Andrus' three campus-based treatment programs and award-winning Orchard School help children and families to feel
safe, manage potentially overwhelming emotions, understand and deal with loss, and build brighter futures. Children in our programs feel protected, valued, and appreciated, and families are
an integral part of the treatment team. Visitors to Andrus invariably remark on the atmosphere of serenity and hope conveyed by our beautiful setting and our caring and experienced staff.

The Residential Treatment Program
Seventy three 5-14 year-old children with severe emotional problems reside in Andrus' comfortable Tudor-style cottages under the full-time guidance of trained and dedicated staff members. The main goal of our Residential Treatment Program is to help children and their families set and meet treatment goals that will enable them to live together upon completion of the program. Nearly 90% of our graduates fulfill the dream of rejoining a family; generations of alumni have gone on to lives of greater independence and stability.

The Day Treatment Program
Andrus' Day Treatment Program provides a valuable resource for families struggling to avoid outside placements for their children. Seventy eight youngsters - together with their families - take part in comprehensive educational, social and psychological services that help them to address the issues and behaviors that are disrupting their lives while continuing to live at home.

The Orchard School
Every child enrolled in Andrus' campus-based treatment programs attends our nationally acclaimed Orchard School. Located in a handsomely renovated dairy, on the sloping hill of a former apple orchard, the school communicates both the wholesomeness of an old-fashioned farm and the promise of new opportunities. The Orchard School has been three times designated a Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education. Accreditation and affiliations provide us with credentials and awards.

Students at the Orchard School receive highly specialized instructional services. The staff-to-student ratio at the Orchard School is a maximum of 1:4 - assuring each child a wealth of tailored attention to help dispel years of frustration and failure. Using the Sanctuary model of treatment, where community is treatment, the Orchard School offers a welcoming environment in which children feel safe, address affective issues, acquire academic skills and anticipate a more hopeful future. We emphasize hands-on projects that encourage children to see themselves as capable and creative; and individualized computer-managed reading, writing and math instruction, permitting students to forge ahead or catch up, at their own pace, without feelings of stigma or difference.

Due to the growing research and awareness of how young brains develop, we have integrated neurodevelopmental psychology with classroom instruction and related service provision. Outcome assessment across our population is being used for program evaluations as well as improving service provision. The creation of a multidisciplinary Instructional Team has increased our ability to continuously assess student functioning.

The Andrus Children’s Center and The Orchard School have responded to the growing need for appropriate educational planning and placement for children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). In its third year and growing, the “E-Building”, our school wing catering to middle school and high school students on the Autism Spectrum, has evolved into a specialized program designed to meet the needs of children who may have primary or comorbid diagnoses of Asperger’s Disorder, Autism, or Pervasive Developmental Disorder- NOS. The development of the “E-Building” was a response to the special and specific social-emotional, behavioral, and learning needs of our ASD students. Classroom behavior is managed using a functional behavioral assessment model and an operant system of reinforcement is utilized throughout the day. All programming for the “E-Building” follows the guidelines of the Sanctuary Model while heavily incorporating empirically based behavioral interventions. In addition, individual student learning challenges are met using formalized direct instruction curriculum programs, curriculum modifications, and hands-on interactive delivery of academic material. Please feel free to contact our Admissions Coordinator Leigh Vazquez for more information.

Our program includes plenty of opportunities for artistic and athletic exploration and success - including an adventure-based counseling program, chorus, dance and the National Youth Program Using Minibikes (NYPUM).