I am intrigued by the Milton Hershey School.

[Anonymous]

It's popped up in my feed a lot recently. so I did some clicking and learned that their students board as early as age 4. I would love to hear from anyone who attended this school. It seems like an incredible, life changing opportunity.

[Anonymous]

I've watched a few documentaries about it and go down a research rabbit hole every time. It's a fascinating place with some very happy and very sad stories.

In one documentary I watched, it showed that a lot of the boarding, especially with little kids, is as in homes that look and feel exactly like a regular family home. That wasn't quite what I had imagined and it made a lot more sense after I saw that.

OP, I hope you have read The NY Times series about Dasani, who is a girl who eventually ends up at the school. If you haven't, it's one of the most moving series I've ever read. I won't say more in case you haven't read it yet. Be sure to look up the 2021 update.

https://www.nytimes.com/projects/2013/invisible-child/index.html#/?chapt=1

[Anonymous]

My god. What kind of parent sends their FOUR YEAR OLD CHILD to boarding school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My god. What kind of parent sends their FOUR YEAR OLD CHILD to boarding school?

One who is struggling. One who wants a better education and life. This school is very low income kids who don’t have your life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My god. What kind of parent sends their FOUR YEAR OLD CHILD to boarding school?

The average family has an income of $22k. That’s who.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My god. What kind of parent sends their FOUR YEAR OLD CHILD to boarding school?

The average family has an income of $22k. That’s who.

In other words, DCUM is not their target audience.

[Anonymous]

For those who don’t know, Milton Hershey school was set up by the original Hershey trust as a boarding school for high-performing, very low-income kids. Family income must be no more than 2X the federal poverty level (and the school is free) The school , managed through the Hershey Trust, is actually a primary shareholder and Director of the Hershey Chocolate Company. There have been recent rumors of Hershey being “in play” as a potential acquisition candidate from other food companies and private equity, but the deal has never materialized specifically because of the obligations to the Hershey School and Trust and the role of the Trust in the governance of the chocolate company.

This is a great school set up in a long-term and philanthropically pure way. Its structure has done what its founder presumably wanted despite the best efforts of many to circumvent it.

If you are a candidate and choose to send your kid there, go get ‘em.

[Anonymous]

To clarify, the Trust, which directs the school, is the majority shareholder of the school. The de facto endowment of the school is actually greater than $10 Billion, more than any high school in the country.

Each graduating class has around 200-225 kids.

I know several who have come though and done exceptionally well. There are lots of not-so-great stories too (mostly family related that forced kids out of the school, but the school has plenty of stories of problems too).

[Anonymous]

Meant to say majority owner of Hershey

[Anonymous]

The 2 kids I met (years ago, when i worked in college admissions) were both orphans. It was life changing for them and they were incredible kids.

[Anonymous]

If you recall the NYT feature on Dasani, a promising student whose family was living in a homeless shelter in Brooklyn . . . the follow-up was about her experience at The Milton Hershey School. Unfortunately, it wasn't a fit for her, mostly because of pressure from her family to return home. The article offers some insight into the school and how its mission, and the journalist also has written a book about it.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/28/magazine/dasani-invisible-child.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those who don’t know, Milton Hershey school was set up by the original Hershey trust as a boarding school for high-performing, very low-income kids. Family income must be no more than 2X the federal poverty level (and the school is free) The school , managed through the Hershey Trust, is actually a primary shareholder and Director of the Hershey Chocolate Company. There have been recent rumors of Hershey being “in play” as a potential acquisition candidate from other food companies and private equity, but the deal has never materialized specifically because of the obligations to the Hershey School and Trust and the role of the Trust in the governance of the chocolate company.

This is a great school set up in a long-term and philanthropically pure way. Its structure has done what its founder presumably wanted despite the best efforts of many to circumvent it.

If you are a candidate and choose to send your kid there, go get ‘em.

No. I am familiar with this school. It started as a good thing to help boys without fathers. It entered into the system of taking in boys who have issues with the law along with boys who are fatherless and many of those families do not realize the difference until there kid is there. This is not Choate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you recall the NYT feature on Dasani, a promising student whose family was living in a homeless shelter in Brooklyn . . . the follow-up was about her experience at The Milton Hershey School. Unfortunately, it wasn't a fit for her, mostly because of pressure from her family to return home. The article offers some insight into the school and how its mission, and the journalist also has written a book about it.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/28/magazine/dasani-invisible-child.html

And for those questioning the young age of some of the students, this paragraph may offer some insight:

Every year, an unknown number of students leave Hershey. The school’s administrators would not disclose its average graduation rate but said that in 2015 — the year that Dasani enrolled — around one in 10 children was either expelled or dropped out. For those who graduate, success in college seems correlated with the age at which they entered Hershey. Sixty-one percent of students who enroll before age 10 complete a postsecondary degree, compared with only 51 percent of students who entered Hershey during high school.

These are children who have experienced homelessness, hunger, and violence. Being placed in a safe, stable, and nurturing environment at a younger age understandably lends to better outcomes.

[Anonymous]

I have an in law who went there - not sure for how long or at what age, but she is a fabulous and successful person. I would say her family is a typical US immigrant success story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those who don’t know, Milton Hershey school was set up by the original Hershey trust as a boarding school for high-performing, very low-income kids. Family income must be no more than 2X the federal poverty level (and the school is free) The school , managed through the Hershey Trust, is actually a primary shareholder and Director of the Hershey Chocolate Company. There have been recent rumors of Hershey being “in play” as a potential acquisition candidate from other food companies and private equity, but the deal has never materialized specifically because of the obligations to the Hershey School and Trust and the role of the Trust in the governance of the chocolate company.

This is a great school set up in a long-term and philanthropically pure way. Its structure has done what its founder presumably wanted despite the best efforts of many to circumvent it.

If you are a candidate and choose to send your kid there, go get ‘em.

No. I am familiar with this school. It started as a good thing to help boys without fathers. It entered into the system of taking in boys who have issues with the law along with boys who are fatherless and many of those families do not realize the difference until there kid is there. This is not Choate.

Nobody said it was Choate. These aren’t kids who are debating between Hotchkiss and Andover, they are largely severely disadvantaged children with enormous odds stacked against them. This offers a way out and a good education. There are definitely behavior issues and problems, but outcomes in aggregate are certainly superior to most under-resourced schools in the most disadvantaged areas.