Specialty boarding schools are those that focus on a particular aspect of a child or on particular type of child. There are many categories of specialty boarding schools: religious, military, arts, pre-professional and others. These schools admit students for a particular purpose of to help them develop a certain skill or overcome a certain problem. They have unique curriculum, programs and activities to lead students in a specific direction. For instance, military schools provide cadet training to make students suitable for military life. The students admitted into these schools need to satisfy certain pre-requisites to gain admission.

There are also some specialty schools for children who have learning disabilities or other physical/mental problems. Such children have a tough time adjusting in regular schools, and these specialty schools make them feel right at home, as they have many students with similar problems. This includes students with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), developmental articulation disorder, developmental expressive language disorder, developmental receptive language disorder, developmental reading disorders, dysgraphia (writing disorders), dyscalculia (arithmetic disorder), attention deficit disorders (ADD), and other disabilities. These schools help children overcome their difficulties with specialized curriculum, activities, faculty and e therapy. Different kinds of therapies like psychotherapy, equestrian therapy, counseling, behavior training, group activates and parental counseling are provided to help the entire family cope with their child's problem.

Another kind of specialty boarding schools are those meant for troubled teens. They help students tackle several problems like stress, depression, alcohol/controlled substances abuse, suicidal tendencies, teen pregnancy, conduct disorders, behavioral problems, oppositional defiant disorders, eating disorders, violence, bullying and other problems that challenge adolescents. They provide therapeutic programs to enable the child to overcome problems through therapy, counseling, personality development workshops and many other activities. Sometimes, a troubled teenager may change for the better when around peers with similar problems. These schools also offer support to the entire family through periodic counseling, so that the entire family can offer support to their troubled teen.