View source for Élan School

{{Infobox school
| name              = ÉLAN SCHOOL
| image             = Elan_logo.png
| imagesize         = 150px
| streetaddress     = PO Box 578
| city              = [[Poland, Maine|Poland]]
| county            = 
| state             = [[Maine]]
| zipcode           = 04274
| country           = {{flagcountry|USA}}
| coordinates       ={{Coord|44.0075|-70.386|type:edu_source:googlemaps_region:US-ME|display=inline,title}}<!-- geocoded street address and centered on entrance -->
| type              = [[Private school|Private]] [[therapeutic boarding school]]
| accreditation     = 
| affiliations      = [[National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs|NATSAP]]
| district          = 
| principal         = 
| grades            = 8-12
| age range         = 14-18
| students          = 
| faculty           = 
| rival             = 
| mascot            = 
| mascot image      =
| team_name         = 
| colors            = <!-- no colors per OSAA {{color strip|border-color=black|border-style=dotted|border=1||}} -->
| conference        = 
| newspaper         = 
| opened            = 1970
| closed            = 
| picture           = 
| homepage          = 
}}
'''Élan School''' is a private, [[coeducational]], residential [[behavior modification]] program and [[therapeutic boarding school]] (beginning with 8th grade and extending beyond high school completion) in [[Poland, Maine|Poland]], [[Androscoggin County, Maine|Androscoggin County]], [[Maine]]. 

As of 2010, the school reported enrollment of 150 students.<ref>[http://www.elanschool.com/population.htm Population at Élan School], Élan School website, accessed February 21, 2010</ref> The school is located on a {{convert|33|acre|ha|adj=on}} [[campus]]<ref name=Wack/> that was formerly a [[hunting lodge]].<ref>[http://www.elanalum.com/ Elan Alum website], accessed February 21, 2010</ref>

The school acquired some notoriety during the 1990s and early 2000s when former classmates of [[Michael Skakel]], who had attended Élan in the 1970s, testified against him in his [[trial]] for an unsolved [[murder]] that had occurred about two years before he enrolled at Élan.<ref name="Miscarriage">[http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200301/kennedy-skakel/5 A Miscarriage of Justice: Reform-School Witnesses], ''The Atlantic'', January/February 2003</ref>

== History ==
Élan School was founded in 1970 by [[psychiatrist]] Gerald Davidson and Joseph Ricci. Ricci was head of the school for most of its history.  Since his death in 2001, his widow Sharon Terry has headed the school.<ref>[http://www.elanschool.com/about.htm About Elan School], Elan School website, accessed February 21, 2010</ref><ref name=Skeletons>Warren St. John, [http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/02/fashion/02ELAN.html Skeletons in the Classroom], ''New York Times'', June 2, 2002</ref>

== Program ==
The school specializes in helping teenagers with behavioral problems. Students attend year-round.<ref name=basic>[http://web.archive.org/web/20070101223153/http://www.state.me.us/education/Elan+Report90302+Final.htm Basic School Approval Report Pertaining to the Elan School], Maine Department of Education, September 3, 2002; archived by archive.org on January 1, 2007</ref> In 2002, a [[New Jersey]] educational consultant who had referred students to Elan for 22 years told the ''[[New York Times]]'' that he would refer only "the most serious cases" to the school, which he said would "take kids who haven't responded to other programs and who are really out of control."<ref name=Skeletons/> 

The school's treatment methods are based on the "TC" or [[therapeutic community]] modality popularized in the 1960s at facilities such as [[Synanon]], and later at [[Daytop Village]].<ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=YzBMbiDVcKoC&pg=PA124&lpg=PA124&dq=Synanon+elan&source=bl&ots=_ubj_QsI7c&sig=AqQi7NSUHgNKNX8wt5z5AfR0qis&hl=en&ei=SBwZTL21I4H6lweg5tCXDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CCQQ6AEwBTgK#v=onepage&q=Synanon%20elan&f=false SPIN Mar 2001</ref> In 2002, a New Jersey [[educational consultant]] told the ''New York Times'' that the school was "certainly not for the faint-hearted." He said "There's lots of confrontation," but added "and yet there are lots of hugs."<ref name=Skeletons/>

==Controversy==
Throughout its history the school has been faced with numerous allegations of student mistreatment.

