Independence Academy, a recovery high school for young people addicted to drugs or alcohol, is the first of its kind in Southeastern Massachusetts.
Operated by the North River Collaborative, an educational organization, the school is funded with $500,000 per year in state Department of Public Health grants and with tuition from the students’ school districts. It has the capacity to serve up to 50 students, ages 14 to 21, from communities south of Boston.
Three students were enrolled as ninth- or 10th-graders when the academy officially opened on Jan. 19, according to principal Richard Melillo. The aim is to have 20 to 25 students enrolled by June, he said.
Small class sizes and individualized instruction are key at a recovery high school, Melillo said. Teachers adapt lesson plans to the needs of students. This educational model includes rigorous academics matched with recovery-related components such as counseling and even mandatory low-impact exercise, such as yoga.
Independence Academy joins three other recovery schools - in Beverly, Boston, and Springfield - which have served a combined 520 students through the end of 2011. The national average stay at a recovery high school is about 7 1/2 months - but students can elect to stay all four years.
Planning for the school began in January 2010, after William Carpenter, a member of the Brockton School Committee, pushed for a public hearing to talk about a school for recovering addicts, particularly for young people struggling with addiction to opiate narcotics.
