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Arriving at a new place can be overwhelming for anyone, especially when that place is a new school, with a new group of peers, new staff, and different rules – and in an entirely foreign country!
In order to help enrolling students make the adjustment to NSA, our comprehensive Orientation program guides them in getting to know our community so that they can continue their processes of personal growth. From day one, an Orientation team – Experiential Education mentors, an Academic Advisor, a Case manager and peer mentors – help new students in these steps. Orientation students actually begin their stay by leaving campus – traveling to a nearby dormant volcano with peers and staff to review the student handbook and get an overview of the program.
Throughout the following month, students meet to review their Academic transcripts and course plans, learn about their learning styles and areas of attention, review and complete a quiz on the student handbook – steps designed intentionally for them to get their bearings and feel comfortable in their new, supportive community.
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Classes, wrap-up meetings, Aventuras and meals - these facets of life at NSA make up a big part of our students' experiences. However, there are many more hours in the day and many interesting activities available that engage our guys in healthy recreational opportunities.
Clubs are one structured way students are able to pursue interests throughout the week. Wednesdays and Thursdays find students gearing up and embarking right after classes to hit the pitches or waves for the Climbing and Surfing Clubs. The Running Club organizes practice runs and competes in local races, while the Ultimate Frisbee Club - coached by our Experiential Ed mentor Samantha, recently scored a last-minute win over another local high school here on NSA's home field.
Each Sunday, Frank leads a dedicated group of gourmands in the Cooking Club, preparing Sunday night dinner for their peers. Clubs are student-created and driven enabling our guys to pursue their passions and interests.
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Preparing students for a successful transition from New Summit Academy is a crucial step in helping them succeed in the next stages of their lives. A huge part of this help comes from their work within the NSA Transition Program - an intensive process which engages students, families, and a "Transition Team" in planning and preparing for life after New Summit.
The planning begins well before students' final quarters, when they work with their families to create drafts of their Transition Plans, which will be refined and edited for months before final approval. These comprehensive plans include expectations about education, finances, family and house rules, socializing, and more. Throughout the Transition Program, students also engage in life-skills workshops of their choosing, including topics such as College Level Skills, Planning for and Preparing a Meal, Independent Travel, Budgeting and Finances, and Sex and Dating.
The planning begins well before students' final quarters, when they work with their families to create drafts of their Transition Plans, which will be refined and edited for months before final approval. These comprehensive plans include expectations about education, finances, family and house rules, socializing, and more. Throughout the Transition Program, students also engage in life-skills workshops of their choosing, including topics such as College Level Skills, Planning for and Preparing a Meal, Independent Travel, Budgeting and Finances, and Sex and Dating.
A Transition Family Workshop engages students and parents in face-to-face plan creation, a time guided by the Transition Team when expectations and boundaries can be clearly communicated. As students near graduation, their Transition Plans are reviewed by their team, with further edits and suggestions taken into account before they are approved for their final Aventura: summiting Costa Rica's highest mountain, Cerro Chirripo. As students descend with complete plans, they have the skills, confidence, and support needed for continued success.
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In Costa Rica, and throughout much of Latin America, Columbus Day is celebrated - not for the "discovery" of the Americas - but for the diversity of cultures throughout the continents created by our shared history. New Summit Academy is unique among high schools in that our students enroll from all corners of the United States, and that our international staff come to us from Costa Rica, the U.S., Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and other countries.
Each year, our Cultural Coordinator Daisy ensures that students learn about this important day and the impact diversity has on Costa Rica and on the students' everyday lives. In celebration of the cultural melange that makes up NSA, Daisy organizes our staff to create and share food and drinks with our students which represent the cultures from which we come.
Each year, our Cultural Coordinator Daisy ensures that students learn about this important day and the impact diversity has on Costa Rica and on the students' everyday lives. In celebration of the cultural melange that makes up NSA, Daisy organizes our staff to create and share food and drinks with our students which represent the cultures from which we come.
