Family Foundation School
Encyclopedia
The Family Foundation School is a private
, co-educational, college preparatory, therapeutic boarding school
located in Hancock
, New York
. It was founded in 1984.
s following a twelve-step program
. As a part of their own final step in the program, they took into their home young people who were recovering from substance abuse. They became foster parents to many of these adolescents and provided some with homeschooling
education. After the number of foster children began to exceed the allowable limit for New York State, they sought and obtained legal status for their home as a licensed school.
Over time, the school grew beyond the Argiros home into a campus
that includes a main school building, boys' and girls' dormitories
, a chapel, food service, laundry services, art and athletic facilities.
In 2000, the Argiros children assumed control over the day-to-day operations of the school.
; develop spiritually
and emotionally through a 12-step program of recovery; grow and mature psychologically through the 12-Step program as well as group
and individual therapies. Students at the school are divided into "families" of roughly 30 students and 6 staff members. The family groups eat together, during which time "Table Topics" serve as an opportunity for the group to address any negative issues presented by individual students.
The school operates year-round, with two 25-week school terms, and employs a residential behavior modification program
that is chiefly based on the twelve-step approach.
The school serves high-school
age (grades 9-12) children that have problems with various addictions
(e.g. drugs, alcohol, food, sex, gambling or gaming) and/or other psychological challenges. Enrollment is around 190 students. Students are typically recommended for placement at the school by a social worker, school guidance counselor
, or psychologist
.
by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, the New York State Department of Education, and is accredited as a behavioral health
care facility by the Joint Commission.
The school is a founding member of National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs
(NATSAP)
, and various other community service projects in the Hancock, NY area.
The school's performing arts program presents full-scale musical
s, drama productions, winter and spring choral concerts that are open to the public, and is a regular participant in the North American Music Festivals.
In 2004 and 2005, the school's debating
team won the Seventh annual Delaware-Otsego Bar Associations Forensic Speech Tournament, a regional debating competition.
The school soccer team won the championship in the New York State Class D, Section IX Conference in 2005.
In 2009, the school's Math Team earned an honorable mention in the 2009 Moody's Mega Math Challenge
, for their presentation examining the effect of President Barack Obama's
economic stimulus program on employment in the United States
.
The school's English and Philosophy instructor and middle school principal, Jan Cheripko, is the author of nine books, has won numerous national and international book awards and has been a featured speaker at the National Council of Teachers of English
, the International Reading Association
, and numerous other New York State and Northeastern U.S. regional education conferences. He has also conducted graduate teaching accredited workshops on how to reach at-risk students through writing and literature.
s or professional training.
Family Foundation School alumnus Wells Thompson
is a midfielder
for the Colorado Rapids
, a Major League Soccer
team in the United States
. He began his professional soccer career with the New England Revolution
, where he played from 2007 through 2009.
A Family Foundation School Alumni Association was established after the school held its first alumni reunion in September 2006. More than 125 former students from around the United States attended the reunion.
Committee on Education and Labor hearings in 2007 and 2008.
In testimony at an April 24, 2008 committee hearing, a former student testified that during the period 1995 through 1997 members of the school's faculty had engaged in various forms of physical
and verbal abuse
, imposed forced labor, and used inhumane forms of physical restraint
.
The school responded by stating "We will not dispute his testimony. His experiences are his own and will always remain so, regardless of anything anyone says or does. Rather, we wish to unequivocally state: we deeply regret that anyone who has come through our program feels in any way damaged by their experience." The school also declared support for the efforts of the committee to keep children safe from harm, adding that the school had since modified its crisis-management methods to meet the standards of both the New York State Department of Education and the Therapeutic Crisis Intervention
(TCI) program developed by Cornell University
. The school also stated that since 1999, all school faculty and staff are required to be trained in Therapeutic Crisis Intervention techniques. Following the April 24 hearing, several parents of former students, a former student, and a former staff member wrote to the committee in response to the negative testimony, providing positive reports of their own experiences with the Family Foundation School.
(CAFETY) has conducted an ongoing campaign against the Family Foundation School. In October 2009, a local newspaper reported that CAFETY had sent a letter to residents of Delaware County
, claiming abusive conditions at the school, including excerpts from former student testimonials. The letter directed residents to an anti-school website for more information about the alleged abusive conditions. Delaware County law enforcement, social services officials, and the school stated that the allegations in letter were based on past issues that had been corrected by the school. CAFETY disputes this claim, saying that its concerns about alleged abuse are based on written complaints by students who attended the school as recently as 2008.
CAFETY members have also taken part in rallies in other areas of the country, where experiences at the school were addressed.
Private school
Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...
, co-educational, college preparatory, therapeutic boarding school
Therapeutic boarding school
A therapeutic boarding school , alternatively known as an emotional growth boarding school, is a boarding school based on the therapeutic community model that offers an educational program together with specialized structure and supervision for students with emotional and behavioral problems,...
located in Hancock
Hancock (town), New York
Hancock is a town in Delaware County, New York, United States. The town contains a village, also named Hancock. The town is in the southwest part of the county...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. It was founded in 1984.
