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Classes at NSA are organized using a project-based model, where students and teachers collaborate to design a final project, and work on steps throughout the semester to complete the project.
This model allows students to see daily learning and homework tasks within a larger context, increasing student ownership of their learning.
At the close of each semester, our community takes a day to present the final products to students, staff and visiting families. This week, our students presented projects that included:
This model allows students to see daily learning and homework tasks within a larger context, increasing student ownership of their learning.
At the close of each semester, our community takes a day to present the final products to students, staff and visiting families. This week, our students presented projects that included:
- a poetry and model-building collaboration between the Biology and Literature classes
- a “protest music mixed tape” from Humanities
- a film about Frank - our beloved Experiential Education staff member - from the Documentary Film class
- a Rube Goldberg machine demonstrating each of Newton’s laws from our Physics class
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ew Summit Academy’s homestay experience – immersing students in the culture of Costa Rica through weekly stays with local families – is an integral part of our program. Our homestay families give of themselves with no expectation other than to interact with our students and share their day-to-day lives.
We usually take one day each quarter to thank these amazing members of our community with a homestay picnic. This quarter, our students felt that a dance would be a dynamic and fun thank-you. Daisy, our Cultural Coordinator, along with our Experiential Education team and the Student Council planned an event, made decorations, and ensured the best in music, food and entertainment. A wonderful time was had by all, with the best entertainment being the eclectic dance moves of our own students!
We usually take one day each quarter to thank these amazing members of our community with a homestay picnic. This quarter, our students felt that a dance would be a dynamic and fun thank-you. Daisy, our Cultural Coordinator, along with our Experiential Education team and the Student Council planned an event, made decorations, and ensured the best in music, food and entertainment. A wonderful time was had by all, with the best entertainment being the eclectic dance moves of our own students!
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Students and staff rose with the sun on a recent Sunday, donned boots and gloves, and got to work. Their goal was to be a part of community efforts to help improve access to water in our hometown of Atenas.
While the drinking water in Costa Rica is clean and pure, issues with infrastructure mean that some communities or individuals may have limited access. Costa Rican water laws stipulate that wells must be planted with native tree species to help with water retention, which is where our students came in, participating in a tree-planting drive.
By the end of a day of hard work, students and staff had planted over 3,000 native trees -- a huge contribution to the water access efforts!
While the drinking water in Costa Rica is clean and pure, issues with infrastructure mean that some communities or individuals may have limited access. Costa Rican water laws stipulate that wells must be planted with native tree species to help with water retention, which is where our students came in, participating in a tree-planting drive.
By the end of a day of hard work, students and staff had planted over 3,000 native trees -- a huge contribution to the water access efforts!
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New Summit Academy’s Aventura program is a one-of-a-kind series of integrated challenges in the wilderness of Costa Rica where students have an opportunity to, not only progress in Personal Growth, Academic and Experiential Education, but to reflect on their growth so far.
The final Aventura – climbing Cerro Chirripo (the highest peak in Costa Rica), serves as the ultimate opportunity to reflect, and to ponder the future. Transition students who have met all program requirements are approved by their Transition Team to take on the mountain, climbing alongside their peers in a culminating celebration of their growth and of their futures filled with success.
Congratulations to our June graduates, who will be summiting Chirripo this week. As we say to our graduates “When you reach the summit, keep climbing!”
The final Aventura – climbing Cerro Chirripo (the highest peak in Costa Rica), serves as the ultimate opportunity to reflect, and to ponder the future. Transition students who have met all program requirements are approved by their Transition Team to take on the mountain, climbing alongside their peers in a culminating celebration of their growth and of their futures filled with success.
Congratulations to our June graduates, who will be summiting Chirripo this week. As we say to our graduates “When you reach the summit, keep climbing!”
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Our neighbors, the amazing children and staff at Hogar de Vida, continue to enrich our students’ lives and experiences by opening their doors and their arms. Each week, our dedicated Cultural Coordinator Daisy leads a team of student volunteers who visit the children’s home to spend time with the little ones playing, helping with dinner, and running around like kids themselves!
