Published May 9, 2024
(updated November 20, 2024)
At Miss Hall’s School, protecting the safety, health, and wellbeing of our students is, and always will be, our primary concern. The appointment in 2023 of a Dean of Wellness, a reimagining of students’ Personal Teams, and more time for social-emotional learning (SEL) are some of the ways that we work to ensure students are healthy, safe, and supported.
Alumnae reports of past sexual misconduct on campus are a solemn reminder that the work of protecting students from sexual assault and misconduct is our profound responsibility. These efforts must be continually reviewed and enhanced, and we are eager to keep our community updated as we work to make Miss Hall’s stronger.
In April 2024, the Miss Hall’s School Board of Trustees authorized an external investigation into allegations of improper sexual conduct toward MHS students by Miss Hall’s employees. The School has been in contact with legal counsel representing alums who have shared that former faculty member Matthew Rutledge sexually abused and/or engaged in other sexual misconduct with them between the years of 1994 to 2010.
We are heartbroken by these accounts and commend the courageous women who have come forward to share them. We are fully committed to learning the truth about what occurred so that we may extend support to survivors, address any past harm, and continue our efforts to safeguard the wellbeing of our students today and in the future.
Third-party Investigation
The MHS Board initiated in April a comprehensive, external investigation led by trauma-informed investigators from Aleta Law. We want to emphasize that Aleta Law is not a legal advocate for the School. Instead, they are serving as neutral investigators to discover any improper conduct, to examine what faculty and administrators may have known about it, and to chronicle and report on how they responded.
As of November, the trauma-informed professionals at Aleta Law have interviewed 113 MHS alumnae and employees (current and former) and anticipated scheduling 35 more interviews in coming months, in order to gain a complete understanding of what happened. As part of their work, they are also doing a thorough review of historical school documents. Given the scope and breadth of the investigation, and the fact that Aleta Law is still actively interviewing community members, their work will likely continue through the spring of 2025.
After the fact-finding is complete, Aleta Law will prepare an investigative report that includes findings and conclusions. MHS will share the full report — not just a summary — with our entire community, as part of our commitment to being forthright and transparent in this process.
Because it is important that everyone involved has the opportunity to share their perspectives and information at their own pace, the Aleta Law team will continue to make themselves available to anyone who wishes to talk with them in the future.
We encourage anyone with information pertaining to child abuse or sexual misconduct at Miss Hall’s School to contact:
Kai McGintee (she/her), Managing Director - kmcgintee@aletalaw.com or
Amber Attalla (she/her), Director - aattalla@aletalaw.com.
All communication with the investigators will be treated with the utmost sensitivity, and your name and other identifying details will not be shared or made public without your authorization or except as required by law. No survivors will be named in the report. Further, Aleta Law also will not personally identify individuals reporting misconduct and will be sensitive to all trauma-related concerns when preparing the report.
Please note that the School has cooperated fully with all authorities, including the Berkshire County District Attorney's Office, and has been in active communication with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families. We encourage all members of our community to communicate directly with the Berkshire County District Attorney’s Office (413-443-5951) and/or the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (413-236-1800) if they are contacted by either of these agencies or if they have knowledge regarding any misconduct within the scope of their investigations.
Community Care
We know that this comprehensive investigation will take time. We also know that many members of our community are hurting now and are in need of immediate and supportive action steps. To this end, we have initiated a multi-year partnership with Learning Courage, a survivor-led national nonprofit that works with schools to support sexual misconduct prevention, trauma-informed response, and healing.
Survivors themselves, they are also acting as a neutral third party who survivors can speak with as they determine whether to reach out to the investigators.
Amy Wheeler, Executive Director, 508-241-3429, awheeler@learningcourage.org
Jamie Forbes, CEO, 603-315-0576, jforbes@learningcourage.org
This spring, Amy Wheeler and Jamie Forbes brought their survivor-centered lens to work with MHS faculty and staff processing the misconduct reports. They contributed to the summer Miss Hall’s Magazine in order to educate our broader community about the arc of the investigation.
They presented to faculty and staff during Closing Meetings in June and were back on again in August to lead all-employee boundaries training, a practice that, for the past decade, has been part of Opening Meetings. With the goal of creating a community-wide intolerance for misconduct, that training addressed forming healthy relationships, recognizing power imbalances, and setting, building, and maintaining boundaries. It was the first of many such sessions, as our multi-year partnership with Learning Courage is designed to ensure that policy reviews, training, and support are continuous and responsive to community needs.