History
The school was founded in the 1980s by Tony and Betty Argiros, who were recovering alcoholicAlcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
s following a twelve-step program
Twelve-step program
A Twelve-Step Program is a set of guiding principles outlining a course of action for recovery from addiction, compulsion, or other behavioral problems...
. As a part of their own final step in the program, they took into their home young people who were recovering from substance abuse. They became foster parents to many of these adolescents and provided some with homeschooling
Homeschooling
Homeschooling or homeschool is the education of children at home, typically by parents but sometimes by tutors, rather than in other formal settings of public or private school...
education. After the number of foster children began to exceed the allowable limit for New York State, they sought and obtained legal status for their home as a licensed school.
Over time, the school grew beyond the Argiros home into a campus
Campus
A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...
that includes a main school building, boys' and girls' dormitories
Dormitory
A dormitory, often shortened to dorm, in the United States is a residence hall consisting of sleeping quarters or entire buildings primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people, often boarding school, college or university students...
, a chapel, food service, laundry services, art and athletic facilities.
In 2000, the Argiros children assumed control over the day-to-day operations of the school.
Program
The Family Foundation School program is based upon three core goals: maximize academic potentialEducation
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
; develop spiritually
Spirituality
Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
and emotionally through a 12-step program of recovery; grow and mature psychologically through the 12-Step program as well as group
Group therapy
Group psychotherapy or group therapy is a form of psychotherapy in which one or more therapists treat a small group of clients together as a group...
and individual therapies. Students at the school are divided into "families" of roughly 30 students and 6 staff members. The family groups eat together, during which time "Table Topics" serve as an opportunity for the group to address any negative issues presented by individual students.
The school operates year-round, with two 25-week school terms, and employs a residential behavior modification program
Behavior modification facility
A behavior modification facility is a residential educational and treatment institution enrolling adolescents who are perceived as displaying antisocial behavior, in an attempt to alter their conduct. As of 2008 there were about 650 nongovernmental, residential programs in the United States...
that is chiefly based on the twelve-step approach.
The school serves high-school
Secondary education in the United States
In most jurisdictions, secondary education in the United States refers to the last six or seven years of statutory formal education. Secondary education is generally split between junior high school or middle school, usually beginning with sixth or seventh grade , and high school, beginning with...
age (grades 9-12) children that have problems with various addictions
Behavioral addiction
Behavioral addiction is a form of addiction which does not rely on drugs or alcohol. Increasingly referred to as process addiction or non-substance-related addiction ) behavioral addiction includes a compulsion to repeatedly engage in an action until said action causes serious negative consequences...
(e.g. drugs, alcohol, food, sex, gambling or gaming) and/or other psychological challenges. Enrollment is around 190 students. Students are typically recommended for placement at the school by a social worker, school guidance counselor
School counselor
A school counselor is a counselor and an educator who works in elementary, middle, and high schools to provide academic, career, college access, and personal/social competencies to K-12 students...
, or psychologist
Psychologist
Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
.
Accreditation and affiliations
The Family Foundation School is accredited as a schoolEducational accreditation
Educational accreditation is a type of quality assurance process under which services and operations of educational institutions or programs are evaluated by an external body to determine if applicable standards are met...
by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, the New York State Department of Education, and is accredited as a behavioral health
Behavioral health
In psychology behavioral health, as a general concept, refers to the reciprocal relationship between human behavior, individually or socially, and the well-being of the body, mind, and spirit, whether the latter are considered individually or as an integrated whole...
care facility by the Joint Commission.
The school is a founding member of National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs
National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs
The National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs is a United States organization of therapeutic schools, residential treatment programs, wilderness programs, outdoor therapeutic programs, young adult programs and home-based residential programs for adolescents and young adults with...
(NATSAP)
Extracurricular programs
The Family Foundation School's extracurricular programs include sports teams, drama productions, musical programs, an art department and a wide variety of clubs. Students also participate with members of the local community through religious associations, scouting, Rotary Club, Job Corps, the Sullivan County BOCESBoces
Boces is the second album by Mercury Rev, released in 1993. The band has explained the title as being inspired by the name of the Boards of Cooperative Educational Services in New York State, a vocational school system in the band's home state....
, and various other community service projects in the Hancock, NY area.
The school's performing arts program presents full-scale musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
s, drama productions, winter and spring choral concerts that are open to the public, and is a regular participant in the North American Music Festivals.
In 2004 and 2005, the school's debating
Debate
Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...
team won the Seventh annual Delaware-Otsego Bar Associations Forensic Speech Tournament, a regional debating competition.
The school soccer team won the championship in the New York State Class D, Section IX Conference in 2005.
In 2009, the school's Math Team earned an honorable mention in the 2009 Moody's Mega Math Challenge
Moody's Mega Math Challenge
Moody's Mega Math Challenge is an applied mathematics modeling contest open to high schools along the entire East Coast, from Maine to Florida. It is sponsored by The Moody's Foundation based in New York City and organized by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics based in Philadelphia...
