Hampshire Country School is a private boarding school

Boarding school

A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...

 for gifted children in Rindge

Rindge, New Hampshire

Rindge is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 6,014 at the 2010 census. Rindge is home to Franklin Pierce University, the Cathedral of the Pines, and part of Annett State Forest.-Native American inhabitants:...

, New Hampshire

New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

, started by Henry Curtis Patey and Adelaide Walker Patey in 1948. Formerly a co-educational school, it is designed now as a residential middle school for boys with high ability who have difficulty in other settings. Populations served include students with Asperger syndrome

Asperger syndrome

Asperger's syndrome that is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction, alongside restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. It differs from other autism spectrum disorders by its relative preservation of linguistic and cognitive development...

, nonverbal learning disorder

Nonverbal learning disorder

A nonverbal learning disorder or nonverbal learning disability is a condition characterized by a significant discrepancy between higher verbal and lower motor, visuo-spatial, and social skills on an IQ test...

 and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Hampshire Country School is a place for boys with high intellectual ability that has not been realized and with idiosyncrasies that may have become major problems in traditional settings. The school provides an unusual environment in which those problems are no longer as significant—not because they have been “fixed,” but because the school's focus is on the bright, active, engaged, and engaging side of each child rather than on his quirks or limitations.

For over 60 years, Hampshire Country School has been educating children of high intellectual ability who need a friendly environment and an unusual amount of adult attention. It is a family-style boarding school for 25 boys, mostly of middle school age, from all parts of the country. Classes are traditional but small (3 to 6 students). The 1700 acres (6.9 km²) campus includes modest buildings, three lakes, and a small mountain. Daily life is very structured, with after-school and weekend activities plus time for organized outdoor and indoor play. It is here that many students find their first real friends and playmates.

The school has entered into an agreement with the Northeast Wilderness Trust

Northeast Wilderness Trust

The Northeast Wilderness Trust is a non-profit conservation organization based in Boston, Massachusetts working to preserve and restore forest landscapes in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut....

 to protect the grounds in perpetuity. These grounds were originally a farm. The Wapack Trail

Wapack Trail

The Wapack Trail is one of the oldest public, interstate hiking trails in the United States. Opened in 1923, it follows the Wapack Range north-south for , between Mount Watatic in Ashburnham, Massachusetts and North Pack Monadnock mountain in Greenfield, New Hampshire...

 runs through the Stony Top mountain ridge on one portion of the grounds.

History

Mr. Patey advocated the concept of Milieu therapy

Milieu Therapy

Milieu Therapy is a form of psychotherapy that involves the use of therapeutic communities. Patients join a group of around 30, for between 9 and 18 months. During their stay, patients are encouraged to take responsibility for themselves and the others within the unit. Milieu therapy is thought to...

, and in the 1970s the school published an in-house journal called the Journal of Residential Therapy.

In the 1970s the school had a co-ed student population of up to 125 students. Students lived at the school year-round and stayed in tents in a summer camp called Camp Timbertop for most of the summer. Many of these students were supported by Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 special education grants. Massachusetts funding for special education under Chapter 750 became more restricted in 1972 under Chapter 766, and as a result the student population declined, and the summer camp was eventually discontinued.

Temple Grandin

Temple Grandin

Temple Grandin is an American doctor of animal science and professor at Colorado State University, bestselling author, and consultant to the livestock industry on animal behavior...

is a famous alumna who graduated in 1966.

External links

• Hampshire Country School
• HAMPSHIRE COUNTRY SCHOOL: A Little Personal Place
• SENG / Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted http://www.sengifted.org/conference_sponsors.shtml
• A Hampshire Country School Play