NorthShore Recovery High School, which is located in Beverly, may be down-sizing or closing after eighteen years of running.
Recovery High (as it’s known) enrolls students that may suffer with substance abuse or mental health issues, “with the goals of stabilizing each student, building their recovery capital” , and helping them transition into their new lives after high school, according to their website.
Principal Michelle Lipinski confirmed in the past week that the school may be shutting down. She claimed the Northshore Education Consortium the high school works with has been unable to work successfully long term.
Lipinski told the Salem News that if the community would still like a recovery school, “then we’re looking at school districts and other collaboratives to maybe look at supporting this in a different way”.
Currently, the school accepts students of the age 14-21 and focuses on their health and wellness hoping to empower them to take ownership of their own growth and lives. They also focus on integrity, mutual respect, and personal accountability.
Students can be referred to this school by their current school district, families, treatment providers, youth-serving state agencies, or juvenile justice. In order to be accepted, all students need to follow and complete a process of steps.
Later on this spring Recovery High’s school board plans to have a public meeting regarding the facility’s financial state as they figure out a new budget. As of right now, the future of the school remains unclear. Consortium Executive Director Francine Rosenberg told the Salem News that “the board has not made any decisions beyond the 25-26 school year”.
Due to the decline of enrollment recently at the school, it seems the school board would have to seriously consider cutting down on some of the staff members to lower the schools costs.
Northshore Recovery will set a budget and decide the possible cuts at the board meeting in April. Overall, if the school closes, it will impact a lot of students’ lives and their futures ahead of them.
