Michael DeSisto

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DeSisto in school gown 1983
DeSisto in school gown 1983

A. (Albert) Michael DeSisto (1939 - 2003) was an American educator, known for founding the controversial Desisto Schools.

[edit] Biography

Born in Boston, Massachusetts on May 29, 1939, he attended parochial schools in West Roxbury, and graduated from Cathedral High School in Boston in 1957. He was a theology student[1] at St. John's Seminary in Brighton for two years. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and government from Stonehill College in North Easton in 1962.

He was a teacher, therapist, and director for eleven years at The Lake Grove School on Long Island, New York. DeSisto had significant disagreements with the administrators of Lake Grove regarding their educational approach and was fired[2]. In 1978 he secured funding from the parents of former students of The Lake Grove School, and set out to found his own school.[3] He founded the DeSisto at Stockbridge School in Stockbridge, Massachusetts for problem teens in 1978. DeSisto originally envisioned a string of schools nationally and internationally based on Gestalt psychological principles, and his own therapeutic model. Desisto stated that the Stockbridge campus would be his "flagship".[4] In 1980 DeSisto opened a second campus in Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida.

Micheal DeSisto People Magazine article c. 1980
Micheal DeSisto People Magazine article c. 1980

In the early 1980s, DeSisto and the DeSisto School were favorably featured in articles in Life, Time and People magazines. DeSisto made a number of appearances on national television with his students, including The Today Show. He appeared several times as a guest on the Joey Reynolds radio show.

The DeSisto at Howey School closed in 1988. DeSisto stated[citation needed] that the reason was declining enrollment, and legal problems with the local government. The DeSisto at Stockbridge School closed permanently in June 2004.

In 1990, DeSisto authored his only book "Decoding your teenager: How to understand each other during the turbulent years". After its publication, some journalists published articles questioning whether DeSisto held a Master's degree, as he claimed. DeSisto later admitted to not possessing the degree, and said the error was due to a clerk who had mistakenly placed it on his resumé.

In 1999, DeSisto produced an off-Broadway musical "Inappropriate" with Lonnie McNeil and Michael Sottile based on the journals and life experiences of the student performers.

DeSisto died on 1 November 2003, of cerebral hemorrhage several days after receiving a kidney transplant.

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