In 1975, [[Illinois]] state officials pulled 11 children out of the Élan program, charging that they had been mistreated.<ref name=Wack>[http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/state/070325elan.html?sort=ASC New York seeks change at Elan School], By Kevin Wack, ''Portland Press Herald'' and ''Maine Sunday Telegram'', March 25, 2007</ref>

In 2002 during the trial of Michael Skakel witnesses testified that beatings and public humiliation were parts of life at Élan during the late 1970s.<ref name=Wack/> In trial testimony, former students also described the practice of placing a student in a "[[boxing]] ring" surrounded by classmates who confronted the student.<ref>Associated Press, [http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_72071.html Possible motive surfaces in murder trial], May 18, 2002</ref><ref>[http://marthamoxley.com/news/07032Kbg.htm Moxley case puts school's methods on trial], undated article on MarthaMoxley.com website, attributed to Brian MacQuarrie and A.J. Higgins of the ''Boston Globe'', retrieved November 15, 2009</ref>

The [[New York State Education Department]], which has paid [[tuition]] for [[special education]] students to attend Élan School, gave the school a favorable review in 2005.<ref>[http://www.elanschool.com/Elan_NY_Report.pdf Special Education Quality Assurance Nondistrict Program Review: Final Report, Élan School], New York State Education Department / The University of the State of New York, November 2, 2005; archived on Élan School website, accessed February 21, 2010</ref> In 2007, however, New York education officials raised questions about the school's practices, alleging in a letter to the school and Maine education officials that Élan students were [[physical restraint|physically restraining]] their peers and being [[deprived of sleep]]. The allegations prompted the state of New York to threaten to withdraw tuition money for taxpayer-funded students. The school's lawyer said that virtually all of the New York allegations were false.<ref name=Wack/>

==Notable alumni==
* [[Michael Skakel]]<ref name="Miscarriage"/>
* [[Ben Weasel]]<ref>''[http://www.jimdero.com/OtherWritings/Other%20Weasel.htm Screeching Halt]''</ref>

==See also==
*[[Attack therapy]]
*[[Large Group Awareness Training]]
*[[Human Potential Movement]]
*[[Psychobabble]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.elanschool.com/ Elan School]
* [http://www.elanalum.com/ Elan School Alumni]
* [http://www.strugglingteens.com/archives/1992/6/visit01.html Elan School Visit Report], by Tom Croke, ''Struggling Teens'', June 1992
* [http://www.strugglingteens.com/artman/publish/ElanSchoolVR_070626.shtml Elan School Visit Report], by Louise Kreiner and Amy D'Uva, May 17, 2007;  ''Struggling Teens'' website, Jun 26, 2007
* Kevin Gray, [http://bykevingray.com/wp-content/uploads/file/culture/badcompany.pdf Bad Company: The Elan School], ''Details'' magazine, November 2001, pages 88–97
* David Gurliacci, [http://web.archive.org/web/20020611063807/http://www.portland.com/news/state/020531elan.shtml Ex-students at Skakel trial describe Elan as 'horrific'], ''Portland Press Herald'', May 31, 2002

== Further reading ==
* Eva Pappas (2006), ''The Other Son - One Family's Personal War on Drugs'', Lagrimas & Clean Slate Publishers Group. ISBN 0977718719, ISBN 978-0977718719. This book describes Elan's program under a fictitious name.

{{coord|44.0075|-70.3860|type:edu_region:US-ME|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elan School}}
[[Category:Therapeutic community]]
[[Category:Psychotherapy]]
[[Category:Androscoggin County, Maine]]
[[Category:Educational institutions established in 1970]]
[[Category:High schools in Maine]]
[[Category:Special schools in the United States]]
[[Category:Behavior modification]]
[[Category:Boarding schools in Maine]]
[[Category:2Fix]]