This summer, Learning Courage also began a thorough audit of all MHS policies related to preventing and responding to sexual misconduct. They returned to campus for three days in September to conduct a comprehensive assessment of all our programs and practices that support student wellbeing, including adult-student and student-student boundaries; hiring, supervision, and evaluation of employees; education and training for students; and procedures for reporting and investigating sexual misconduct.
Through the lens of best practices in schools, and informed by conversations with MHS alums, faculty, and students, they will make specific recommendations, both immediate and ongoing and advise on action steps to deepen the work already being done this year. We will share these recommendations, many of which we expect to implement this year, once we have Learning Courage’s assessment report in-hand.
To support survivors, we are exploring, with input from Learning Courage, options for the creation of a therapy/wellness fund. We will update the community with more details as we move forward in the process.
In the meantime, this fall, there have been opportunities for MHS alums to engage with Learning Courage in a varieity of ways. Amy Wheeler has joined Head of School Julia Heaton on the road for events with alums in New York and Washington, D.C. — and, soon, in Boston and Los Angeles — to foster meaningful in-person connection and address important aspects of our future. These open conversations center the holistic student experience today and offer opportunities to ask questions about all the School is doing to become safer and stronger. The second half of the gatherings is an optional, facilitated space with alums for processing and support. At the same time, alumnae around the globe have been connecting by Zoom with Learning Courage to process, reflect, and grow together.
Our multi-year partnership with Learning Courage is designed to ensure that policy reviews, training, and support are continuous and responsive to community needs. “One important forward-looking focus,” writes Amy Wheeler, “is building space for students, families, and employees to prepare for the release of Aleta Law’s investigation report.”
Reunion 2024
Among their expertise, Learning Courage’s trauma-informed team facilitated sessions during our May Reunion Weekend, to provide a supportive setting for processing the reports of historic sexual misconduct and abuse at MHS.
At the conclusion of a well-attended panel titled, “A Community-Centered Approach to Responding to Sexual Misconduct,” members of the Class of 2014 delivered a letter signed by more than 180 alums expressing concerns, sadness, disappointment, and anger with the School, questioning how reports were handled, and making specific requests related to the investigation, reporting protocols, staff training, and counseling for students.
Since Reunion, school leaders have been in conversation with many alums, gathering feedback, and following up. The Board of Trustees sent a community-wide update in July, and we recently responded to the concerns raised by the Class of 2014 and those in solidarity. Please read the School’s reply here.
Becoming Safer + Stronger
In service of our vision to continuously reimagine girl-centered education, the 2024-25 school year has brought thoughtful and intentional changes to curriculum, space-use, and technology. These changes are designed to enhance the overall student experience and contribute to a positive school culture, while at the same time retaining the magic that makes Miss Hall’s a special place.
Social Emotional Learning at Miss Hall’s began at orientation this year and is an emphasis early in the 9th grade, with 19 lessons taught by licensed counselors who engage students in seminar-style learning on topics such as adjustment to school, communication, sex education, substance use and abuse, technology, body image, nutrition, and mental health. This curriculum includes sessions on healthy relationships, appropriate boundaries, and consent, with students participating in a variety of exercises to understand consent and to practice how to be empowered in challenging situations.
To build a safer, more equitable, and more collaborative culture, we have moved this year from classrooms dedicated to individual faculty members to shared spaces. All departments now have communal offices where students can meet with teachers for the extra help and support they need. This shift has multiple benefits now that the School is at full capacity.
- Classrooms are right-sized for the size and need of each class.
- There is space for organic and purposeful teacher teaming.
- All meeting spaces are public, accessible, and open to all, thereby enhancing an atmosphere of openness, clear boundaries, and accountability.
Also new this year, the School has invested in REACH, the leading student life management system for schools, to help account for boarding and day student presence on campus. With the REACH software, students sign in and sign out of campus electronically, and faculty and staff can easily and efficiently see which members of their dorm are off campus and when they are due to return.
Student Wellbeing
With respect to our students, the School took immediate actions to protect their safety, which is our most important responsibility. Mr. Rutledge was banned from campus and will not return, and campus safety measures were increased. MHS adults had frequent check-ins with students, meeting individually and in groups, emphasizing how to recognize and report inappropriate conduct, providing time and space to process and ask questions, and encouraging students to make use of on-campus resources. The School increased counseling resources on campus and will continue to provide time and space for students to process their emotions, ask for what they need, and seek support from advisors, counselors, and other trusted adults in their lives.
