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John Dewey Academy

1985 establishments in MassachusettsAll Wikipedia neutral point of view disputesBoarding schools in MassachusettsEducational institutions established in 1985Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Private high schools in MassachusettsSchools in Berkshire County, MassachusettsTherapeutic boarding schools in the United StatesTherapeutic communityWikipedia neutral point of view disputes from March 2013

The John Dewey Academy is a private, coeducational college preparatory therapeutic boarding school in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, formerly housed in Searles Castle. It was founded in 1985 by Dr. Thomas E. Bratter, who died in 2012. In May 2020, the school was purchased by its current head of school, David Baum. As of July 2022, the school was on hiatus for a "complete reboot" at a new location. It is coeducational and enrolls about 25 high school students, ages 15 to 21, typically in grades 10 to postgraduate. The student-teacher ratio is 3:1 and classes typically average about six students. On their website, the academy states that all graduates attend college.The John Dewey Academy has been cited to use Caring Confrontation Psychotherapy (CCP) as its primary form of treatment, a form of therapy created by Tom Bratter. CCP's critics refer to it as "attack therapy" and point to its consistent use in institutions that have been shut down for abuse, such as Synanon, CEDU, and the Elan School. A 2011 blog post from the John Dewey Academy addressed and criticized the closure of the Elan School, attributing its allegations and subsequent closure to "the corrosive influence of the rumor mill as well as misconceptions about programs fostered by gossip and false information" before promoting the academy itself as an option for those who were looking to attend a school like Elan. It is unclear whether the John Dewey Academy follows in this abusive pattern, as there have been no formal studies of the John Dewey Academy other than those done by its founder, Tom Bratter. These studies primarily consist of Bratter providing predominantly anecdotal evidence of the academy's successes and asserting that "the John Dewey Academy’s treatment results are the best of any residential program that provides intensive therapeutic and education for alienated adolescents who require residential placement."The school was listed in the Boston Globe's Spotlight study of abuse in private schools, which specifically identified lawsuits against founder Thomas Bratter and faculty Gwendolyn Hampton.In March, 2021, the Berkshire Eagle came out with an exposé about the abuse at the John Dewey Academy titled "Former students of Great Barrington prep school describe it as 'torture chamber'" In response, the school closed in 2022, with Baum stating "“Reboot, revise, re-staff — everything’s on the table.”

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article John Dewey Academy (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

John Dewey Academy
South Street,

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N 42.191775 ° E -73.365991666667 °
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South Street 16
01230
Massachusetts, United States
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Taconic and West Avenues Historic District
Taconic and West Avenues Historic District

The Taconic and West Avenues Historic District is a largely residential historic district south of the downtown area of Great Barrington, Massachusetts. The roughly 117-acre (47 ha) district includes 172 contributing elements, most of which are houses or related buildings. Two thirds of the buildings were built between 1890 and 1910, and most of the rest were constructed in a historically sympathetic way.The southwestern corner of the district is the intersection of Maple and West Avenues. Its western boundary is a high wooded ridge that roughly parallels Castle Street, and follows Main Street and Maple Avenue on its eastern and southern boundaries. The housing in the district was built by Great Barrington's wealthier residents, and feature large houses built in a variety of popular styles of the period. The district features Georgian, Early Republic, and Mid 19th-Century Revival architecture. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.Great Barrington was settled in the 18th century, and was the first county seat of Berkshire County. It developed around a major crossing of the Housatonic River, which also provided power for industry. Early development in this district occurred primarily along Main Street, where houses such as the Dwight–Henderson House were built, and Taconic Street, a major road leading northwest toward Alford. Development in the district was modest through much of the 19th century, only becoming more organized in the 1880s, when a number of cross streets were laid out for residential development.