Yes, the Elan School was a real place:
Elan School’s Record of Atrocities
The Legal Industry for Kidnapping Teens
Suffer the Little Children: Élan School and the Industry of Legalized Child Abuse
His family asks: What really happened to Phil at the Elan School?
Maine police looking into 33-year-old death at Elan School
Police: Death of Elan School student is ‘priority’ for state investigators
Exclusive: New York State Acts to End Abuses at Elan School
Ex-students at Skakel trial describe Elan as ‘horrific’
About Those Tales of Elan School
Former victims describe dangerous “therapy” at Elan School for troubled teens in Maine
Former Elan Student: A lifetime of bad memories
Web campaigners happy to take credit for Elan School closure
Increasingly, Internet Activism Helps Shutter Abusive ‘Troubled Teen’ Boot Camps
Michael Skakel’s Boarding School Elan Closed After Negative Attacks
‘Skakel’ School of Hard Knocks
Controversial Elan School closing due to low numbers, negative Web campaign
Elan School for troubled teens to close
The day ‘Officer Smiley’ helped a boy escape from the Elan School
Film:
Elan – For the Child’s Own Good
The Last Stop: The true story of the Elan School
Filmmaker talks Elan School, documentary at Great Falls Forum
Videos:
Exploring Elan (the Elan “campus” after it closed)
Exploring Elan: The Remains of a Controversial School for Troubled Teens! PART 1
Exploring Elan: The Remains of a Controversial School for Troubled Teens! PART 2
Elan – The Real Story from the Inside Out
Radio:
Red Bar Radio: Mike’s Boarding School Story
Books:
Duck in a Raincoat: The Joe Ricci Story
A Life Gone Awry: My Story of the Elan School
The Game: A Return to the Elan School
Television:
The Murder of Dawn Birnbaum (died while on the run from Elan)