Academic Approach

New Summit Academy’s Academic Approach is intentionally designed to engage all members of our learning community as true students who are curious about the world around them; to support them in the development of real-world skills; and to collaborate in the synthesis of information and skills to produce meaningful, creative, fulfilling results.

Get Engaged

Students become involved in their learning when they are interested in a topic, see relevance to their own lives, and are confident in their skills. At New Summit Academy, teachers and students work together to design project-based courses which allow students to study content of interest and to engage in learning by utilizing their unique combinations of strengths.

This approach is founded on the idea of Multiple Intelligences – that every student is capable of acquiring new knowledge, developing new skills, and of applying learning to produce meaningful results. NSA’s academic model provides each unique student with an opportunity to experience success in a way that best fits his individual learning journey.

When students are able to use their strengths, interests, and skills to see real success, they internalize motivation and fully engage in their learning.

Feel Supported

New Summit Academy’s Academic Program integrates support and structure systems which allow for students to experience success while continually challenging them to develop Executive Functioning skills.

Each student’s journey begins with a comprehensive aptitudes and interests assessment, the results of which are incorporated into course content and classroom techniques. From their first day in class through their transition, students work closely with an Academic Advisor to set quarterly goals and meet weekly to outline concrete, measurable actions to reach those goals.

Academic skill development is incorporated into each class, with collaborative projects broken down into steps, a note-taking system integrated into lessons, and organization facilitated through technology.

Further support is provided with teacher-attended study halls in the afternoons and evenings, a standardized test preparation program, and a peer tutoring system, which all contribute to our students’ success.

See Rewards

Executive Functioning skill development truly occurs at New Summit Academy. Students build and solidify techniques to self-initiate and monitor their work, to stay organized, to manage time and prioritize, to be resilient in the face of challenge, and to advocate for themselves when support is needed.

With this skill development come fulfilling results, and our graduates’ resumes are like no others. In their time at NSA, students design and perform service learning projects in our Global Citizenship course. They write, shoot, edit and premiere documentary films about their international travel experiences. Students record albums in our music studio on state-of-the-art equipment, earn professional-level certifications in Wilderness Advanced First Aid, and produce college-level writing portfolios.

At graduation, students speak of their learning experiences at New Summit Academy, addressing their Costa Rican homestay families in Spanish, speaking of one-of-a-kind learning opportunities in the rain and cloud forests, proudly announcing their college acceptances, and thanking their teachers for supporting them as they re-engage with the world.