Bound for Success, Bound for College
We believe Robert Louis Stevenson is the only independent day school in the northeast primarily dedicated to teaching troubled adolescents with average to superior intelligence that have had serious difficulties in school.
Although they have great potential, many students come to Stevenson with barely passing grades or failing records. They frequently have "shut down." They lack motivation, do little schoolwork, and are often late or absent. Behavioral issues are sometimes evident, as are problems with peers - either near-isolation or over-involvement.
The academic program at Stevenson is designed to develop intellectual qualities and academic skills necessary for higher education and lifelong learning. Classes are small, averaging fewer than ten students; teachers are specially trained to work with underachievers; the entire school is structured to function as a support system to help these adolescents achieve academically.
An important therapeutic dimension is incorporated into the Stevenson program. The cornerstone of this therapeutic work is the Advisor System. Each student has an Advisor whose specific role is to help him or her make effective use of the Stevenson program. Advisors are clinically supervised and trained to develop an individual, trusting relationship that allows for therapeutic impact, even with guarded and mistrustful adolescents. Caring and committed Advisors guide youngsters toward giving up defensive, self-defeating behaviors and taking the risk of trying once again to succeed. Students are helped to cope with school-related pressures including attendance, punctuality, academic matters, behavior, feelings, and relationships, as well as issues that arise at home and in the community. Advisors are in contact with students at least three times daily, including a full period devoted to individual and group counseling.
Stevenson has been perfecting its college preparatory academic and therapeutic program for fifty years. In the process, a great number of struggling teens have been helped to attain academic goals, gain self-esteem, and function more successfully. Well over 90% of Stevenson graduates go on to college.