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New Summit Academy’s mission is to empower students toward healthier lifestyles through processing experiences and solving problems to become more relationship-based, goal-driven, resourceful global citizens.
The goal of helping young men develop into global citizens has guided the development of many of the most impactful and memorable components of the NSA program.
These experiences of stepping outside of our comfort zones, asking intelligent questions while building critical thinking skills, and immersing in the world around us are all woven throughout NSA’s personal growth, academic, and experiential education programs.
Below are just a few examples of how we do this at NSA:
Building Connections and Serving our Community: All New Summit Academy students engage in service throughout their stay (in fact, it’s a requirement of our program!)
Students participate in reforestation projects, care for children at Hogar de Vida, provide activities for Retirement Home residents, and teach English classes to locals in Atenas.
Cultural Engagement: Each weekend, after having learned about the activity in their Spanish classes, our students immerse in the Costa Rican culture through experiences that include trips to museums, parks, festivals, tours of coffee and chocolate farms, and sports days in the park.
Global Citizenship Workshops: Eight times a year, students participate in teacher-led, experiential workshops that examine the facets of Social Justice, Human Rights, Interdependence, Ecological Stewardship, and more.
These facets then serve as lenses through which students approach their core classes for each quarter.
The goal of helping young men develop into global citizens has guided the development of many of the most impactful and memorable components of the NSA program.
These experiences of stepping outside of our comfort zones, asking intelligent questions while building critical thinking skills, and immersing in the world around us are all woven throughout NSA’s personal growth, academic, and experiential education programs.
Below are just a few examples of how we do this at NSA:
Building Connections and Serving our Community: All New Summit Academy students engage in service throughout their stay (in fact, it’s a requirement of our program!)
Students participate in reforestation projects, care for children at Hogar de Vida, provide activities for Retirement Home residents, and teach English classes to locals in Atenas.
Cultural Engagement: Each weekend, after having learned about the activity in their Spanish classes, our students immerse in the Costa Rican culture through experiences that include trips to museums, parks, festivals, tours of coffee and chocolate farms, and sports days in the park.
Global Citizenship Workshops: Eight times a year, students participate in teacher-led, experiential workshops that examine the facets of Social Justice, Human Rights, Interdependence, Ecological Stewardship, and more.
These facets then serve as lenses through which students approach their core classes for each quarter.
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Our newsletters often highlight the cool activities that our students experience week to week at New Summit Academy.
But it felt important to also highlight the PEOPLE that our students get to experience and interact with on a regular basis. Everyone who visits our Atenas campus expresses how amazing it is that our team functions like a well-oiled machine.
Yet, we’re not a machine. We are a network of hearts and souls dedicated to making our community a better place - one where students feel seen, heard, challenged, and supported to be their best self -- a self that opens their mind to experience, learns from mistakes, and sets goals and achieves them.
What makes this possible isn’t great leadership or air tight protocols (although we have those too). It’s the people who make NSA their home - day in and day out - and give their energy, intelligence, and hard work to make New Summit Academy, approaching its 15th year, what it is today.
We hope you enjoy some stats about NSA staff:
--Total number of Employees: 49.5 (the .5 reflects a couple of part-time employees)
--Youngest 25, Oldest 73
--6 under age 30
--20 age 30-40
--18 age 40-50
--6 age 50-60
--1 age 60+
Again, what a beautiful balance of age and experience to guide our students through what often feels like a difficult stage of life - adolescence!
Retention:
--28% of our Employees have worked for over 10 years at NSA (14) - Yes, that’s right! Almost 1/3 of our staff have been at NSA for over a decade!
--28% (14) Employees have worked for 5-10 years at NSA
--16% (8) Employees have worked for 3-5 years at NSA
--28% (14) Employees have worked for under 3 years at NSA
We are very proud that we have such great retention of employment -- 56% of our staff have been working at NSA for over 5 years!
We have such a mix of experienced veterans and new professionals who bring creative ideas and lots of fresh energy to our campus.
And 32% of our Employees are female, which lends a nice balance to an all-male school.
These statistics may not mean much to you, but they mean a lot to us. Our future newsletters will be highlighting some of these wonderful people who make NSA what it is - an amazing growth experience for our students!
But it felt important to also highlight the PEOPLE that our students get to experience and interact with on a regular basis. Everyone who visits our Atenas campus expresses how amazing it is that our team functions like a well-oiled machine.
Yet, we’re not a machine. We are a network of hearts and souls dedicated to making our community a better place - one where students feel seen, heard, challenged, and supported to be their best self -- a self that opens their mind to experience, learns from mistakes, and sets goals and achieves them.
What makes this possible isn’t great leadership or air tight protocols (although we have those too). It’s the people who make NSA their home - day in and day out - and give their energy, intelligence, and hard work to make New Summit Academy, approaching its 15th year, what it is today.
We hope you enjoy some stats about NSA staff:
--Total number of Employees: 49.5 (the .5 reflects a couple of part-time employees)
--Youngest 25, Oldest 73
--6 under age 30
--20 age 30-40
--18 age 40-50
--6 age 50-60
--1 age 60+
Again, what a beautiful balance of age and experience to guide our students through what often feels like a difficult stage of life - adolescence!
Retention:
--28% of our Employees have worked for over 10 years at NSA (14) - Yes, that’s right! Almost 1/3 of our staff have been at NSA for over a decade!
--28% (14) Employees have worked for 5-10 years at NSA
--16% (8) Employees have worked for 3-5 years at NSA
--28% (14) Employees have worked for under 3 years at NSA
We are very proud that we have such great retention of employment -- 56% of our staff have been working at NSA for over 5 years!
We have such a mix of experienced veterans and new professionals who bring creative ideas and lots of fresh energy to our campus.
And 32% of our Employees are female, which lends a nice balance to an all-male school.
These statistics may not mean much to you, but they mean a lot to us. Our future newsletters will be highlighting some of these wonderful people who make NSA what it is - an amazing growth experience for our students!
- Published on
NSA students are beginning the quarter by planning for their continued growth with their SCAFA (which stands for Self, Community, and Future) Teams.
On the first day of each quarter, NSA has a special schedule that allows students to each meet with their Academic Advisor, Experiential Education Mentor, and Case Manager – who make up their SCAFA Team – to review their quarterly goal plans and set concrete steps to achieve those goals.
When not attending SCAFA Meetings, students are working to unpack from their home visits or Recreational Aventuras, organizing their iPads for the upcoming quarter, participating in community service in Atenas, and expending some adolescent energy on the basketball court, on the soccer field, or in the gym.
SCAFA Day is one way we work to set up our students for success this quarter!
On the first day of each quarter, NSA has a special schedule that allows students to each meet with their Academic Advisor, Experiential Education Mentor, and Case Manager – who make up their SCAFA Team – to review their quarterly goal plans and set concrete steps to achieve those goals.
When not attending SCAFA Meetings, students are working to unpack from their home visits or Recreational Aventuras, organizing their iPads for the upcoming quarter, participating in community service in Atenas, and expending some adolescent energy on the basketball court, on the soccer field, or in the gym.
SCAFA Day is one way we work to set up our students for success this quarter!
