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. 

To work on the self within, a student: 
  • Participates in the Orientation Program during the first few weeks after enrollment
  • Sets individual SCAFA goals with their Individual Goal Plan (IGP) advising team each quarter
  • Completes a SCAFA self assessment every quarter and reviews others' SCAFA assessment feedback in order to set goals for the next quarter
  • Meets with his academic advisor weekly
  • Meets with a therapist at least one hour a week, often more--sometimes for an hour or more and other times for smaller amounts of time throughout the week
  • Attends support groups and psycho-educational groups, some mandatory and some optional
  • Hosts Honor Council Meetings to get feedback from peers and staff
  • Completes individual therapeutic work during Aventuras
  • Participates in academics and experiential education activities on and off campus
  • Participates in our Transition Program during the last quarter before graduation
New Summit Academy's SCAFA (Self, Community and Future Assessment©) is the product of years of experience and research that resulted in the development of our tool to assess individual growth based on integrated holistic goals. Development began after exploring and attempting to find a measurement of growth that was strengths-based and holistic rather than overly focused on reduction of negative symptoms. A multi-disciplinary committee at NSA developed an assessment which attempts to measure growth and progress in various categories of self, community and future preparation. Please see the SCAFA page (Current Parents) for more details.
Here are the 4 categories in which we set goals and assess for a healthy Self:
  • Physical Health
  • Self-Management
  • Identity 
  • Openness