John Dewey Academy

The John Dewey Academy is a private, coeducational college preparatory therapeutic boarding school in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, 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. The school is fully accredited by the New England Association of Schools and College. However it isn't currently accredited by any psychological organizations, despite it being a therapeutic boarding school for struggling teens. It used to be accredited by the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA), but they retracted their endorsement in 2002. [1] Bratter attributed this to a variety of reasons, most notably that he has "been accused to be a cult leader," which he denies. [2]

John Dewey Academy
Address
389 Main Street Great Barrington , Massachusetts 01230 United States
Coordinates	42°11′30.39″N 73°21′57.57″W
Information
School type	Private, Independent, College-preparatory, Day & Boarding
Established	1985
Founder	Thomas E. Bratter
Head teacher	David Blum
Age range	15-21
Website	www.jda.org

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. [3]

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. [4] 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. [5][6] 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. [7] 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."[8]

However, there have been multiple abuse allegations against the Academy from past students, often indicting it for its "cult-like environment" and "verbal abuse, physical abuse ... [and] psychological abuse." [9] [10] These allegations are largely underground at this point and are mostly found in various online forums, support groups, social media, and blog posts, as well as specific communities created for past students of the Academy to process trauma and share their experiences, such as the "Survivors of John Dewey Academy" Facebook group created in September of 2020. [11] The accounts given by both these past students and Tom Bratter are anecdotal and thus generally unreliable, although the abuse allegations appear to be largely truthful, as the John Dewey Academy 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. [12]