Planning Growth - the MGP and the Individualized SCAFA Plan
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We use the term "personal growth" instead of "therapy" to define what we do at NSA. Our students are not broken and do not need to be fixed. Part of what we model and teach is that every human being is on a personal growth journey throughout their entire lives. What is most important is to understand one's own process of personal growth and one's unique way of reflecting, learning, growing, changing, setting and reaching goals, and becoming their best self so that this process of integrative growth can be applied throughout one's life.
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Master Goal Plan (MGP) |
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When a student arrives to New Summit Academy, a “road map” is created by his assigned Case Manager to ensure that the overall needs of the family are met. This “map” is known as the Master Goal Plan (MGP); it incorporates information from previous placements, testing, transcripts, and application documents to create a list of “areas of attention” that the student and family wish to intentionally address while at NSA. From these areas, specific goals, interventions, and indicators of success are outlined.
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Individual SCAFA Goal Plan (SCAFA) |
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In order to empower students to actualize their personal growth process, Individual SCAFA Goal Plans are developed by the student himself, along with the help of his SCAFA team (consisting of at least the Case Manager, Academic Advisor, and one experiential education mentor who meet with the student weekly). The SCAFA plan includes goals, steps needed to reach these goals, indicators of success, and recommendations for how the SCAFA team can support the student in that process. This plan is made at the beginning of each academic quarter and is revised or updated as needed to reflect the student’s interest and engagement in his personal growth.
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The Student's Journey
Orientation Student |
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When a student first arrives to NSA, he moves through an initial adaptation period known as Orientation. During this phase (which can last from 4-5 weeks to a couple of months), an incoming student is supported by selected peer mentors and the Orientation Team of staff who usher him through the “ins and outs” of the program. The student engages in activities and meetings to ensure he becomes comfortable in the milieu and refrains from the use of internet or personal headphones during this time in order to stay present and engage with his immediate social environment. As the student moves through this period (by engaging in a required number of groups and activities, maintaining an orderly living space, being on time and completing academic and campus-related responsibilities, becoming socially connected, etc.) he can earn his way to Regular Status which is granted by an Honor Council Meeting decision which allows the use of (non-explicit) personal music, internet, etc.
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Regular Student |
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All students are equal in the sense that we do not have a "level system" or "phases" to go through once students complete the orientation phase. All regular students (unless otherwise indicated by an Honor Council Meeting decision) have access to off campus activities, 45 minutes to 1 hour of personal internet use in the evenings, iPods with appropriate music, and access to their academic iPads during the school day and evening. All students are expected to participate in the breadth and depth of activities that NSA offers - from school to recreation to counseling to peer support.
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Honor Student |
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Becoming an Honor Student is something is that is not required but is offered to students who are nominated by their SCAFA teams for demonstrating growth above and beyond the expected requirements. Honor Students are nominated by their SCAFA team for demonstrating not just academic achievement, but also empathy, peer support, leadership, citizenship, mentoring, and global citizenship. Becoming an Honor Student means a student gets more trust and also more responsibility.
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Transition Student |
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During the last quarter (10-11 weeks) of a student’s stay, he becomes part of the Transition Program if he has met programmatic milestones for graduation. During this period, a student engages in 2-3 workshops a week focusing on healthy coping skills for relapse prevention, independent living skills including financial management, traveling, college living, etc.. The student also completes a full Transition Plan, a Healthy Lifestyle Plan, and a Relapse Prevention Plan that is approved by his SCAFA team and his family. Having a solid transition plan can help remind students how to get themselves out of a hole that they might dig themselves into after leaving the structure of NSA. Families also participate in this quarter with their own work on the Transition Plan (guided by the family therapist) as well as an on-site Transition Workshop about 8 weeks before graduation. Parents are a key part of the process and appreciate the Transition Plan as a tool to use so that expectations are clear and there is less conflict once a student returns home or goes to college.
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