The History of Horizon High School

In March 2004, six Dane County residents, including Shelly Dutch, a local AODA counselor, got together for coffee to discuss the concept of starting a recovery school in Madison. The group, which also included educators and parents of teens affected by addiction, wanted a safe place where teens could go to school after getting out of substance use treatment. They researched what options were available and found that there were about 20 recovery schools around the country, most being in Minnesota, but none in the Dane County area.

In November of 2004, a $10,000 donation from a family was made to start up Horizon High School. In December the founders of the school got all the paperwork together and hired a young teacher to run the school. And in late January 2005, Horizon High School opened with 5 students in a church basement. By the end of that semester, there were nine total students attending Horizon.

In 2006, Horizon moved into the Neighborhood House Community Center in downtown Madison.

Horizon continued to grow and in August of 2011, a new partnership with the Madison Metropolitan School District was formed. This partnership allowed Horizon to remain an independent school while paying tuition for Madison Metropolitan School District students who qualified to attend Horizon. Horizon also moved to a new location on the near west side of Madison at that time.

2012 marked the first year that Horizon was able to host summer school. Year-round support for students in recovery is key in helping them maintain their recovery and work on their mental health. Summer school also allows students who may be credit-deficient to get caught up in high school in order to earn their high school diploma on time.

In March of 2013, Horizon needed to expand its space due to the increase in student numbers.  Horizon moved to 5001 University Avenue #50. However, in June of 2014, a flood forced Horizon to move yet again, to 5003 University Avenue, which was just right across the parking lot from our previous location.

After nearly 15 years of temporary locations and lots of moving, Horizon finally found a permanent home. Horizon was awarded CG Schmidt’s 100th Year Anniversary Community Grant which included a complete renovation of a new space for Horizon located at 659 N. Whitney Way, Madison, Wi. CG Schmidt made the decision to support Horizon through financial, material, and in-kind donations to further enable the school to remodel a much more expansive location with four bathrooms, individual staff offices, a kitchen area, a food pantry, and ample room to educate 15 -20 students. This expanded footprint also allows Horizon to serve more students, with the ability to segment students into smaller groups for more individualized learning and therapy. This new location offers Horizon students a larger, positive learning environment, comfortable room for therapy, a place to cook meals, do laundry, and a safe place to grow into successful young adults. Horizon is so grateful for this new space provided to us by CG Schmidt and the many other local businesses in our community who donated supplies, labor and appliances to make the renovation possible. Please watch the video of our new space to see more!

Recovery High Schools: A Descriptive Study of School Programs and Students [PDF]

COVID-19 Updates

Horizon High School is following all Dane County Health and CDC guidelines regarding the Covid-19 Pandemic. Masks are required at all times for all individuals who enter Horizon High School regardless of vaccination status, unless eating or drinking. All Horizon staff members are required to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19. Horizon students are not required to be vaccinated at this time, however, are encouraged to be vaccinated in order to keep Horizon a safe and healthy place to learn and grow. All Horizon staff and students must stay at home if they are experiencing any signs of sickness and complete a Covid-19 test. Students and staff can only return to school upon proof of a negative Covid-19 test result.

In March of 2020, Horizon was forced to temporarily close its doors and move to a virtual world due to the Covid-19 pandemic. At this time, Horizon provided all students with daily education, mental health services, social emotional support, and nutritional needs for students and their families. As of January 2022, and the recent surge in positive Covid-19 cases in Dane County, Horizon continues to assess the most appropriate and safe ways to educate our students and provide a supportive environment that is conducive to enhancing student’s recovery. Horizon High School has opted to use a hybrid model until the start of second semester on January 24th, 2022. Horizon hopes to return to a fully in-person program in the near future and will continue to assess what the most appropriate steps are to combat the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic while putting our students first.

Our vice president, Paul Moberg (1949-2022), was one of the US's experts on recovery schools, which he had been studying for decades before he joined Horizon, first on the advisory board, then on the board of directors. He, with assistance from the Horizon staff, wrote a short summary of the initial experience of operating a recovery high school virtually during the Covid-19 pandemic. Paul died unexpectedly in April 2022 from undiagnosed liver cancer.

Recovery High Schools & Virtual Learning [PDF]