Phone +1 610-459-8100 | ||
Address 185 Glen Mills Rd, Glen Mills, PA 19342, USA | ||
The Glen Mills Schools (GMS) is a residential education facility for juvenile delinquents located in Glen Mills and in Thornbury Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania for boys between 15 and 18 years of age. It has been described as, "the country's most radical and, some say, its most effective answer yet to juvenile crime."
Contents
History
The Glen Mills Schools is the oldest surviving school of its type in the United States, continuously providing services to troubled youth for almost 200 years.
The Ferrainola period
Cosimo D. "Sam" Ferrainola, who served as the director of Glen Mills from 1975-2007, said that the school's social structure is, "a system of social control borrowed directly from street gangs. [...] Which is why Glen Mills recruits gang members as students. They readily understand the power of peer pressure and the rewards of status. The big difference between a street gang and Glen Mills is that students aren't allowed to lay a hand on each other." Ferrainola was supervised by Howard W. Polsky (New Xork), writer of "Cottage Six".
Campus
The 750 acres (300 ha) campus is situated on an almost 1,800-acre (730 ha) property, located 20 miles (32 km) west of Philadelphia, The campus may appear "like another pricey prep school for East Coast elites" but is highly regarded for reforming some of the most exterme cases of juvenile delinquency