Sheppard Pratt School in Rockville

"I want to write this review to warn others about Frost, and particularly the front wing program. I see several positive reviews on here which are referring to the lodge program. Lodge offers a more relaxed environment, whereas front wing takes a heavy handed disciplinarian approach. I started attending the front wing of Frost in 2015 after significant disciplinary issues, anxiety, and school refusal at my public high school. To say that Frost was a nightmare is an understatement. Front wing takes a totally trauma-uninformed approach on adolescent behavior. I am scarred by their treatment of me, and thank god I was only there for a few months as it added to my depression and anxiety significantly. Front wing uses “peer accountability” which is essentially putting the entire group in a large room and having us sort out our problems. The staff regularly let these groups get out of hand, and lacked a basic understanding of anxiety and its associated behaviors. These groups create significant drama in the learning environment. I was routinely cursed at by other students in these groups, and witnessed gaslighting, harassment, and verbally abusive behavior from both the staff and students. One incident in particular stands out to me. I asked a female student why she had an inappropriate picture on her social media account and before I knew it I was ambushed in a group meeting about it. I was called many different pejoratives, and accused of lying multiple times. I was also forced to apologize to the student without anyone hearing my side of the story. The staff let a student scream at me for several minutes until I walked out of the room. This behavior by the staff was grossly inappropriate, and made me question myself for a long time. If you have to choose between a residential program and front wing, I would choose front wing. With that being said, it was the best bad option I had. Frost has a very archaic approach to mental health which involves ridicule, dress code as punishment, and totally unregulated group therapy. In hindsight as a grown adult, I also see that the therapists encouraged abusive and maladaptive behavior by my parent. I am writing this for the scared parents who dont know where to go, and the kids that dont fit in anywhere. Please be extremely cautious of this program, and know that you will be faced with situations that make absolutely no sense. Protect yourself, and hire a special education lawyer if you can. The staff will turn on you in a minute. I write this review not from a place of anger, but in hopes that others might see this and stay away."

"Well my name is Ben, I joined frost at a very young age. I had a lot of anger issues, very unstable person, lot of mental health issues. I got into frost due to my diagnosis , and no other schools would accept me. I stayed with them since elementary school all the way to graduation. Honestly this school is strict but for a good reason. They have rules everywhere but growing up in this school it has taught me a lot. I was able to get myself ready for the real world, they taught me how to tie a tie, what consequences were, how to use coping mechanisms. They have large groups, and small groups which were therapeutic and helped me express myself when I couldn’t reach out, at times they felt like too much and overwhelming. Over time in middle school and high school even with the outbursts at home, I learned a lot even after graduating the frost center. I highly recommend this school for your child, or someone who needs a place that offers mental health, and counseling. I feel like it’s balanced in all aspects. Your child might not like the place but over time if he/she makes it they will be forever grateful. They taught me respect, how to express my feelings, to keep your head up (I used to walk around the hallways with my head down all the time) It’s an amazing program, it saved my life ❤️ Thank you"

"Unfortunately, not what it once was. The Frost School used to be it's own institution, not owned by Shepard Pratt. It had one program, and one shared vision. The founders were excellent at making the Frost School the best place to get help in the area. Then they grew old. And they had to find a caretaker for their creation. They gave it to Shepard Pratt. Who promptly started to "standardize" it, somehow killing off what made it special. And made it worse by moving in programs from two other schools that had closed/were closing... All while a number of staple staff members were retiring/leaving. The old guard retired, and he who picked up the torch couldn't hold it as high... - One who was helped greatly by the Frost School"

"After reading the reviews of this school I am definitely not considering it for my child. Not happy with the school that she's attending and hoping to find something that is better tailored to her needs due to the fact that she's autistic. I'm better off homeschooling her myself."

"This is overall a wonderful school with nothing but good intentions. The frost school is divided into three programs. The Frost program is a located mainly downstairs. The visual aspects are rather draining and seem a bit dull. The students who attend this program are mainly individuals with various behavioral issues. There is also the Lodge program where the attending students have mainly emotional issues. The students have more freedom to express themselves in ways that don't affect the other programs. The Oakmont program, from what I have observed, is the most theraputic program out of the three for people who struggle with emotional and learning disabilities. The staff there are very kind, young, and understanding of their students. Unlike the other two programs, Oakmont students do not usually share classes because of the different academic courses these students require. . For those wondering why there are so negative reviews, I'll do my best to clear any misunderstandings. Most of these negative reviews are from students that were placed in this school by the county. Some of the students were not placed in the proper programs according to their needs. Many issues towards this school are common misunderstandings that were not explained properly to the current students. One of the major concerns made by students is definitely the dress code situation. The dress code is seen as, "too strict" or, "too complicated". The dessert code includes the following, • nothing too revealing • nothing with weapons • no inappropriate language • no skulls or anything that represents death • no excessive piercings • tattoos must be covered In a public school this would be seen as a bit much. However, what the students don't seem to understand is that they are attending a theraputic program. This means everything from the conversations held to Anything visual must remain neutral because there are students who can't handle it. Same goes with the revealing program. Yes, males are not animals and are fully capable of controlling themselves but the boys attending this school may have various psychological and mental issues which may impact they're ability to do so. It's not their fault, it has nothing to do with how they were raised, they just physically are not able to control their body. . Another concern students commonly dislike are the therapist and teachers. Most are young and do not stay for more than a year or so. The therapist interns that hold private therapy sessions with the students change every year because they are only there for the experience and hands on learning with the students. As a theraputic school, I do feel like they should have a more committed and consistent atmosphere for the students. Having to get to know and trust a new therapist every year can be rather tiresome. The last major issue that the students seem to have with the school is that there is no, "classic" two month long summer vacation. They are given only a week or two then must return to school for the summer program. Although this helps keep the students on a schedule, it can also be stressful as some students may have friends who do not attend the frost school.. Leaving them feel left out or remind them that they have different needs. . . . Overall, here are a list of the cons: • different programs have different rules and teaching methods. This is fine; however, the frost and lodge program share some classes. Since the lodge kids are used to having more loose rules, they usually end up being upset when attending the other program's class and leave early because they can not handle the stress or are not able to change their behavior to accommodate the frost programs rules. • after washing my hands I smelled an odor that continued to smell for a few days straight. After finally checking, if was a rotting mouse on a sticky trap. • they have a, "theraputic zoo" within a small room. There are too many animals in that room to live happy life; however, they are healthy and checked on by a vet monthly."