Association of Recovery Schools (ARS)

What Association of Recovery Schools (ARS) does

The Association of Recovery Schools (ARS) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2002 and headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that serves as the only national association dedicated to school-based recovery support. It sets standards, provides accreditation, and offers technical assistance for recovery high schools, which are secondary schools designed for adolescents in recovery from substance use or co-occurring disorders. As co-founded by Dr. Andrew Finch, ARS operates a network encompassing 12 currently accredited recovery high schools and 30+ active member schools across the United States, supported by institutional and individual members, universities, treatment centers, and nonprofit partners.

ARS's core offerings are organized around four pillars: (1) the Accreditation Program, which evaluates schools against research-based standards for educational and recovery practices on a 5-year cycle; (2) Technical Assistance, delivered in partnership with the Center for Addiction Recovery Support (CARS), to help communities launch new schools and strengthen existing ones; (3) the SEARS (Systematic Evaluation of the Association of Recovery Schools) assessment tool, a structured instrument for collecting and interpreting student outcome data; and (4) a member resource library including the ARS Toolkit, an ongoing webinar series, research resources, and the annual ARHE/ARS/AAPG joint conference. The technology footprint is largely conventional: organizational frameworks, accreditation standards, and downloadable toolkits rather than a unified software platform.

The business model is nonprofit membership-based, with revenue from institutional memberships ($300/year), individual memberships ($50/year), case-by-case accreditation site visit fees, conference registrations, and tax-deductible donations. Go-to-market is community-led and mission-driven, relying on digital presence, conferences, webinars, word-of-mouth within the recovery education community, and partnerships with organizations such as the Peer Recovery Center of Excellence and Vanderbilt University. ARS is governed by a volunteer board of directors composed of recovery high school leaders and recovery professionals, with no private equity, venture capital, or institutional investment ownership involved.

Name

Association of Recovery Schools (ARS)

Legal name

The Association of Recovery Schools

Website

https://recoveryschools.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Association of Recovery Schools (ARS) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, founded in 2002 and headquartered in Minneapolis, that sets standards, accredits, and provides technical assistance to recovery high schools serving adolescents in recovery from substance use disorders across the United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Recovery Education Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Services (611), All Other Schools and Instruction (61169)

akta.pro primary industry

Accreditation Appeals, Arbitration & Compliance Oversight Bodies (EDADACAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Assessment Analytics & Item/Question Intelligence (IRT, Item Banks, Diagnostic Insights) (EDAFAFAG), Academic Accommodations & Access Planning (ADA/504) (EDALAGAA), National/State Examination Boards & Testing Agencies (EDADAFAA)

Keywords

• Recovery high schools
• School accreditation services
• Adolescent recovery education
• Technical assistance services
• Professional development

Headquarters

HQ city

Minneapolis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Institutional Membership: Annual membership fees for schools, universities, research organizations, corporations, nonprofits, and treatment centers. Provides eligibility for board positions, conference discounts, advocacy, database access, and accreditation eligibility.
2. Individual Membership: Annual membership fees for individuals not affiliated with organizations. Family members, donors, and supporters can join for $50/year with networking opportunities and conference discounts.
3. Accreditation Services: Fees for accreditation site visits and reviews determined on a case-by-case basis. Established schools financially support costs of preparing and deploying the Accreditation Site Visit Team.
4. Donations: Charitable contributions from supporters of the recovery school mission. All contributions are tax-deductible as ARS is a 501(c)(3) organization.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

ARS operates as the national membership-based standards and support association for recovery high schools in the United States. It delivers a formal Accreditation Program evaluating recovery schools against research-based standards, Technical Assistance services to help communities launch or strengthen recovery schools, Institutional and Individual Membership programs, the SEARS student-level assessment instrument, an annual conference, webinars, a downloadable toolkit, and curated research resources. ARS is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

Product overview

The Association of Recovery Schools (ARS) is a nonprofit organization that operates as a membership-based standards and support organization for recovery high schools. The core offering consists of a network of affiliated recovery high schools supported by three main pillars: Technical Assistance services for schools launching or strengthening their programs, an Accreditation Program that evaluates schools against research-based standards for educational and recovery practices, and membership programs providing access to resources, conferences, webinars, and a comprehensive toolkit. ARS also provides the SEARS Assessment Tool for data-driven evaluation of student outcomes. The organization connects recovery schools through advocacy, professional development, and annual conferences rather than offering a unified software platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ARS Accreditation Program

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Center for Addiction Recovery Support (CARS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerARS partners with CARS to provide technical assistance to school and community leadership at new, emerging, and existing recovery high schools. CARS works with ARS on webinar series and training programs for recovery school development and accreditation.
• Peer Recovery Center of ExcellencecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint partnership for webinar programming covering topics like mental health supports, academic programming, accreditation, and adolescent recovery support services. The Peer Recovery Center of Excellence partners with ARS on continuing education for recovery professionals.
• Vanderbilt UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDr. Andrew Finch, Senior Advisor and Co-Founder of ARS, is a Professor of the Practice at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College. Research collaborations on recovery high schools and SEARS instrument development.
• JEDI Committee (Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion)minorOthersInternal ARS committee developing webinar series focused on JEDI topics within the context of secondary education and recovery high schools. Chaired by Ahmed Hosni and Morgan Thompson.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Drug Misuse Prevention and Recovery: Ohio State University-based center providing research, training, and program development for collegiate recovery communities. Overlaps with ARS at the secondary-to-higher-education recovery pipeline.

Others

• SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration): Federal agency funding and setting standards for adolescent substance use treatment and recovery support services. Not a competitor but a major funder and standard-setter for the ecosystem ARS operates in.

Broad incumbents

• Partnership to End Addiction: Large national nonprofit addressing adolescent substance use through family support, resources, and policy. Targets the same families and adolescent populations that recovery high schools serve.
• National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP): National membership association for addiction treatment providers. Comparable membership-and-accreditation business model and shares stakeholders with ARS through treatment centers serving the recovery school population.
• NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals: National membership and certification body for addiction counselors. Serves many of the same professional members (counselors, treatment professionals) and is the third co-host of the ARHE/ARS/AAPG annual conference.
• Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation: Large, established addiction treatment and recovery education provider with broader scope (treatment, publishing, professional training). Overlaps with ARS in the recovery education and publishing space (Dr. Finch's first book was published by Hazelden).
• Faces & Voices of Recovery: National recovery advocacy organization that mobilizes the recovery community and influences policy. Comparable in nonprofit, membership-supported advocacy model and overlapping mission around recovery support services.

Direct peers

• Center for Addiction Recovery Support (CARS): Strategic partner that jointly delivers technical assistance and webinars to new and existing recovery high schools. Operates in the same niche with overlapping member base and direct go-to-market alignment with ARS.
• Association of Recovery in Higher Education (ARHE): Sister association focused on collegiate recovery programs. Co-hosts the annual ARHE/ARS/AAPG conference and shares board members (e.g., Ahmed Hosni), making it the closest comparable membership organization for school-based recovery support.
• Peer Recovery Center of Excellence: Federally-funded initiative co-producing ARS webinar programming on accreditation, mental health supports, and academic programming. Targets the same audience of recovery professionals and school-based recovery programs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ARS_recovery
• Facebookfacebook.com/recoveryschools
• Instagraminstagram.com/ars_recovery
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/association-of-recovery-schools-ars-

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Association of Recovery Schools (ARS)