This year, students enjoyed traditional Caribbean meat patties, Columbian arepas, chicharrones from Costa Rica, Thai massaman curry, and hearty mid-western chili.
Food is a window into and celebration of this variety of cultures (not to mention the best way to interest teenage boys), so many thanks to Daisy for facilitating this enriching event!
Food is a window into and celebration of this variety of cultures (not to mention the best way to interest teenage boys), so many thanks to Daisy for facilitating this enriching event!
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"Therapeutic Educational Experiences" (similar version published in We Are NATSAP newsletter October 2016)
by Dr. Heather Tracy, Ed.M., Ed.D., Executive Director at New Summit Academy & The Bridge – Costa Rica
During the admissions process at therapeutic boarding schools, there is no shortage of educational symptoms listed: Grades declined. Skipped classes. Suspended. Fell into a negative peer group at school. Bullied. Whatever the case may be, what happens at school is often framed as a symptom of a deeper clinical issue that is the true reason for seeking treatment. What is often not highlighted is just how integrated an adolescent’s educational and personal development experiences actually are. The up side to all of this is that education does not solely serve to alert us to symptoms needing clinical attention, but
rather educational experiences can be important facilitators of healing and growth as well.
What could be more therapeutic than...
Each and every one of these examples is representative of how New Summit Academy is not just filling up students’ days with scores on tests and credits on transcripts. NSA's teachers and administrators work tirelessly to create “therapeutic” educational experiences for our students. We do this believing that someday soon other schools will catch on to the idea that therapeutic education is not just healing what has “gone wrong” for our students; instead, it is what education is meant to be at its core – an experience that facilitates learning about ourselves, each other, and the world around us so that we might meaningfully contribute in our own unique and positive way.
by Dr. Heather Tracy, Ed.M., Ed.D., Executive Director at New Summit Academy & The Bridge – Costa Rica
During the admissions process at therapeutic boarding schools, there is no shortage of educational symptoms listed: Grades declined. Skipped classes. Suspended. Fell into a negative peer group at school. Bullied. Whatever the case may be, what happens at school is often framed as a symptom of a deeper clinical issue that is the true reason for seeking treatment. What is often not highlighted is just how integrated an adolescent’s educational and personal development experiences actually are. The up side to all of this is that education does not solely serve to alert us to symptoms needing clinical attention, but
rather educational experiences can be important facilitators of healing and growth as well.
What could be more therapeutic than...
- An experience with a teacher who takes the extra time to help you understand concepts or find a solution to a problem?
- A long-term project (you previously would not have finished) stamped with a grade you thought you could not achieve?
- An organizational system that finally works for you to stay on top of your homework and long-term projects?
- A curriculum that makes you feel respected as a learner who does not want to be babysat with busywork geared towards content memorization for a test?
- A schedule that recognizes and incorporates any human’s holistic needs for exercise, arts, socializing, and introspection?
- An extracurricular activity that values more than competition and winning?
- A homework study session driven by you and your peers rather than mom, dad, or hired tutors?
- A school where emotional and physical safety is not just preached but actually practiced?
- An individualized education plan that is not 20 pages of standardized prescribed accommodations written by people who barely know you but rather a unique, thoughtful attempt to engage your unique interests, talents, and strengths in ways that give you ownership and engagement in improving your areas of weakness?
- A teacher who believes enough in your capabilities to continue to challenge you by gradually removing scaffolding once you’ve mastered certain skills – just to show you that you are more than a diagnosis?
- A graduation ceremony that does not rank students according to GPA but rather celebrates each unique journey taken to reach a podium dressed in cap and gown?
Each and every one of these examples is representative of how New Summit Academy is not just filling up students’ days with scores on tests and credits on transcripts. NSA's teachers and administrators work tirelessly to create “therapeutic” educational experiences for our students. We do this believing that someday soon other schools will catch on to the idea that therapeutic education is not just healing what has “gone wrong” for our students; instead, it is what education is meant to be at its core – an experience that facilitates learning about ourselves, each other, and the world around us so that we might meaningfully contribute in our own unique and positive way.