Our students and their accomplishments are the pride of Cherry Gulch. It is our great pleasure to take them from troubled, defiant youth to articulate, well-adjusted young men. Cherry Gulch was designed to address the needs of a specific group of youth. Because of this, there are some guidelines that we use to aid in the admittance process.

Ideal Candidates:
    We are a therapeutic boarding school for boys only. The average age of our students is 12.5 to 13 years-old. We accept relatively mature 10 year-olds to immature 14 year-olds. The faculty and staff at Cherry Gulch are passionate about early intervention and prevention and want to help you get your son back on the right path before their behaviors become more severe and entrenched. We are equipped to handle very difficult students as well as "softer" students with more internalizing behaviors. We are an ADHD boarding school that knows how to cater to your troubled child. We are also prepared academically to work with students with learning difficulties and those that are brilliant academically. Our students our good boys with bright futures who have great potential. However, at the time of enrollment they are experiencing difficulties in their life and have used maladaptive coping strategies as a way of dealing with their anger, depression and frustration. Difficulties our students struggle with may include: 

• Abuse or Neglect

• ADD/ADHD
• Adoption Issues
• Anger
• Anxiety
• Asperger's (Mild to Moderate)
• Authority Conflict
• Bipolar Disorder
• Bereavement Issues (Grief)
• Depression
• Divorce Issues
• Drug/Alcohol (Mild to Moderate)
• Family Conflict
• Impulsivity
• Isolative
• Lack of Respect
• Learning Disabilities
• Limited Life Skills
• Low Motivation
• Low Self-Esteem
• Lying
• Manipulative
• Negative Peer Association
• Obesity
• Oppositional Defiant
• Pervasive Development Disorder (Mild to Moderate)
• Poor Coping Skills
• Poor Social Skills
• Reactive Attachment Disorder (Mild to Moderate)
• School Problems
• Stealing
• Withdrawn

What students are inappropriate for your program?

Inappropriate students include those who are over 14-years-old at the time of admission or who have been involved with the Juvenile Justice System or Department of Corrections.  We do not accept students with the following difficulties:

• Adjudicated Youth (Students with Criminal Records)
• Actively Suicidal, Homicidal, or Psychotic
•  Anorexia
•  Bulimia
•  Arson
• Autistic
• Conduct Disorder
• Drug Addiction
• IQ below 80
• Schizophrenia or other Psychotic Disorders
•  Sexual Offenders
• Students who are dangerous and pose a risk to other students
• Students who would be diagnosed with a Personality Disorder if they fit the age requirement (Antisocial, Schizoid, Schizotypal, Borderline, etc)
• Street smart gang members
• Students who have serious behaviors such as using cocaine and other hard drugs, stealing cars, or running away from home for days at a time.
• We do not accept students who would be more appropriately places with a population that is older than ours.
• We do not accept students who we do not think are right for our school or who we do not think we can help.
• We do not accept students who we feel will have a consistently negative influence on our younger, "softer," more impressionable students.