Recovery high schools help kids heal from an addiction and build a future

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/04/04/ [login to see] /recovery-high-schools-help-kids-heal-from-an-addiction-and-build-a-future
Every weekday at 5280 High School in Denver starts the same way.

Students in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction gather on the steps of the school's indoor auditorium to discuss a topic chosen by staff members. One recent morning, they talked about mental health and sobriety. A teenage boy dressed in tan corduroys, a black hoodie, and sneakers went first.

"I didn't want to have, like, any emotion," he said. "So I thought, like, the best way to, like, put it down would be to do more and more and more drugs."

A classmate said she started doing drugs for fun and then got hooked. Another student said his addiction negatively impacts his mental health. A third announced an upcoming milestone.

"In, like, two days, I'll be six months sober," she said, as her classmates cheered.

The students attend Colorado's only recovery high school — one of 43 nationwide. These schools are designed for students who are recovering from substance use disorder and might also be dealing with related mental health disorders. The Denver school opened in 2018 as a public charter school that today enrolls more than 100 students.