Faculty and staff participated in workshops led by a trauma expert and focusing on the neurological and physiological impacts of trauma and how best to support students experiencing trauma. This training continued the important work the faculty were already engaged in this year based on the work of Lisa Damour, a psychologist specializing in adolescents.
For 2024-25, we have partnered with UWill, a network of licensed therapists who provide students mental health and wellness support 24/7/365 via telehealth, expanding availability and enabling quick access to counselors outside of the School and beyond MHS counseling hours. With a goal of eliminating all barriers to care, UWill counselors reflect the identities of all MHS students and can work with them in their native languages.
The School has also engaged MassKids, a Massachusetts-based child advocacy organization committed to preventing the abuse and neglect of children, to secure additional training in sexual misconduct prevention for MHS faculty and staff. It is anticipated that this training will be added this fall to our existing training on healthy student-adult boundaries and mandatory reporting.
All Miss Hall’s School employees are mandated reporters for any student under the age of 18. We are required by law to report sexual assault and misconduct to the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families.
MHS Health and Wellness Center
The Health and Wellness Center is staffed by four nurses and two school counselors, who are licensed mental health counselors. The center is overseen by Dean of Wellness Kristen Milano, who is also a trained school counselor. A nurse is on duty on weekdays 7:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., with an abbreviated schedule of clinic hours on weekends. During overnights and off-hours, a nurse and a counselor are on call around the clock and can be reached through Campus Safety, which is staffed 24/7.
MHS Campus Safety: 413-395-7299
MHS Health and Wellness Center (Nurses and Counselors): 413-395-7074
As with all of our health and wellness offerings, these services are open to all students at no cost.
Data-based, Proactive Programming
Through a partnership with Authentic Connections, all MHS students take an anonymous survey each spring that elicits input on wellbeing aspects at school. This allows us to compare Miss Hall’s results to peer schools around the country. In 2023, the overall wellbeing index for MHS students was 85%; the national average is 82%.
School leadership and the Health and Wellness team use the survey results to inform our programming and allocation of resources to prioritize the most pressing issues in student wellness, such as social media and technology use and navigating peer relationships.
Wellness programming at MHS includes the 9th grade Health and Wellness curriculum run through our four-year, service learning and internship program, Horizons. This 19-lesson curriculum engages students in seminar-style learning on wellness topics, including school adjustment, communication, healthy relationships and boundaries, sex education, substance use and abuse, technology, body image, and nutrition, and on mental health topics such as stress, anxiety, and depression.
The Health and Wellness and Student Life teams also provide a series of developmental workshops to students throughout the year. These have included themes such as healthy relationships, time management, avoiding overwhelm, and self-advocacy.
Resources
Learning Courage (Survivor-led sexual misconduct prevention, response and healing organization)
RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network): Contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673)
STESA (Standing Together to End Sexual Assault): Access STESA’s crisis hotline at 805-564-3696
Elizabeth Freeman Center (Domestic violence and sexual assault prevention in Berkshire County) 24 Hour Hotline (866) 401-2425
Western MA Trauma Recovery Network
Crisis Text Line (free 24/7 crisis support via text message for any type of crisis): Text HELLO to 741741
Articles
Child Mind Institute: Helping Children Cope After a Traumatic Event
American Psychological Association: How to Talk to Children About Difficult News
Stop It Now: Possible Reactions of Non-offending Parents and Caring Adults
SAMHSA: Tips for Talking to Children After a Traumatic Event
Our school’s most important responsibility is the safety of our students. MHS adults have met with students individually and in groups, reminded them of how to recognize and report inappropriate conduct, provided time and space to process and ask questions, and encouraged them to make use of on-campus resources.
The MHS Health and Wellness team includes four nurses and two school counselors and is overseen by Dean of Wellness Kristen Milano, who is also a trained counselor. As with all of our health and wellness offerings, these services are open to all students at no cost.
