SCHOOL FOR CHILDREN
Gaebler School for Children
October 8, 1955 - 1992
This state school was named after
William C. Gaebler, the second superintendent
of the
Metropolitan State Hospital. Child patients at Metro prompted Gaebler to open. The
Department of Mental Health (DMH) closed the center as it was antiquated and could
no longer serve the needs of the children it housed. According to the DMH, this closure
coincided with the decision to place mentally ill children in community settings instead of
in institutional settings. Others felt the center was closed due to budget cuts.
"Crowning the desolate hill in Waltham, the Children's Psychiatric Unit is a massive
complex comprised of four levels. As one entered the lobby on the first level the
administrative offices are located. To the patients, and author Andrew Palmer of of
Gaebler, Hell and Back, this was a protal that separated the "outside" from the
larger body of the institution. To children, this place waslike a cage. In exerpts from
his book, Palmer describes the staff as human zookeepers.
"On the second and third floors were four psychiatric wards, each identical in configuration.
The wards werelong L-shaped wards, each had a social corner at either end. A staff office
and television room separated thegirls wards from the boys wards on each respective floor.
Also at either end of the corridor there were locked doors to another corrordor that
contained rows of isolation cells. Within each cell lay a bare, tear-resistant plastic mattress.
I'm sure these beds smelled pretty foul as the children's calls of nature were often ignored at
these were sound proof rooms.
Throazine was the preferred sedative for the young 'uns at this time. The children were
usually served a thorazine cocktail about three times a day to keep everyone calm. So
calm, that the kids had to be yanked out of bed and often fell asleep at school.
Metropolitan State Hospital. Child patients at Metro prompted Gaebler to open. The
Department of Mental Health (DMH) closed the center as it was antiquated and could
no longer serve the needs of the children it housed. According to the DMH, this closure
coincided with the decision to place mentally ill children in community settings instead of
in institutional settings. Others felt the center was closed due to budget cuts.
"Crowning the desolate hill in Waltham, the Children's Psychiatric Unit is a massive
complex comprised of four levels. As one entered the lobby on the first level the
administrative offices are located. To the patients, and author Andrew Palmer of of
Gaebler, Hell and Back, this was a protal that separated the "outside" from the
larger body of the institution. To children, this place waslike a cage. In exerpts from
his book, Palmer describes the staff as human zookeepers.
"On the second and third floors were four psychiatric wards, each identical in configuration.
The wards werelong L-shaped wards, each had a social corner at either end. A staff office
and television room separated thegirls wards from the boys wards on each respective floor.
Also at either end of the corridor there were locked doors to another corrordor that
contained rows of isolation cells. Within each cell lay a bare, tear-resistant plastic mattress.
I'm sure these beds smelled pretty foul as the children's calls of nature were often ignored at
these were sound proof rooms.
Throazine was the preferred sedative for the young 'uns at this time. The children were
usually served a thorazine cocktail about three times a day to keep everyone calm. So
calm, that the kids had to be yanked out of bed and often fell asleep at school.
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