Frequently Asked Questions

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What is the cost of Greenbrier Academy?
What kind of issues do your students face?
Will you accept a student who has not completed a wilderness or therapeutic program?
How long will my daughter be at Greenbrier Academy?
When will my daughter be able to come home for a visit?
Will my daughter be able to send and receive letters and phone calls from her friends?
How often to the girls get to go off campus?
Do you have SAT prep courses and guidance for college/post high school planning?
What physical activity and sports do girls do?
What exposure will my daughter have to boys?
Can my daughter attend church?
What do the girls do for the service project?
How secure is the campus?
How do you control internet use?
How much group and individual therapy do students receive per week?
How are medicines monitored and distributed?
We have other children. Will they be able to attend family programs?
Do the girls wear uniforms?

What is the cost of Greenbrier Academy?
Tuition is $6975 per month. Parents also set up an account for their daughter to pay for optional services and approved personal purchases, such as home visits/travel costs, medicine, specialized medical services, insurance co-pay, and personal hygiene products. Please see our Tuition page for more information.  Back to Top 

What kind of issues do your students face?
Our students may face a spectrum of issues including: anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, ADD/ADHD, substance abuse, oppositional defiance, impulsiveness, emotional deregulation, lack of understanding consequence, and anger and/or attachment issues. Other issues may be loneliness, meaninglessness, and confusion about their place in the world. Our experience is that all of our students also come with a great skill set of positive attributes, and simply need the resources to overcome the obstacles keeping them from realizing their potential. For more information, please visit our Student Profile page. Back to Top

Will you accept a student who has not completed a wilderness or therapeutic program?
Yes. We will need to gather complete information from the student's therapist and/or educational consultant before a position is offered. This helps ensure that our school is a proper fit for you.  Back to Top

How long will my daughter be at Greenbrier Academy?
Our school takes a very personalized approach that is dependent on each girl's goals and progress. While there is a minimum length of stay of 12 months, many of our students have chosen to stay two, three, or four years, or until they graduate. Upon graduation, students are eligible for a high school diploma from the state of West Virginia. If a diploma from another school is a necessity, we can work with other school districts to transfer credits.  Back to Top

When will my daughter be able to come home for a visit?
We want to work with you and your family to ensure the best way to come together with positive and fun interaction. We create an individualized plan for each student; her counselor and academic advisor creates this. The plan is based on her and her family's needs and situation. Hopefully your daughter will be able to come home for holidays and family functions in the months following enrollment.  Back to Top

Will my daughter be able to send and receive letters and phone calls from her friends?
Based on the personal work your daughter accomplishes while here, your daughter's counselor will determine when she is prepared to make a supervised call to family members; calls to friends may follow. Students have supervised access to telephones for these approved calls, and cell phones are not allowed on campus. Our Admissions Agreement includes a place for you to list which relatives and friends your daughter should and should not be allowed to contact. Our counselors or mentors inspect all mail and inappropriate items will be removed (e.g., excessive amounts of candy or food, inappropriate reading material).  Back to Top

How often do the girls get to go off campus?
Our students have a very full and diverse residential life. They engage in many different weekly outdoor adventures, such as mountain biking, kayaking, and hiking though various partnerships insured by professional outfitters. Performances, concerts, plays, exhibits and festivals are monthly activities at Carnegie Hall and Greenbrier Valley Theatre in nearby Lewisburg, as well as field trips to Washington, D.C. and Virginia. Service projects are regular activities that allow students to participate in local volunteer efforts: helping with meals at local family support centers, home repairs for low-income families, and pitching in community beautification efforts. Faculty and staff also invite the students to their homes for cookouts and other get-togethers. We provide a rich, exciting and active schedule of activities in which students have opportunities to engage and learn.  Please visit our Student Life section to learn more. Back to Top

Do you have SAT courses and guidance for college/post high school planning?
As a college preparatory high school, we provide SAT courses as a regular part of the extracurricular activities provided for all of our students, and we have local sites where students may take the PSAT and SAT exams. Our Academic Department provides exceptional college planning and we work with each student's Educational Consultants (if applicable).  Back to Top

What physical activity and sports do girls do?
Students dance and drum daily, as well as participate in group exercise that varies in ability level: running, walking, Pilates, yoga, and free weights. Seasonal sports such as snow skiing, volleyball, basketball, soccer, field hockey, and softball are fun activities both on and off campus.  Back to Top

What exposure will my daughter have to boys?
At many of our off-campus activities, boys/young men are present. As with all of our off-campus events, students are always accompanied by staff.  Back to Top

Can my daughter attend church?
We encourage students to make their own decisions regarding spirituality and religion, and students can attend a nearby nondenominational church. We honor and respect the diversity that different faiths and practices bring to our community.  Back to Top

What do the girls do for the service project?
We have partnered with Mountain Mission School in Grundy, VA, which was created in 1921 as a safe haven for Ethiopian refugees. Greenbrier Academy has had cultural exchanges with the school so that our students have an opportunity to experience very different views and lifestyles without the normal cost and time of world travel. Recently, a number of girls and staff completed service projects in Ghana, Africa.  Please see our Service page for more information.  Back to Top

How secure is the campus?
Greenbrier Academy is located along the Greenbrier River in southeastern West Virginia. Our privately owned contiguous wooded areas provide the perfect, quiet setting for our students to focus on healing. Constructed at the turn of the century, the site has gone through an extensive two-year renovation. The surrounding quiet community is very close-knit and we have quality relationships with the local agencies and authorities. The 140 acres of beautiful campus provides the ideal location conducive to creativity and growth.  See our Location page to learn more.  Back to Top

How do you control internet use?
When using the computers in our schoolhouse, a faculty member closely supervises small numbers of students, and our computers have passwords known only to key staff. While we want to make sure that students are kept up-to-date with information technology, safety and proper usage are paramount.  Back to Top

How much group and individual therapy do students receive per week?
Your daughter has the opportunity to talk privately with her counselor for up to 90 minutes per week. The length of each session may vary depending on the focus of therapy and what is going on that week. We meet as a community five times a week to further explore the dynamic nature of relationships and how these relationships play out in students' lives and in our community.  Families have one therapeutic call per week for up to an hour. As each girl progresses and communicates her commitment, she is allowed social calls.  Back to Top

How are medicines monitored and distributed?
Our full time Medical Coordinator, Dinah Palmer, is an LPN that distributes medications daily to the students. She maintains impeccable communication with our contracted psychiatrist and each family. We continuously do staff training on medicine distribution, policies, and procedures for students who take medications after business hours. Our Medical Coordinator also establishes health baselines for the girls upon their arrival at Greenbrier Academy. She works closely with each young woman to insure that she is developing healthy life styles to strengthen and care for her body.  Back to Top

Will siblings be able to attend family programs?
Depending on the need of the student and family as decided by the therapist, siblings may be invited to attend certain family programs.  Back to Top

Do the girls wear uniforms?
We want our students to realize that self-expression should not be limited to their attire. By providing a dress code, students learn how to express themselves through their actions. The dress code allows our students the individuality and flexibility to wear comfortable and neat clothing that is appropriate for the various activities they participate in. During the school day, the girls wear khakis and polos. For outdoor and off-campus activities, students can wear jeans and activity specific apparel. For more information, please see our Dress Code.  Back to Top

If you have other questions, please contact admissions. We would love to hear from you.
Telephone: 304-445-7790
Toll Free: 877-788-8422
Email: admissions@greenbrieracademy.com