All Categories - New Summit Academy Costa Rica

New Summit Academy’s Integrated Aventuras

2/15/2019

This February’s round of Integrated Aventuras engaged students in hiking, rafting, swimming, service work, and other amazing opportunities. While the physical challenge and natural beauty of NSA’s Aventuras are often highlighted in stories and photos, these experiences offer our students so much more.

Time away from campus and regular schedules to focus on individualized Personal Growth work
Experiential, immersive classes in the rainforest, coasts and cloud forests bringing concepts such as forest succession, interdependence of ecosystems, and conservation alive
Rites of passage that serve as opportunities for students to reflect on their processes and growth at NSA
Bonding opportunities among cohorts and with Aventura staff that strengthen our NSA community and milieu
Experiences that emphasize how lucky we are to live, study and work in a place as stunning as Costa Rica!

These reasons, combined with the physical challenge and connection with nature, are why NSA’s Integrated Aventuras are some of the most meaningful and impactful experiences for all of our students, and why our alumni continue to speak about them 10 years after graduation!

College Admissions Update

2/11/2019

Later this month and into March, our seniors at NSA will be receiving mail and emails with exhilarating news about college acceptances and merit scholarships.

Already, in early February, the excitement is growing as decisions come in almost daily. So far this month, we have had students accepted to some incredible schools, including:

Juniata College
Quest University
Portland State University
University of the Pacific
Hofstra University
University of Virginia Wise
Western Washington University

From the schools that have responded to date, we have an acceptance rate of 84% and, even though we have only heard from about 50% of schools applied to, our talented senior class has already racked up $460,000 in merit scholarships. Congratulations NSA seniors!

What Is SCAFA at New Summit Academy?

2/1/2019

SCAFA, which stands for Self, Community and Future Assessment, is New Summit Academy’s innovative system for supporting students in identifying areas for growth, setting goals and steps, supporting students to follow through with those steps, and assessing progress to guide future goals.

Here’s how our SCAFA system works:

During the admissions process, our talented team assembles all of the information from interviews, applications, testing and transcripts and identifies key areas of attention for student growth.

Those areas of attention are turned into goals for students and their families to work toward while part of the NSA community.

Those goals are turned over to a student’s SCAFA team – his go-to people at NSA – that consists of his Case Manager, Academic Advisor, and his Experiential Education Mentor.

Every student meets with his SCAFA team at the start of each quarter to look at his areas of attention, review his goals and progress, and to set concrete steps to take during the upcoming quarter to work toward achieving his goals.
New Summit Academy’s incredible program elements ARE those concrete steps!

So, while students are participating in academic planning meetings and project-based learning, while they are engaging in therapeutic groups and Honor Councils, and as they immerse in the Costa Rican culture, are challenged during Integrated Aventuras, and volunteer at Hogar de Vida, they are working toward their goals.

NSA’s Orientation program, its clubs and cultural activities, Family Workshops, Student Council, community life, Global Citizenship workshops, certification courses, proposal systems . . . each element that makes New Summit Academy special is intentionally created to help students build skills for success.

That’s the beauty of SCAFA!

Weekend Fun at New Summit Academy

1/15/2019

With challenging and enriching academic days, Honor Council, SCAFA Team meetings, physical education, evening therapeutic groups, and nightly homework, NSA students certainly look forward to some fun and relaxation on the weekends.

Our Experiential Education team works closely with Student Council to design and schedule a variety of activities over the weekends, ranging from outdoor pursuits to cultural activities, and from trips to the movies to community service. Here is a sample of activities that our students have enjoyed in just the past two weeks:

Cultural Activities
This month, students visited a cacao plantation to join in on the chocolate-making process and also spent time learning about Costa Rica’s indigenous past at the Gold Museum.

Las Minas
A nearby river filled with pools and natural rock slides is always a hit for our students!

Beach Day
Students often look forward to action-packed days on the beautiful beaches of Costa Rica, where they can be found body surfing, playing soccer on the sand, and flying kites!

Community Service
Our students and staff recently pitched in at Hogar de Ancianos, our local retirement home, helping for the day in the laundry room.

Pure Go-Karting and Paintball Fun
Competition gets fierce when NSA students get behind the wheel or on the paintball field!

Weekends may be just as busy as weekdays at NSA, but these student-driven activities let the young men recharge and be ready for each coming week!

