The School That Chocolate Built - washingtonpost.com
... The 5,000-acre campus of the Milton Hershey School is located in the town named for its founder, chocolate magnate Milton S. Hershey. The grounds are pristine: all green rolling hills and jewel-like gardens. The school and administrative buildings are spotless, and the student homes look like neatly landscaped suburban dwellings with swing sets and bird feeders outside. There's an AstroTurf football field, lots of computer labs and a recreation area with three swimming pools, a water slide and two sandy volleyball courts. A wealth of after-school activities are available, from motorcycle-building to horticulture, a rabbit-raising club, soccer, dance or cooking.
It's a residential school for 1,800 underprivileged students from preschool through high school, many of whom arrive with learning deficits and psychological issues. More than 70 percent of the students, who must be U.S.-born, come from families at or below the poverty line. The school doesn't take students with significant criminal records, and acceptance is based on a complex analysis of poverty levels, living conditions and geography. Priority is given to students who come from the three Pennsylvania counties surrounding the school, though 65 students from the Washington area attend.
