Academy at Swift River

Academy at Swift River
Address
151 South St Cummington , Hampshire , Massachusetts 01026 United States
Information
Established	1997
Founder	Tim Brace
Closed	2013
Headmaster	Rudy Bentz[1]
Age range	14 to 18
Enrollment	65
Tuition	$5000 (2005)[2]
Academy at Swift River in 2016

The Academy at Swift River, also known as ASR, was a coeducational therapeutic boarding school for teenagers, located in Plainfield and Cummington, Massachusetts. Established in 1997 and closed in 2013, it was a part of the Aspen Education Group, which in turn is owned by Bain Capital's CRC health group.

The school's student population was described as "bright but underachieving kids" with a variety of behavioral problems. The majority of students use prescribed psychiatric medications. ASR was in session year-round and offered a college preparatory curriculum for high school grades 9 to 12.[3] Total enrollment was about 55 students.[4]

The school was the focus of the 2005 book What It Takes To Pull Me Through: Why Teenagers Get in Trouble and How Four of Them Got Out by journalist David Marcus.[5]

History

In July 2013, Aspen Education Group announced that it would close the school later that summer.[6]

Staff

Rudy Bentz was headmaster of Academy at Swift River from 1998 to 2003. He had formerly worked at CEDU high school in running springs for 13 years and had been headmaster of Hidden Lake Academy for four years.[7][8]

In 2000, the headmaster was John T. Powers.[9]

References

1. https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/10/us/desperate-measures-a-special-report-embattled-parents-seek-help-at-any-cost.html
2. Marcus, David L (5 September 2006). What It Takes to Pull Me Through: Why Teenagers Get in Trouble and How Four of Them Got Out. Harper Paperbacks. p. 3. ISBN 9780618772025.
3. Curriculum Archived 2009-01-03 at the Wayback Machine, Academy at Swift River website, accessed April 7, 2009
4. Program Facts Archived 2008-12-31 at the Wayback Machine, Academy at Swift River website, accessed April 7, 2009
5. Marcus, David L. (2006). What It Takes to Pull Me Through: Why Teenagers Get in Trouble and How Four of Them Got Out (Paperback). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 9780618772025. OCLC 1036921615.
6. Ryan, Fran (July 24, 2013). "Academy at Swift River, therapeutic school for teens, to close at summer's end". Daily Hampshire Gazette.
7. Marcus, David L (5 September 2006). What It Takes to Pull Me Through: Why Teenagers Get in Trouble and How Four of Them Got Out. Harper Paperbacks. p. 28. ISBN 9780618772025.
8. "The Academy at Swift River -- Staff". web.archive.org. 1998-12-05. Retrieved 2024-12-19. thirteen years at Cedu (emotional growth) School in Running Springs, California; four years as Headmaster at Hidden Lake Academy (emotional growth school) in Dahlonega, Georgia.
9. Peterson's private secondary schools, 2000-2001. Peterson's. 2000. p. 1324. OCLC 1036819072.

Further reading

• David L. Marcus (2005), What It Takes To Pull Me Through: Why Teenagers Get in Trouble and How Four of Them Got Out, Houghton Mifflin, ISBN 978-0-618-14545-4

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