Blog Archives - New Summit Academy Costa Rica

Music Studio Gets a Makeover!

1/31/2017

The beloved (and much-used) music, recording and documentary film studio that was a new addition to our campus in 2015 has been inspiring students to reach their full creative potential. Something seemed to be missing, though: character!

Our Documentary Film teacher, Stephen, wanted to go for a retro look by draping the walls with Persian rugs. He even campaigned for a lava lamp. However, this would have altered the angles of the acoustically-designed walls.

Luckily, our Math teacher Christy is close friends with a talented California-based artist who makes occasional pilgrimages to Atenas. Monty donated supplies and dedicated nearly a week of his time to create a fantastic, music-inspired mural for our community.

Thanks to Monty, and to everyone involved in bringing more color to our beautiful campus.

Healthy Foods = Healthy Minds

1/30/2017

New Summit Academy’s dining hall has always been famous for serving fresh, delicious foods to our students and staff. In fact, students often award our chefs “favorite staff” awards at graduation ceremonies.

In our continuing efforts to build healthy habits in our students, and to provide them with nutrition that develops bright, productive minds, our chefs are incorporating more healthy, plant-based options at breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Besides bringing in organic vegetables from a nearby farm each week, NSA grows much of its basil and oregano right here on campus. Our cooks plan balanced weekly meals following a formula that ensures plenty of whole grains, leafy greens, fresh fruits, and lean proteins. New additions to our menu include garbanzo bean and vegetable stew, spinach and tuna sandwiches, vegetarian lasagna, and even a salad bar!

NSA & The Bridge Presenting at NATSAP

1/16/2017

New Summit Academy and our Young Adult Bridge Program are collaborating on a presentation at the annual National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs (NATSAP) conference in Tucson, Arizona later this month. Executive Director Heather Tracy and Danny Recio, Program Director for the Bridge, are working together to present “To Surf or Not to Surf? The Benefits and Risks of Allowing Internet Use in Therapeutic Programs.”

NSA believes the important, positive identity forming and community building benefits of allowing students to share their experiences and growth online outweigh the risks, and Heather and Danny will be delving into this topic before a gathering of professionals in the industry. NSA is proud to continue sharing our cutting-edge practices to help improve student services in all programs.

Project-Based Learning at NSA

1/15/2017

NSA’s Academics are known throughout the industry as one of the most innovative, rigorous and creative programs out there. Our success with engaging all learning styles and developing academic skills is due in large part to our dedicated teachers implementing project- and problem-based learning in their classrooms.

This learning model begins with students and teachers collaborating to develop a project to be completed or a problem to be solved by the end of the semester. Teachers then develop steps to achieve this goal which incorporate the semester’s learning objectives, so that they are met as our students progress through the project.

This learning model helps to develop student ownership of their learning and allows students to place tasks and lessons into a greater context, improving student engagement. At the end of each semester, our community celebrates these projects at the Academic Fair, where students share the results of their efforts with their peers and staff.

This semester, students are working on various projects, including:

A Rube Goldberg machine in Physics that demonstrates natural laws
Recreating famous or student-generated works of art using mathematical functions
A collaborative project to answer the question “What is Life?” in both Biology and Literature
Student-written mystery screenplays inspired by their reading of The Maltese Falcon

Weekend Adventures: Surfing & Rock Climbing

1/14/2017

NSA’s enthusiastic student body and their student council recently worked together on a proposal: to have more opportunities to pursue their club of interest on weekends.

The Experiential Education department responded by organizing monthly long weekends -- leaving Friday after classes and returning Sunday afternoons -- dedicated to club activities. Our two most popular clubs just returned from one of these action-packed weekends.

NSA’s surfers traveled to Playa Esterillos, a Pacific beach famous for its challenging and consistent waves. There, students and staff paired up with surf partners and spent hours each day honing their skills.

Members of the Climbing Club headed to the stunning Orosi Valley for two full days of technical routes and bouldering. Students are excited about the additional opportunities to pursue their interests, and NSA is thrilled to have such invested students!

Club Fair Promotes Student Interests

1/3/2017

Our talented Experiential Educators are committed to engaging students in healthy activities based on student interests and passions. NSA students are able to create clubs of their own, using staff mentors and the proposal process, so that they can engage in meaninful activities during their time at NSA.

At the start of each quarter, staff owners of each club organize a Club Fair, when students are able to learn about each club’s activities and sign up to participate for the upcoming ten weeks.

Some of our current clubs are dedicated to: Rock Climbing, Cooking, Ultimate Frisbee, Visual Arts, Surfing, Gardening and Fishing.

IGP Day and the First Day of Classes

1/2/2017

Each quarter at New Summit Academy begins with students collaborating with their Individual Goal Planning team to develop goals and steps for success. Students meet one-on-one with advisors to review their SCAFA scores as a foundation for these goals. SCAFA – Self, Community and Future – is NSA’s own student growth tracking system, developed over a decade of working with our students.

Our innovative system uses day-to-day student engagement to measure growth in Relationships, Social Skills, Executive Functioning, Resilience, Identity, and many more areas. This information is converted into goals at the start of each quarter, and Advisors from Academics, Personal Growth and Experiential Education will continually follow up with goals and steps to help ensure student success. What a way to prepare for the first day of classes!

Beaches and Volcanoes: NSA’s Holiday Aventuras

1/1/2017

Students and staff who spent their winter holidays with New Summit Academy had no shortage of exciting activities to keep them busy. The two-week holiday break was divided into two separate Aventuras: one week on the wild Pacific coast of Costa Rica, and one week of adrenaline-pumping adventure in the Arenal Volcano area.

On the coast, students surfed, spotted wildlife while kayaking among mangroves, and rode mountain bikes on the beach. The areas surrounding Arenal Volcano are famous for their outdoor activities, and students took full advantage, rappelling and rock climbing, zip-lining, horseback riding, and white-water rafting their way through the countryside.

In between these Aventuras, students and staff gathered at one of our dedicated teacher’s homes in Atenas to celebrate the holiday, sharing a traditional meal and exchanging gifts.

NSA hopes that everyone in our extended family had a wonderful holiday as we kick off 2017 with renewed energy and optimism for another banner year!

This website was made by a collaborative effort between two students (SK and JA) and NSA staff.
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