Daisy also organizes weekend activities, picnics and parties, sharing our students’ culture with the children, and providing small --but needed-- breaks for the tias (aunties) who give so much of their time and love.
In the coming weeks, Daisy and the NSA community will be spearheading a fundraiser for our wonderful neighbors who give so much. Keep an eye out for information in our next newsletter about how you can help!
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Students arriving at NSA for the first time have a great deal to process: new peers, new teachers, new rules and expectations – even a new country. In order to provide the most support possible during transition into the New Summit Academy community, our Orientation program guides each student as he immerses into a new, exciting experience.
Orientation begins with meeting a mentor: a senior student who serves as a “go-to” person for any questions or needs. That mentor accompanies his mentee on a weekend-long Orientation Aventura, where peers and staff introduce new students to the NSA handbook, explain how the program functions, and answer any questions that arrive. Upon returning to campus, new students complete a series of meetings, steps, readings and more in order to quickly and comfortably become part of our community -- ready to set goals to continue on the path to success.
Orientation begins with meeting a mentor: a senior student who serves as a “go-to” person for any questions or needs. That mentor accompanies his mentee on a weekend-long Orientation Aventura, where peers and staff introduce new students to the NSA handbook, explain how the program functions, and answer any questions that arrive. Upon returning to campus, new students complete a series of meetings, steps, readings and more in order to quickly and comfortably become part of our community -- ready to set goals to continue on the path to success.
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As the college search and application process at NSA for the fall of 2017 wraps up (and the process for 2018 begins!), our community would like to share some facts and statistics about our graduating class of seniors, off to some amazing opportunities:
-Percent of seniors who were accepted & enrolled: 100%
-Percent of schools offering admission: 77%
-Percent of waitlisted students being admitted: 75%
-Percent of students offered merit scholarships: 73%
-Average merit scholarship offered: $53,904.73
-Total amount of merit scholarships offered: $1,132,384.00
Congratulations, seniors, we look forward to your many future successes!
-Percent of seniors who were accepted & enrolled: 100%
-Percent of schools offering admission: 77%
-Percent of waitlisted students being admitted: 75%
-Percent of students offered merit scholarships: 73%
-Average merit scholarship offered: $53,904.73
-Total amount of merit scholarships offered: $1,132,384.00
Congratulations, seniors, we look forward to your many future successes!
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Throughout each student’s stay at New Summit Academy, the Integrated Aventuras serve as a means to connect with therapists, Experiential Education mentors, and teachers while working on personal growth goals, and enjoying total immersion in the natural wonders of Costa Rica. Students recently returned from three different Aventuras, and have brought their stories back to campus with them.
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On the first Integrated Aventura of a career at NSA, students developed their work ethic and gave back with noticeable enthusiasm while weeding rows of lemongrass, cabbage, lettuce, and pineapple; creating organic fertilizer using discarded mangoes, and making a natural mulch using mango tree leaves at the permaculture-based organic farm Osa Verde.
Each night, students and staff engaged in presentations from scientists conducting on-site conservation work. On the fourth day, students released over a hundred freshly hatched baby Olive Ridley turtles into a stormy sea!
Each night, students and staff engaged in presentations from scientists conducting on-site conservation work. On the fourth day, students released over a hundred freshly hatched baby Olive Ridley turtles into a stormy sea!
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Students took to the trails of Corcovado National Park ready to explore the most biologically intense place on earth. The group's student documentarian recorded footage for a short film, while other students took turns in the role of Student Naturalist, spotting and identifying Baird's tapirs, anteaters, and caimans in the wild.
Biologists from the University of Costa Rica shared the results of a ten-year study about the diverse species of fungi endemic to the park, enhancing class discussions about the symbiotic relationships of rainforest organisms.
Biologists from the University of Costa Rica shared the results of a ten-year study about the diverse species of fungi endemic to the park, enhancing class discussions about the symbiotic relationships of rainforest organisms.
