Safety + Wellbeing

Published May 9, 2024
(updated April 2, 2026)

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 are some of the ways that we work to ensure students are healthy, safe, and supported.

Instances of past sexual misconduct on campus are a solemn reminder that the work of protecting students from sexual 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 the spring of 2024, Miss Hall’s received reports about past sexual abuse by now-former teacher Matthew Rutledge. Upon receiving the first letter on March 27, 2024, the School removed Rutledge from campus and took other immediate actions to protect the safety of students and care for our community.

The MHS Board of Trustees swiftly engaged Aleta Law to conduct a neutral, trauma-informed investigation, asking them to expand the scope of the investigation to include any and all allegations of student abuse by MHS employees during the School’s 127-year history.

Committed to learning and sharing the truth, the Board released the Investigative Report in its entirety with the Miss Hall’s community and made it publicly available on August 19, 2025.

The Report makes clear that there were multiple instances of sexual misconduct and identifies circumstances when MHS did not investigate adequately or hold perpetrators accountable for their actions. Aleta Law also found the School to be sincere in its commitment to learning the truth, to confronting the gravity of what happened, and to taking steps to become safer for students now and in the future.

Former MHS teacher Matthew Rutledge was indicted March 23, 2026, by a Berkshire County grand jury on three counts of rape. We stand with the Survivors whose courage and determination played a critical role in this outcome and who will finally have the opportunity to seek justice in the criminal case against Matt Rutledge.

We would not know the full extent of the harm if it weren’t for the courageous Survivors who have come forward to share their experiences. We are profoundly grateful to these individuals, and deeply sorry for all they endured. We remain steadfastly committed to supporting these brave Survivors in their healing process.

The report initiated by the Board of Trustees in April 2024 involved a comprehensive, independent investigation by Aleta Law, a firm that specializes in trauma-informed investigations of misconduct at schools. We want to emphasize that Aleta Law is not a legal advocate for MHS. Instead, they served as neutral investigators in discovering any improper conduct, examining what faculty and administrators knew about it, and reporting on how the School responded.

The Board asked the investigators to follow the facts wherever they led, because we are fully committed to learning of harm experienced by anyone in our community, so that we can best support them — and use what we learn to make our school safer for students, now and in the future.

In total, Aleta Law conducted 146 interviews, including students, alums, parents, 55 current and former faculty and staff, 4 Heads of School, and 7 current and former Trustees. Interviewees included Survivors, third-party reporters, witnesses, and former MHS employees accused of misconduct. Aleta Law responded to every outreach and lead and offered all who contacted them the opportunity to participate. Investigators received full cooperation from Miss Hall’s as well as unfettered access to school materials deemed relevant by Aleta Law, including historical records and correspondence across 9 decades.

The Aleta Law Report details what investigators learned about sexual misconduct toward MHS students by MHS employees, not limited to any one perpetrator or time period. It describes what was known and not known at the time, and what was done when concerns were raised. It identifies failures in the institutional response to those concerns and in the School’s primary responsibility: to keep students safe.

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.

Please note that the School has also 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.

Soon after engaging Aleta Law, School leaders made the decision to promptly engage the experts at Learning Courage, a survivor-led national nonprofit that works with schools to support sexual misconduct prevention, trauma-informed response, and healing. Together, we began the work of strengthening policies and practices that respond to sexual misconduct and boundary crossings.

With guidance from the professionals at Learning Courage, our efforts are centered on three important areas of focus:

• Policies + Practices

• Education + Training

• Community Care + Healing

Examples, many of which are already in place, include:

• Undertaking in 2024 a 3-day community assessment by Learning Courage of MHS policies, practices, and culture

• Shifting right away to shared, interruptible offices and classrooms

• Providing extensive and ongoing employee training by Learning Courage and Enough Abuse, emphasizing mandated reporting, building healthy relationships, mitigating power imbalances, recognizing signs of grooming, and sexual misconduct response and prevention

• Enhancing student supports, including ongoing advisor training and 24/7 counseling services in all languages of the student body

• Creating a Survivors’ Therapy Fund, administered by an independent professional, to be used for past and future care for individuals who experienced sexual misconduct while students at MHS

• Developing a new Miss Hall’s evaluation process for faculty, staff, and the Leadership Team, holding all adults to higher standards of accountability

• Implementing in 2025 updated misconduct reporting policies, a new response structure, and clear investigative processes.

