This is continued from part 1, an introduction to therapeutic boarding schools.

Here's what I think you need to look for in a therapeutic boarding school:

1. Real high school level classes, but also remediation. Many times kids who've been struggling over the past few years are behind in school. You should pick a program that will help them catch up and will prepare them for college or whatever post-secondary training they're going for. From what I can tell this is rather rare in the therapeutic boarding school world. The one I worked for had excellent academics...but not so excellent student life.

2. A structured student-life program with lots of activities for the students and constant supervision. This is where my school kicked it, in my humble opinion. Students were unsupervised after school with nothing to do but their homework...how do you think they got into trouble to begin with?

3. Qualified therapeutic (counselers, on-site psychiatrist) staff who have clear goals for each student. Weekly counseling meetings at a minimum. The rest of the school staff needs to be trained as well.

4. An administration who wants the students to succeed...not just to stay at the school because they need so many students to make whatever financial goal they need to make. Also, an administration who's around, not always traveling on marketing missions.

5. A very clear disciplinary plan, which can be catered to individual students, but which has clear and swift consequences for students' actions.

6. Distinct boundaries between students and staff. Boundaries are a big issue with "troubled" teens and all staff, young and old, need to demonstrate what this means.

So - I hope I've helped someone with my little spiel! Most of these things seem pretty obvious, but it's been my limited experience that they're hard to come by all in the same school. But you are paying a lot of money to get your child turned around in the right direction. I think you should have as high expectations as you possibly can.