This spring, Amy Wheeler and Jamie Forbes of Learning Courage brought their survivor-centered lens to work with MHS faculty and staff processing the misconduct reports. They returned during Closing Meetings in June and were back in August to lead all-employee boundaries training, a practice that, for the past decade, has been part of Opening Meetings. With the goal of creating a community-wide intolerance for misconduct, the trainings to date have addressed healthy relationships, recognizing power imbalances, and setting, building, and maintaining boundaries. Both informational and scenario-based, they are designed to assess current practices and improve safety protocols. In addition to this ongoing work, we recently engaged MassKids, a Massachusetts-based child advocacy organization committed to preventing the abuse and neglect of children, to expand and reinforce our existing training. We are enthusiastic about this relationship and adding their resources to our work.
We encourage anyone in our community who experienced sexual misconduct by a Miss Hall’s employee while a student, or anyone with other pertinent information, to contact Aleta Law who is conducting a third-party, neutral investigation:
• Kai McGintee (she/her), Managing Director — kmcgintee@aletalaw.com
• Amber Attalla (she/her), Director — aattalla@aletalaw.com
No. Aleta Law specializes in investigating misconduct at educational institutions. They have extensive experience conducting trauma-informed and equitable investigations. Aleta Law has been retained by Miss Hall’s to conduct an external, neutral investigation. Every report made to Aleta Law will be taken seriously, investigated thoroughly, and treated with the utmost sensitivity.
Aleta Law’s trained, trauma-informed investigators will also examine what faculty and administrators may have known about any alleged improper conduct and how they responded.
After the fact-finding is complete, Aleta Law will prepare an investigative report that includes findings and conclusions. Miss Hall’s will share the full report — not just a summary — and present next steps to our entire community, as part of our commitment to being forthright in this process. We are fully committed to learning the truth about what occurred in the past, so that we may extend support to survivors, address any past harm, and continue our efforts to safeguard the wellbeing of our students today and in the future. It is our goal to be as transparent as possible while protecting survivor/witness anonymity and taking into account any trauma-related concerns.
Out of respect for the privacy of the brave women who have come forward, as well as for the integrity of the ongoing investigations, we cannot comment on the details of any reports. To do so could interfere with the investigations being conducted by professionals experienced in these matters.
We do not know, but in July 2024, Aleta Law estimated that the full investigation would require an additional six to nine months to complete. We continue to encourage anyone with information to contact the investigators. When they are done with their investigation, we will share its results with the full community.
On October 11, one of the five former students who reported past sexual misconduct at MHS filed a civil lawsuit in Berkshire Superior Court specifically naming Miss Hall’s School among the defendants. Out of respect for former students involved, and to maintain the integrity of the legal process, we will not publicly comment on the details of pending litigation.
We want to thank the many alums, family members, and friends of the School who have reached out to us. For your candor, your expressions of support, and, most especially, for your care and concern for one another, we are enormously grateful.
We are so proud to be part of this resilient community, especially during this challenging time.
Yes. We have longstanding comprehensive hiring policies and practices and conduct regular training for all faculty and staff regarding appropriate professional boundaries with students. Related Miss Hall’s School Policies are here.
Students can always seek support from the Miss Hall’s Health and Wellness Center. If students feel more comfortable speaking with an outside resource, the Health and Wellness Center can help facilitate that connection.
RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) is also an excellent resource. Contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673) or visit rainn.org.
STESA (Standing Together to End Sexual Assault) operates a crisis hotline at 805-564-3696. More information may be found at sbstesa.org.
Additionally, the Crisis Text Line provides free, 24/7 crisis support via text message for any type of crisis. Text HELLO to 741741.
If there is immediate danger, dial 911, then call MHS Campus Safety at 413-395-7299. Our Campus Safety team is available 24/7, 7 days a week, with officers trained to respond to many types of incidents and safety threats. The School takes the safety of its community seriously. In addition to around-the-clock coverage by Campus Safety officers, MHS has a safety system in each building. All exterior doors are locked at all times, and school community members gain entry into buildings only by using their electronic keys. When not in their dorm rooms, students are expected to keep rooms locked and keys secure. Students are asked not to open any exterior door to visitors. Visitors are required to use the Main Building’s front door and are admitted by the Campus Safety Office. Drills are held throughout the year to prepare for possible instances of fire, intruders, and weather emergencies. The Campus Safety Office issues alerts when outside conditions warrant extra care. Student Life programming provides information and discussion around issues of personal safety, and school rules give the highest priority to student safety.
In case of an emergency, dial 911 immediately then call MHS Campus Safety at 413-395-7299. MHS students and adults should add this number to the contacts in their phones.