, for their presentation examining the effect of President Barack Obama's
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
economic stimulus program on employment in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Faculty
The Family Foundation School employs over three-dozen educational professionals, counsellors and support staff, and maintains a 4:1 student-teacher ratio. About half of the school's faculty and staff members have been through a twelve-step recovery process.The school's English and Philosophy instructor and middle school principal, Jan Cheripko, is the author of nine books, has won numerous national and international book awards and has been a featured speaker at the National Council of Teachers of English
National Council of Teachers of English
The National Council of Teachers of English is an American professional organization dedicated to "improving the teaching and learning of English and the language arts at all levels of education...
, the International Reading Association
International Reading Association
The International Reading Association is an international professional organization that was created in 1956 to improve reading instruction, facilitate dialogue about research on reading, and encourage the habit of reading....
, and numerous other New York State and Northeastern U.S. regional education conferences. He has also conducted graduate teaching accredited workshops on how to reach at-risk students through writing and literature.
Alumni
From 2004 through 2008, all Family Foundation School graduates have been accepted at postsecondary institutions, with 85 percent to four-year colleges and 15 percent to two-year schoolCommunity college
A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries.-Australia:Community colleges carry on the tradition of adult education, which was established in Australia around mid 19th century when evening classes were held to help adults...
s or professional training.
Family Foundation School alumnus Wells Thompson
Wells Thompson
Thomas Wells Thompson is an American soccer player who currently plays for Colorado Rapids in Major League Soccer.-High school and College:...
is a midfielder
Midfielder
A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...
for the Colorado Rapids
Colorado Rapids
The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver suburb of Commerce City, Colorado which competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having competed in the league...
, a Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...
team in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He began his professional soccer career with the New England Revolution
New England Revolution
The New England Revolution is an American professional association football club based in Foxborough, Massachusetts which competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada...
, where he played from 2007 through 2009.
A Family Foundation School Alumni Association was established after the school held its first alumni reunion in September 2006. More than 125 former students from around the United States attended the reunion.
Congressional hearings
The Family Foundation School was one of several residential programs for special-needs adolescents that were discussed in United States CongressUnited States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
Committee on Education and Labor hearings in 2007 and 2008.
In testimony at an April 24, 2008 committee hearing, a former student testified that during the period 1995 through 1997 members of the school's faculty had engaged in various forms of physical
Physical abuse
Physical abuse is abuse involving contact intended to cause feelings of intimidation, injury, or other physical suffering or bodily harm.-Forms of physical abuse:*Striking*Punching*Belting*Pushing, pulling*Slapping*Whipping*Striking with an object...
and verbal abuse
Psychological abuse
Psychological abuse, also referred to as emotional abuse or mental abuse, is a form of abuse characterized by a person subjecting or exposing another to behavior that may result in psychological trauma, including anxiety, chronic depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder...
, imposed forced labor, and used inhumane forms of physical restraint
Physical restraint
Physical restraint refers to the practice of rendering people harmless, helpless or keeping them in captivity by means such as handcuffs, fetters, straitjackets, ropes, straps, or other forms of physical restraint...
.
The school responded by stating "We will not dispute his testimony. His experiences are his own and will always remain so, regardless of anything anyone says or does. Rather, we wish to unequivocally state: we deeply regret that anyone who has come through our program feels in any way damaged by their experience." The school also declared support for the efforts of the committee to keep children safe from harm, adding that the school had since modified its crisis-management methods to meet the standards of both the New York State Department of Education and the Therapeutic Crisis Intervention
Therapeutic Crisis Intervention
Therapeutic Crisis Intervention is a crisis management protocol developed by Cornell University for residential child care facilities. The purpose of the TCI protocol is to provide a crisis prevention and intervention model for residential child care facilities which will assist them in:*Preventing...
(TCI) program developed by Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
. The school also stated that since 1999, all school faculty and staff are required to be trained in Therapeutic Crisis Intervention techniques. Following the April 24 hearing, several parents of former students, a former student, and a former staff member wrote to the committee in response to the negative testimony, providing positive reports of their own experiences with the Family Foundation School.
Activism against
Since 2007, Community Alliance for the Ethical Treatment of YouthCommunity Alliance for the Ethical Treatment of Youth
The Community Alliance For the Ethical Treatment of Youth, or CAFETY, is an advocacy group for people enrolled in residential treatment programs for at-risk teenagers. The group's mission includes advocating for access to advocates, due process, alternatives to aversive behavioral interventions,...
(CAFETY) has conducted an ongoing campaign against the Family Foundation School. In October 2009, a local newspaper reported that CAFETY had sent a letter to residents of Delaware County
Delaware County, New York
Delaware County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of 2010 the population was 47,980. The county seat is Delhi. It is named after the Delaware River, which was named in honor of Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, appointed governor of Virginia in 1609.-History:When counties...
, claiming abusive conditions at the school, including excerpts from former student testimonials. The letter directed residents to an anti-school website for more information about the alleged abusive conditions. Delaware County law enforcement, social services officials, and the school stated that the allegations in letter were based on past issues that had been corrected by the school. CAFETY disputes this claim, saying that its concerns about alleged abuse are based on written complaints by students who attended the school as recently as 2008.
CAFETY members have also taken part in rallies in other areas of the country, where experiences at the school were addressed.