Wediko School is a resource for boys who have a variety of learning, social, psychological and psychiatric problems.  Although appropriately structured, it is all about care and not at all about "break 'em down" so we can build them back up.  In addition, it offers a level of intensity in family care that we have seen in no other program. 

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Situated on property near Concord, New Hampshire, that strongly resembles a Summer Camp, Wediko can accept very difficult challenges and work miracles.  Tom recalls driving there the first time.  "I had a rental car with Satellite Radio.  The canopy of trees over the road approaching was so thick that the Satellite signal shut off." 

Wediko's web site does not tell the whole story. Just a few sentences that describe but  understate the power of the tremendous resources and quality of this operation.  Clinically, Wediko School (and summer program) offer a full range of clinical services including psychiatrists, clinical psychotherapists and special education teachers. 

Wediko School served only local people until recently. Until just a few years ago, Wediko School allowed only five day boarding and except under emergency conditions, all students were required to go home on weekends.   Parents were expected to be available on campus frequently.  This has been adjusted to permit seven day boarding, and work with students from a sufficiently great distance that it is not practical for parents to appear on campus frequently. 

The practical impact of this for current Wediko students and their families is that the school still puts extraordinary energy into working with families. We know of other school or program of any kind that primarily serves children (including privately funded children) and provides such intensive support to their families.   the other practical impact is that the majority of students still go home every weekend and the school still expects parents to be open to considerable interaction with the school. 

From what we have been able to discern, every staff member at every level interacts with the students in a fully professional and nurturing manner.  There is very clear structure, by which we mean consistency and a clarity and firmness that puts the staff in charge, but no effort to trigger confrontations just to show who is in charge.  This is a facility that understands the importance of the relationships developed by the front line workers and ensures that they are quality relationships. 

Wediko is one of the few schools and programs that serves both publicly funded and privately funded children with great excellence, and brings to bear the best of  both the public and private sectors.  The customer service that goes with the private sector and the readiness to work with some very difficult family issues are both in evidence.  We see these qualities more frequently in the private sector.  It also functions as if the entire family system is its client.  This quality is more frequently a product of the public sector.  The simple fact is that Wediko gives the best of both worlds. 

Our most recent experience with Wediko involves a young man who entered Wediko quite young with a very long list of profound diagnoses, including a hearing loss that complicated his learning issues. This family also evidenced  some parental issues that required work with a very complex extended family system that called for a kind of attention that other privately funded facilities are unlikely to give.  We don't want to convey the impression that Wediko is only for children who quite so complicated, but we do believe that this case demonstrates their over all excellence.  This young man recently moved on as a young teenager with a shorter list of diagnoses, a personal peace with the diagnoses that remain, an ability to handle his hearing loss in a way that makes it far from obvious to a casual observer (although he does not mind discussing it) and an ability to  present himself in a way that would be totally unexpected for someone who presented as he did when I first knew him. 

Wediko School operates on a ten month calendar.  However, the remaining two months, are taken up with the Wediko summer camp, also described on the Wediko Web site.

Wediko modestly uses only a few sentences to list the many excellent services and resources it offers.  Let's look at that.  They offer psychiatry, special education teachers, team teaching with up to eight in a classroom, nursing, "therapeutic horseback riding" (that pre-dates the "equine assisted therapy" that is now in vogue). 

For boys in need of a nurturing and non-punitive place to gain success, stability, and maturity, Wediko is a superb option. 

Official web site of Wediko School  

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Disclaimer: No  program review, no matter how positive, is a blanket endorsement. No criticism is a blanket condemnation.  When we express our level of confidence in a school or program, that is our subjective opinion with which others might reasonably disagree.  When we assert something as fact, we have done our best to be accurate, but we cannot guarantee that all of our information is accurate and up to date. When we address compliance with our guidelines, you need to remember that these are only OUR guidelines -- not guidelines from an official source.  We have also set the bar very high, and do not expect any school or program to be in total compliance.  It is not appropriate to draw a conclusion of impropriety (or even failure to live up to conventional wisdom) from our lack of confidence in a school or program or from less than perfect conformity to our guidelines.  Some will say we expect too much. Readers are responsible for verifying accuracy of information supplied here prior to acting upon it. We are not responsible for inaccuracies.

Last updated 7-19-08; minor edits up to 8-30-08