Élan School

Élan School was an abusive behavior modification program and therapeutic boarding school located in Poland, Maine. It was a full member of the National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs (NATSAP) and was considered to be a part of the troubled teen industry. The facility closed down on April 1, 2011, following multiple reports of abuse, many from former students, dating back to its opening in 1970.

The Élan School was located on a 33-acre (13 ha) campus in south Poland that was formerly a hunting lodge. There were also other campuses, such as the one on 424 Maplecrest Road in Parsonsfield, which was formerly a hotel and hospital before it was bought by Élan in 1975. This campus was known to have some of the worst abuse in the school's history, and was put out of use sometime in the 1980s.

The Élan School acquired notoriety during the 1990s and early-2000s when former classmates of Michael Skakel, who had attended in the 1970s, testified against him in his trial for a murder that had occurred about two years before he had enrolled. The school was also the subject of persistent allegations of abuse in its behavioral modification program.

History

Élan School was founded in 1971 by Joseph Ricci, a former heroin addict who had worked with young people in drug treatment facilities, along with psychiatrist Dr. Gerald Davidson and investor David Goldberg. Ricci headed the school until his death on January 29, 2001, due to lung cancer, when his widow Sharon Terry took over. In 1974, Élan 1 was damaged by a fire with damages estimated as $100,000. Maine politician Bill Diamond served as the school's Director of Governmental Relations.