A New Year’s Reflection at New Summit Academy

1/1/2019

NSA's staff and students are all excited to begin another spectacular year and want to share a reflection of some of 2018's highlights:

8 Global Citizenship workshops, investigating student-chosen topics related to Social Justice, Diversity, Ecological Stewardship, Conflict Resolution, and more.

4 Homestay Picnics, thanking our dedicated and caring Atenas hosts for taking our students into their homes and making them a part of their families.

28 successful Aventuras, including Integrated, Recreational and International Aventuras to Peru and South Africa!

Hundreds of hours of community service at Hogar de Vida, with Osa Conservation, and in the community of Atenas.

New clubs driven by student interests including a Fishing Club and a Birdwatching Club.

Nearly 100 college acceptances, including outstanding schools like Tulane, Marquette, Trinity, Loyola of Chicago, Whittier, Juniata, and Eckerd College.

Over 1.1 million dollars in college scholarships offered thus far!

20 successful graduates of high school and/or the New Summit Academy Program, ready to take on the world with new skills and confidence!

Thanks to all members of our NSA family for your support as we look forward to an incredible 2019... Happy New Year!

December Graduates Complete Their Final NSA Aventura

12/19/2018

Our proud December graduates, some returning to their homes to complete high school, others graduating high school and entering college in the spring, experienced their culminating Aventura last week.

These young men summited the highest point in Costa Rica, Cerro Chirripo, as a metaphoric pinnacle of their experiences at New Summit Academy. Congratulations to our graduates!

Celebrating Christmas with Hogar de Vida

12/19/2018

The children and staff at Hogar de Vida provide us with so much throughout the year, and the holidays are a time when we can say “thank you.”

This season, all of the kids joined us on campus for our annual Christmas party. Daisy, our cultural coordinator, worked her usual magic to ensure that every child had a personalized gift, a delicious meal and a wonderful time.

Raising money for Hogar de Vida!

12/18/2018

It broke our hearts to hear that our beloved Hogar de Vida is facing some big problems and has a big ask. Message from Hogar de Vida: Since 2014 in the child-focused culture of Costa Rica, PANI (Costa Rica's child protective services) has from time-to-time issued new requirements for increased staffing of the children's home. In May, another quite large increase was announced. While well-meaning, this increase was particularly difficult to meet, especially under threat of having the operating permit revoked. At about the same time, the Costa Rican government and department of labor issued new labor laws and regulations affecting pay and labor practices across the entire country. To make matters even worse, PANI announced in the fall that the annual Christmas grant to children's homes, usually $25,000 - $35,000 would not be paid this year. Without intervention, the collective cost to Homes of Life would be a devastating increase in expenses amounting to many thousands of dollars per month, not including the loss of the one-time Christmas grant.

Our families, staff, and friends have amazed us with their generosity! Thank you for your holiday spirit in donating to an amazing cause to help children in need. These children at Hogar make a HUGE impact on our students, and we're sure the feeling is mutual. If you'd like to donate, please follow the link below and make sure you choose the Costa Rica program. Thank you!!

Donate to Hogar de Vida

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First College Acceptances Coming In!

12/18/2018

NSA’s seniors have been hard at work on applications, essays, and resumes, and are beginning to see results.

Students who submitted applications in the early rounds have received some of their decisions, and have been accepted to some great schools, including Goucher, Loyola of Chicago, the University of Massachusetts, the University of Portland, and Christopher Newport University.

These schools have so far offered more than $115,000.00 in merit scholarships to these talented seniors!

Celebrating Thanksgiving at New Summit Academy

11/22/2018

At NSA, our Thanksgiving celebration is about dinner with family and friends, but also about giving back and engaging with our community to express our gratitude.

Students began the Thanksgiving week participating in a Global Citizenship workshop focused on Social Justice and investigating issues that are important to them.

With this Social Justice perspective, staff and students then participated in a number of days of community service.

On Monday, students spent the morning cooking and serving at Caritas, a local organization that provides up to 60 lunches seven days a week for locals in need.

That afternoon, we got our hands dirty, performing garden beautification work at our local elementary school.

The following day, students volunteered by running a much-appreciated Bingo game at Hogar de Ancianos, Atenas’ retirement home.

Wednesday morning had students in the kitchen, working to prepare a turkey lunch to deliver to the kids at Hogar de Vida. In between serving lunch, cleaning up, and playing with the kids, some of our Spanish students entertained everyone with a presentation on Thanksgiving traditions.

On Thanksgiving Day, students and staff returned to the kitchen, but this time to prepare delicious food for our Thanksgiving dinner celebration.

We would like to express our thanks to every member of our NSA extended family!

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