A Fragile Child Goes to Boarding School

Our family began working with Miriam in 2001, and with her guidance have had four wonderful experiences with her. A friend of mine recommended Miriam as someone who would take very good care of our child and our family – which has certainly been the case. Our family first worked with Miriam in 2001 when my eldest daughter, now a senior in high school, was in fifth grade and we were looking for a summer sleep away camp for her. Because we were late in applying, we hadn’t been able to arrange a space. Miriam made several calls to camps she recommended finding a place for C, and C ended up in a great camp that she loved and was just right for her.

We worked with Miriam again in 2002, when C was in sixth grade, to explore the possibility of her going to an East Coast boarding school. Miriam put together a list of possible schools, and discussed in great detail the pro’s and con’s of doing this. We ultimately decided not to have C attend a boarding school at that time, but learned a great deal about boarding schools during the process.

Our next experience with Miriam was in 2005. My ex-husband and I were going through a bitter divorce, and because of C’s rather fragile personality, it was having a particularly negative effect on her. Our custody evaluator suggested she go to a therapeutic boarding school to help her deal with the trauma of the divorce. We called Miriam and began the process of locating an appropriate school for C. I knew nothing about this subject, so Miriam and her colleagues provided us with a great deal of information on such schools, and educated us as to which school would be best for C.

Miriam suggested that before C go to a therapeutic boarding school, she go to a therapeutic wilderness program, which I found shocking. My understanding of such programs was that they were “boot camps” and only to be used in the most desperate situations. Miriam helped me understand the differences between the various kinds of wilderness programs, and the need for C to go to such a program. She did, of course, find a great wilderness program for her. I was still skeptical, but Miriam assured me it would be so beneficial for C – and, as before, she was right. C loved the program, and it prepared her to next attend a therapeutic boarding school.

Again, I knew very little about therapeutic boarding schools, but knew we were in capable hands with Miriam. She did a great deal of work to find a therapeutic boarding school that would be a great fit for C. Then C’s father decided he didn’t want C to attend any therapeutic boarding school. We had to go to court about this, and Miriam testified before the judge about the need for C to go to a therapeutic boarding school and why a therapeutic boarding school was the right environment for her. Later Miriam also gave a legal deposition on C’s behalf to explain more about the process of finding a therapeutic boarding school and what C’s experience there was likely to be. I was very impressed that Miriam was so comfortable in a courtroom situation and was so knowledgeable that the judge said that she was persuaded particularly by Miriam’s testimony in her decision to have C attend a therapeutic boarding school.

Our most recent experience was Miriam’s help in finding a New England boarding school that had a post-graduate program for C. Miriam did extensive research, spoke at length with me and with C, and found nine potential schools. She and I discussed which might best serve C’s needs, and narrowed the list to four schools. Miriam then contacted each of the schools’ admissions office to talk to them about our upcoming visit, completely arranged our itinerary, making it so easy for C and me when we visited these schools in October 2008. It was a very smooth process, because Miriam made it so.

I couldn’t imagine a better educational consultant than Miriam. She has tremendous knowledge about a wide variety of schools across the nation and personal relationships with someone at each school. This knowledge makes her an ideal educational consult to work with, and I have always been delighted to recommend her to many friends who are looking for the consummate professional in this area. Miriam’s staff is also wonderful – easy to work with and always happy to go out of their way to make sure you and your child’s needs are met. I don’t know how we could have managed any of our family’s issues without Miriam’s assistance, and I can’t imagine what our lives would be like if Miriam hadn’t chosen the ideal therapeutic and educational environments for C. She is a gem.