Aside from the students, there isn't much to suggest that this might be a classroom. It certainly doesn't look like one. Instead of in rows of desks, students sit at tables, on couches, or along padded benches that look like they came straight out of a restaurant. There are treadmills in a corner. It's quiet reading time, and a girl with crayon-colored hair pulls out a large blue book with Alcoholics Anonymous written in gold on the spine.
This is Independence Academy in Brockton, Massachusetts, one of around 40 recovery high schools in the United States. Across the hall from the main classroom, another student is strumming a guitar. He says "I.A." is different than traditional schools, but that he likes it. "You have counselors that know about recovery, and there's always someone to talk to," he says.
[For more of this story, written by Britni De La Cretaz, go to https://psmag.com/magazine/fresh-times-at-rehab-high]
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