The MHS Health and Wellness Center is staffed by nurses who provide care to students for reasons of acute or chronic illness, medication administration, injury, and follow-up care. A nurse is on duty on weekdays 7:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., with an abbreviated schedule of clinic hours on weekends. A nurse is on duty for all home athletics games.
If there is not a nurse in the Health and Wellness Center, there is always a nurse on call. During these times, students needing assistance should contact a faculty or staff member on duty at the OD desk, their hall/dorm parent, or a Campus Safety officer in order to get in touch with a nurse.
Yes. As mandatory reporters, MHS adults are required to notify the state’s Department of Children and Families (DCF) if they suspect that a child has been — or is at risk of being — abused or neglected.
All MHS employees take Boundary and Mandatory Reporting training. Since 2016, we have conducted/required this training every 2 years, it is also included every year as part of new employee orientation. Every MHS employee has been provided this training.
Students, faculty, and staff should report to any member of the School’s Leadership Team or to the Manager of Human Resources. Complaints may be filed in writing or verbally.
Filing a complaint with Miss Hall's School does not prohibit filing a complaint with any appropriate government agency.
Any individual who believes they have been subjected to harassment has the right to file a complaint with the School and should do so immediately, even if it is unclear whether or not the offending behavior is considered harassment.
In addition to adhering to Massachusetts provisions that address child welfare (see the MHS Mandatory Reporting Policy), and Miss Hall’s School policies that address harassment (see the Harassment Prevention Policies), MHS employees are expected to recognize when other instances may endanger the welfare of students. This includes recognizing evidence or suggestions from a student regarding harming themself or others.
All Miss Hall’s School students are covered by a No Retaliation Policy, and employees are covered by a Whistleblower Policy, which protects them if they come forward in good faith to disclose truthful information regarding any Miss Hall’s School practice, policy, activity, or employee believed to be in violation of a law, rule, regulation, or clear mandate of public policy. The School also will not retaliate against any student or employee who participates in an investigation relating to any school practice, policy, activity, or employee that is or is suspected to be in violation of a law, rule, regulation, or clear mandate of public policy.
As we previously shared with the community, the external, neutral investigators from Aleta Law are also examining what faculty and administrators may have known about any alleged improper conduct and how they responded. We are cooperating with all investigations, and we are fully committed to learning the truth about what occurred in the past, so that we may extend support to survivors, address any past harm, and continue our efforts to safeguard the wellbeing of our students today and in the future.
Our Wellness Team has put together these articles for families:
- Child Mind Institute: Helping Children Cope After a Traumatic Event
- American Psychological Association: How to Talk to Children About Difficult News
- Stop It Now: Possible Reactions of Non-offending Parents and Caring Adults
- SAMHSA: Tips for Talking to Children After a Traumatic Event
MHS has robust protocols and processes in place to prevent sexual misconduct on campus. All employees are required to take Boundary and Mandatory Reporting training. Since 2016, MHS has provided this training every 2 years. It is offered annually as part of new employee orientation.
This year, Miss Hall’s provided mandatory boundaries training for new employees through Vector Solutions. There are three classes that make up the MHS Boundary and Reporting Training: Understanding Boundaries; Child Abuse Mandatory Training; and Human Trafficking Awareness.
Additionally, every Miss Hall’s School employee (part- and full-time), as well as contractors and external partners, is CORI and SORI checked before being allowed to work with students. Please see our related policies here.
The School reviews and revises its policies annually. This summer we did so with feedback from our outside partners. Learning Courage began a thorough audit in July of all MHS policies related to preventing and responding to sexual misconduct. They returned to campus for three days in September to conduct a comprehensive assessment of all our programs and practices that support student wellbeing. Through the lens of best practices in schools, and informed by conversations with MHS alums, faculty, and students, they will make specific recommendations, both immediate and ongoing, for action steps to deepen the work already being done this year. Further, once the external investigation has been completed, we will also take what we have learned from the investigation and use it to inform corrective measures regarding our existing policies and procedures.
Please refer to the Miss Hall’s School policies for Harassment Prevention, Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse and Neglect, Sexual Harassment Prevention, and Student Welfare, as well as our Whistleblower Policy and protocols for Background Checks.
We review these protocols regularly with all students, most recently in October 2023, with each student signing their acknowledgment of understanding the MHS Harassment, Hazing, Sexual Harassment, and Bullying policies.