Traditional schools rely heavily on a student’s presumed desire and ability to conform (to the school’s cultural norms and conventional adult expectations) while therapeutic schools rely on external structure (points, rules, level systems, external rewards and consequences) to encourage compliance. Conformity and compliance have their place in the world, but we’re after something different at Oliverian. We want students to learn how to navigate the kinds of ambiguous situations they will routinely face after high school, including how to manage their time, express and abide by their own values, navigate social situations, and be themselves despite peer pressure.

We give students enough day-to-day freedom to make mistakes and enough support to learn from them. With a 40% failure rate among first year college students coming from settings that rely on conformity or compliance, our job is to help “life-proof” our graduates. Only by struggling with freedom do students learn how to manage it. At Oliverian, they learn that skill in a safe setting instead of in the unstructured, high-stakes world of college and young adulthood.