• Forming a Sexual Misconduct Committee, whose members have all been trained in fair and trauma-informed investigation practices.

• Launching in early 2026, a new Sexual Misconduct Confidential Reporting Form

As part of our ongoing commitment to student safety and wellbeing and to making sure we have procedures in place for reporting and investigating any potential misconduct, our new Sexual Misconduct Confidential Reporting Form is another pathway for students or staff members to report concerns regarding conduct between students or between students and adults at Miss Hall’s.

Any student or employee who has witnessed or believes a student has been subjected to sexual misconduct is encouraged to immediately report their concerns to a Sexual Misconduct Committee member, all of whom have been trained in fair and trauma-informed investigation practices.All MHS adults are now trained on this important protocol.

A full account of the steps and actions the School has taken to become safer and stronger is available here.

The MHS Leadership Team was on campus in summer 2025, working in collaboration with Learning Courage to make significant progress before the start of this school year.

During Opening Meetings, all MHS employees participated in Code of Conduct workshops, were trained on updated reporting protocols, and spent time with our partners at Learning Courage. Additionally, 100% of faculty and staff completed training with the national nonprofit Enough Abuse in how to identify boundary-violating and grooming behaviors, and how to prevent child sexual abuse.

Following the release of the investigative report into past sexual misconduct at Miss Hall’s, Orientation 2025 focused on safety and wellbeing, including clear guidance to ensure that every student understands their rights, resources, and responsibilities in our community. There was also a review of many important updates to the MHS Student-Family Handbook.

Updates to the 2025-26 Student/Family Handbook and the Employee Handbook include expanded misconduct reporting protocols, as well as a clearer response structure and non-retaliation policy.

A new Employee Code of Conduct provides guidelines for professional boundaries and a clear process for reporting and addressing boundary violations.

Formal evaluation processes for faculty, staff, and administrators were implemented across all departments. These processes are a way for MHS to assess employee performance, recognize areas of strength, and encourage areas of growth, while holding all employees accountable to high standards.

With the start of classes, the School launched an updated Healthy Boundaries Curriculum, covering topics such as consent, boundaries, healthy relationships, grooming, power dynamics, and getting help. This multipart series continued throughout the fall.

Miss Hall’s added a full-time counselor to the Health and Wellness team, which, in addition to the daily care they provide, continues emphasizing education, wellness, and ways to keep our community healthy and safe.

MHS has established a Therapy Fund to be used for past and future therapeutic care for individuals who experienced sexual misconduct while they were students at Miss Hall’s. The Fund is overseen by an independent, third-party administrator and is immediately available to the former students who have come forward to MHS with their experiences of sexual misconduct as students.

The Fund was originally suggested by Melissa Fares ’10, who has accused Matthew Rutledge of sexually abusing her. Through counsel, Melissa and other alum survivors had significant input into the protocol for the Fund and in choosing its Administrator, Bernard J. Fitzgerald, who administers similar funds for other independent schools. The Administrator will not share with the School any details regarding the therapeutic care received by those who participate in the Fund.

Jetta Bernier, Executive Director of Enough Abuse, the national organization formerly known as MassKids, visited campus in February 2025 to discuss our partnership. As an addition to existing training for all Miss Hall’s employees, we implemented in spring 2025 specialized training from Enough Abuse on the nature and scope of sexual abuse, how to identify boundary-violating and grooming behaviors, and how to prevent child sexual abuse in schools and beyond. Training by Enough Abuse is now required for 100% of employees.

We, too, support legislative efforts to change consent laws and how sexual assault is investigated and prosecuted in Massachusetts and elsewhere, and we look forward to being part of those efforts, independently and in partnership with Enough Abuse. 

We commend those who have used their voices, together with alums, community members, and lawmakers, to shine a spotlight on the deficiencies in Massachusetts laws related to consent. We support these efforts to advocate for legislation that will close loopholes in how sexual assault is investigated and prosecuted and are optimistic that these changes are on the horizon.

Our multi-year partnership with Learning Courage has already strengthened our community. Survivors themselves, the organization’s leaders also act as a neutral third-party resource for survivors and allies.

