percent rate of recidivism." She said recidivism is defined as a former student who later requires care equal to or greater than that received at Charlton School or who drops out of school, becomes pregnant or fails to hold a job. She said about 20 percent of the girls who leave the school need additional attention at that point. Even with the counseling, nurturing and attention received at the school, sometimes students decide they are beyond help.

   Marshal said two students committed suicide at the school in separate acts approximately 10 years ago. He said the deaths were "devastating and horrific" for all involved at the school, although state investigations concluded there had been no neglect or wrongdoing on the part of the staff.

   Eye on the future

 As for students Andrea and Sandra, they say the future seems brighter than the past. Sandra is slated to leave the school in May and said she plans to graduate with her class from Saratoga Springs High School in June.

 "My mom and I have been looking at colleges on our weekends together," she said. "I've passed everything since I've been here, and I plan to study early childhood education and become a teacher," she said.

 Andrea still has at least two years of high school to complete when she returns to Albany next summer. She said she believes things will be different when she gets there. "I had anger problems, but now I feel like I'm in control of myself and I want to listen to the rules," she said. "For the first time, I'm proud of myself."

 Story by Kathy Parker, Gazette Reporter

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