Family Involvement

Ironwood Residential Therapeutic School is unique for many reasons and our parent involvement and parenting resources is one our parents love! Being separated from your child for a time can be both challenging as well as a relief. However, no matter where you are on the spectrum, staying connected and involved as much as possible is both reassuring and critical to the success of your teen.

Ironwood cannot over emphasize the value of being on the East Coast where you can actively participate with your child. Every other month Ironwood hosts a parent weekend where interacting with your teen is a necessary next step in their therapeutic progress. Parents love this weekend for the closeness they feel with their child and can see, as well as experience firsthand, the progress their child is making. Additionally, there may be a time when an unexpected and critical therapeutic issue would require your attendance.

Ironwood also features a host of other valuable resources and activities for parents to participate in to maximize their involvement, learning and growth. The Ironwood Parent Connect website posts pictures of various student activities as well as progress reports from the academic and therapy departments. These updates provide helpful insights to what your child is working on as well as the progress they are making in specific areas.

Student photographs give parents a virtual photo album of activities their teen is participating in, from animal therapy to recreational sports and farm projects to field trips—student photos keep you abreast of what your child is doing.

All Ironwood parents have access to online courses to improve their parenting skills. These courses are designed to increase awareness of parenting principles and incorporate specific skills to empower parents to make the most of their Ironwood experience. These courses also help parents create a different environment when their child returns home.

Various departments at Ironwood also sponsor a blog where they update parents on different activities, issues being addressed as well as sharing insights that students are experiencing.

Parents also receive weekly calls from their teen’s therapist outlining what their child is working on and the progress they are making. During this call, therapist and parent collaborate on issues that need to be addressed. Students are invited to participate on these calls as appropriate.

Ironwood has many parenting activities on campus, online, on the telephone, and hopefully in your local community. Parents who live on the East Coast are easily within travel distance of Ironwood and are encourage to attend as many parent functions as possible.

Every parent wants to stay connected while their child is with us and that is why we created Ironwood Parent Connect. This is a secure and private web site that allows you as a parent to view photographs of your teen participating in various activities, review the weekly therapeutic and academic updates and to take advantage of resources only available to parents of Ironwood students.

We believe that parents are a critical member of the therapeutic team and their involvement at Ironwood will influence their teen’s progress in achieving the success that they strive for. Once parents begin to take advantage of the parenting tools and resources available to them, the goal of healing their child and reuniting their family will soon be within reach.