Amy Wheeler, Executive Director, 508-241-3429 awheeler@learningcourage.org

or Jamie Forbes, CEO, 603-315-0576 jforbes@learningcourage.org

The Learning Courage team has been on campus every month since we began working together in April 2024. In the spring of that year, 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 2024 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 2024 and were back again in August 2024 to lead all-employee boundaries training, a practice that, for the past decade, has been part of Opening Meetings. In service of 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.

In the fall of 2024, we created opportunities for MHS alums to engage with Learning Courage in a variety of ways. Amy Wheeler joined Head of School Julia Heaton on the road for events with alums in New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, and Los Angeles to foster meaningful in-person connection and address important aspects of our future. These open conversations centered the holistic student experience today and offered opportunities to ask questions about all the School is doing to become safer and stronger. The second half of the gatherings was an optional, facilitated space with alums for processing and support.

At the same time, alumnae around the globe connected by Zoom with Learning Courage to process, reflect, and grow together.

On campus, Amy Wheeler and Alisa Barnard of Learning Courage offered listening sessions with students interested in processing past sexual misconduct at Miss Hall’s. MHS faculty and staff also had opportunities in February 2025 to meet with Learning Courage as part of ongoing training and development.

Following the release of the Investigative Report, Miss Hall’s hosted additional opportunities for alums to gather by Zoom with Learning Courage and school leaders to process and learn more about the corrective measures that support students’ emotional and physical safety. For those who were unable to join the two Zoom sessions on October 23, click here for slides shared by school leaders, who provided an update on school life this fall at MHS and some of the steps that have been implemented to make the Miss Hall’s community safer and stronger.

In January 2026, we offered Zooms for families of alums interested in meeting with MHS leadership and Learning Courage. The purpose of these virtual sessions was twofold — to provide families with information on steps the School is taking regarding student safety and wellbeing and to answer questions they had about these measures, and, second, to provide spaces where families could connect with each other, engage in collective, supportive conversation, and process how they are feeling.

In spring 2026, Miss Hall’s alums and Trustees have been gathering in San Francisco, New York, Palm Beach, Boston, and, most recently, Los Angeles, to hear updates from campus about steps the School has taken since the release of the Aleta Law Report and to connect with one another on topics of shared importance. We’ll be talking next about what’s on our minds on April 18 in Washington, D.C. MHS alums should contact alumnae@misshalls.org for details.

There will be more opportunities for meaningful dialogue and connection between alums, students, and school leaders at Come One, Come All Reunion 2026, May 15-17, and at gatherings throughout the summer.

In summer 2024, Learning Courage 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 2024 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. Executive Director Amy Wheeler presented a summary of their observations, areas for improvement, and recommendations to the Board of Trustees and School Leadership on February 16, 2025. Action steps — including the expansion of policies related to reporting and investigating misconduct — began in April, when Learning Courage returned to campus to work again with faculty and staff.

In service of our vision to continuously reimagine girl-centered education, the 2024-25 school year 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 now begins at orientation 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 moved in 2024 from classrooms dedicated to individual faculty members to shared spaces. All departments now have communal offices where students can meet with teachers for 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 in 2024-25, Miss Hall’s 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.

MHS adults have regular 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.

For the 2024-25 school year, we 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.

Faculty and staff participated in workshops led by a trauma expert, focusing on the neurological and physiological impacts of trauma and how best to support students experiencing trauma. This training continued the important professional development based on the work of Lisa Damour, a psychologist specializing in adolescents.

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.

Among their expertise, Learning Courage’s trauma-informed team facilitated sessions during our May 2024 Reunion Weekend, to provide a supportive setting for processing the reports of past 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.

Following Reunion 2024, school leaders continued 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.

Reunion 2025 was another chance to come together as a community and learn about today’s holistic student experience. Our partners from Learning Courage were back on campus as a resource to alums and to share steps that are being taken for community care.

Members of the Miss Hall’s School Board of Trustees, faculty, and staff will also be on hand for Reunion 2026, and drop-in hours with Learning Courage, our partners in sexual misconduct response and prevention, will be available for alums.

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 our health and wellness offerings, these services are open to all students at no cost.

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.

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

Child Mind Institute: Helping Children Cope After a Traumatic Event
Child Mind Institute: Talking With Your Kids About Sexual Abuse

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