Creative Expression at Chamberlain International School

Established more than four decades ago, Chamberlain International School is an educational, therapeutic boarding and day school located in Middleborough, Massachusetts. Chamberlain International School provides students with a diverse curriculum, including multiple opportunities for creative expression.

Art classes at Chamberlain take place in the school’s on-campus art studio. Available to all students, art courses cover a range of topics and make use of various materials, techniques, and media platforms. Basic art courses can be enhanced through the school’s Enrichment Program for students with exceptional skill or interest in the field.

Meanwhile, instructional music courses are offered as both group classes and one-on-one lessons thanks to a partnership with Rick’s Music World in nearby Raynham, Massachusetts. The facility provides instrumental rentals and a performance stage, among other services for students.

Lastly, Chamberlain’s drama program has partnered with The Burt Wood School of Performing Arts to create sessions that last between six and nine weeks. These sessions highlight a unique aspect of the dramatic arts, such as improv comedy or dramatic stage acting. Regardless of the session’s area of focus, all courses conclude with a full student production.

Reactive and Disinhibited Disorders of Attachment

At Chamberlain International School, students aged 11 to 22 receive individualized academic and clinical support around a variety of challenges. Chamberlain International School welcomes students with Reactive Attachment Disorder, which makes it difficult for young people to form secure and healthy relationships.

Between the ages of 0 and 5 years, children are learning how to relate to others. When children of this age have reliable and loving caregivers who respond to their needs and keep them warm, fed, and comforted, they learn that other people are safe and trustworthy. However, if their care is unpredictable or absent and their needs frequently go unmet, children do not develop the sense of security they need to trust others.

Approximately 10 percent of children who fall into this latter category will ultimately show signs of Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) or Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder. The former occurs when children learn to hold themselves back from love and affection. They come across as detached and resist the expression of emotion. Often withdrawn or prone to pulling back from others, these children resist overtures of comfort when upset.

Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder (DSED), formerly known as Disinhibited RAD, develops when children react to inconsistency of care by seeking affection and closeness indiscriminately. Prone to seeking attachments outside of socially normative boundaries, children with DSED may show more affection than is expected for their age or within the context of a particular relationship. Seemingly no more attached to a caregiver than to strangers, they may be prone to wandering off with unfamiliar persons.

Chamberlain International School's European Affiliations

Founded in 1976 with the vision of being a unique educational institution that offers high-quality teaching and support services, Chamberlain International School continues to work toward creating an inclusive, accepting environment today. Students at Chamberlain International School have the opportunity to broaden their horizons beyond the classroom setting by taking part in school-affiliated trips to Europe and Bermuda. 

The annual European trip includes stops in Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands and gives students a chance to visit historical and culturally-significant sites such as battlefield museums, Castle Loevestein, the Van Gogh Museum, the home of Anne Frank, and Slot Zuylen Castle. The 10-day trip also includes a day at the beach and a stop at a chocolate factory in Cologne. 

In the past, the school's European trip included a visit to Denmark, in which Chamberlain's international sister school is based. However, Chamberlain continues to maintain a staff and student exchange program with the Hilltop School in Skive, Denmark. The program, which began in 2012, enables Chamberlain students to travel with faculty to Denmark, where they spend the mornings attending classes at Hilltop; afternoons and evenings are spent exploring the area with faculty and Hilltop students.

Signs of Bipolar Disorder in Adolescents

Dedicated to serving a diverse population of students, Chamberlain International School welcomes adolescents and pre-adolescents between the ages of 11 and 22. The staff at Chamberlain International School draws on experience in supporting students with a range of challenges, including bipolar disorder.

While shifts in mood are normal for all adolescents, some experience these transitions to such a severe degree that they interfere with daily functioning. This can indicate the development of bipolar disorder, a mental health issue that features intense swings between major depression and a highly elevated energy state known either as mania or hypomania, depending on its severity.

Both mania and hypomania involve an increased need for activity, reckless behavior, and a decreased need for sleep. When individuals transition into a depressive episode, however, they begin to feel a loss of interest and pleasure in activity, trouble concentrating, and general feelings of hopelessness or worthlessness.

While in adults either of these states may last for weeks or even months, for adolescents they may shift within hours or days. The change may at first seem like an ordinary teenage mood swing, but the resultant feelings and behaviors are notably more severe.

For example, while it may be seen as typical for teenagers to threaten to do something reckless, the teenager with bipolar disorder may actually engage in the act. Likewise, while any teen might be nervous and uncertain about the future, those with bipolar disorder might feel hopeless and paralyzed by the thought of making any decision. Concerned parents can talk with their children about their experiences and feelings, and seek out professional intervention if necessary.

Beyond Academics - Chamberlain International School

Chamberlain International School is a school of inclusion that works with students with a wide range of academic, cognitive, emotional, and social challenges who are between the ages of 11 and 22. With its trained staff of educators, clinicians, and mental health professionals, the school crafts individualized academic plans to help students graduate with high school diplomas. Working with students who struggle in a traditional high school environment has been the mission of Chamberlain International School since it was founded more than four decades ago.

In each of its nine different dormitory facilities, the school has worked to create a welcoming environment that feels like home. In addition to their academic studies, students are given guidance on how to develop and maintain healthy eating habits. They also participate in athletic and exercise programs that include activities such as hiking, swimming, horseback riding, and rock climbing. Not only that, but students have the opportunity to interact with the community around them, which facilitates the development of healthy social skills. 

In addition to its extracurricular offerings, Chamberlain International School is a candidate school* for the Diploma Programme. This school is pursuing authorization as an IB World School. These are schools that share a common philosophy - a commitment to high quality, challenging, international education that Chamberlain International School believes is important for our students.

*Only schools authorized by the IB Organization can offer any of its four academic programmes: the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP), the Diploma Programme or the Career-related Programme (CP). Candidate status gives no guarantee that authorization will be granted.

For further information about the IB and its programmes, visit http://www.ibo.org.

An Overview of the Impact of PTSD on Education

Chamberlain International School in Middleboro, Massachusetts, is a

coeducational therapeutic facility supporting twice exceptional students dealing with a variety of academic and psychological challenges. In addition to the facility’s quality educational offerings, Chamberlain International School provides students with a range of therapeutic services.

Clinical care at Chamberlain has been developed to address any number of issues that may impact a student’s ability to learn, including post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Students living with PTSD can experience a number of challenges while at school. Common symptoms experienced by individuals living with the disorder include chronic anxiety for themselves and others, uncontrollable and unexpected flashbacks to the source of trauma, and other recurrent negative emotions such as a guilt and shame. All of these symptoms can make it extremely difficult to concentrate on schoolwork, particularly in a traditional classroom where a teacher may be responsible for 20 students or more.

PTSD can impact students of all ages. Preschool-aged children have been seen to regress in regard to expected developmental milestones and may be hesitant to part from their parents or guardians to attend school. As students grow up, they often become more cognizant of the disorder and can become withdrawn and self conscious about the challenges they face, making it more difficult for educators to reach them.

Of course, each student is an individual and may experience none, all, or some of these or other issues. To learn about how the therapeutic staff at Chamberlain International School supports students as they navigate the difficulties presented by PTSD, please visit www.chamberlainschool.org.