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For teenagers who struggle in traditional school settings, learning can become associated with anxiety, perfectionism, and fear of failure. At New Summit Academy, we believe these students need opportunities to learn differently. They need to experience success through hands-on challenges, real-world problem-solving, and supportive relationships.
Learning Beyond the Traditional Classroom
This approach addresses what we describe as experiential deprivation: a lack of opportunities for young people to learn through direct, meaningful engagement with the world around them.
For students with learning differences, ADHD, executive functioning challenges, or school avoidance, hands-on experiences can provide valuable opportunities to practice skills that are difficult to develop through traditional classroom instruction alone.
At New Summit Academy, experiential and immersive learning is woven into daily life. When our students learn Spanish, for example, learning extends beyond the classroom through immersive labs, town scavenger hunts, and interactive cultural missions.
Building Confidence Through Trial and Error
Gamified challenges like these give students permission to make mistakes. They communicate with locals, solve problems, navigate unfamiliar situations, and try again when things do not go as planned. With consistent support, these experiences help students develop resilience, independence, executive functioning skills, and confidence.
The goal is not simply to learn Spanish. It is to help students rediscover that they can try something difficult, learn from mistakes, and keep moving forward.
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New Summit Academy celebrated another group of students as they completed their journey in Costa Rica, surrounded by their families, teachers, mentors, therapists, friends, and members of our local Costa Rican community.
Every graduation reflects months of personal growth, increased independence, stronger relationships, and the confidence that comes from stepping beyond familiar routines and embracing new challenges.
As they leave Costa Rica, our graduates are taking a variety of paths. Our high school graduates plan to enroll at Western Washington University and Mitchell College, while our program graduates will enroll at a range of boarding schools across the United States.
Each of our July graduates leaves with greater self-awareness, practical life skills, and a stronger foundation for what comes next.
To our graduates and their families, thank you for trusting us to be part of your journey. We are proud of all you have accomplished and look forward to seeing where your next chapter leads.
Congratulations, Class of July 2026!
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As students prepare to graduate from New Summit Academy Costa Rica, they have the opportunity to explore potential career paths through internships, vocational exploration, and experiential learning. For July graduate Jaron, that path led behind the camera.
During his final academic term, Jaron pursued his passion for photography by learning from professionals, developing his technical skills, and building a portfolio that reflects both his creativity and growth. The images featured here capture just a few of the moments from his internship experience.
Through internships and hands-on learning, students at New Summit Academy gain real-world experience, discover new interests, and develop practical skills that help them prepare for college, future careers, and life beyond graduation.
Congratulations, Jaron! We look forward to seeing where your talent and creativity take you next.
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When parents search for a supportive or therapeutic boarding school, they often focus on academics and clinical support. Equally important is the size of the school community.
At New Summit Academy Costa Rica, our intentionally small community allows every student to be known as an individual. Many of our students have struggled with anxiety, depression, executive functioning challenges, learning differences, or finding their place in traditional schools.
Strong relationships help change that.
Students build genuine connections with teachers, mentors, advisors, therapists, and peers who know them well. These relationships foster trust, accountability, healthy communication, confidence, and a strong sense of belonging. Research consistently shows that students in smaller schools report stronger connections to their school community and more positive educational experiences.
Community extends beyond the classroom through shared meals, outdoor adventures, cultural immersion, service learning, and campus life. These experiences help students develop social skills, resilience, independence, and lasting friendships.
When teenagers feel seen, valued, and supported, they become more engaged in learning and more confident in themselves. That's one of the greatest advantages of a small, supportive boarding school.
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We are also proud to recognize our May 2026 high school graduates, who will be attending the University of Denver, Lafayette College, and Sewanee: The University of the South.
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Last Saturday, our student, Wells, took the stage for a live benefit concert, the result of months of rehearsals, planning, and leadership. What began as a personal idea grew into a full-scale production. Wells formed a band, organized practices, and led the group all the way to a live performance in support of a local family he had been working with in Costa Rica.
The concert brought the community together and ultimately raised $5,600, exceeding expectations and creating tangible impact for the family.
Supporting a Family in Costa Rica
Experiences like this are part of what defines our supportive boarding school. Students are supported in taking ownership of their growth while also learning how their actions can positively affect others.
What Is a Landmark Project?
In a small boarding school setting, students receive the structure and support needed to take ideas from concept to completion. Wells’ concert reflected not only his musical ability, but also his capacity for leadership, organization, and follow-through.
These projects are a core part of life at a supportive boarding school like New Summit Academy. They help students build confidence, develop accountability, and strengthen their sense of purpose during their time on campus.
A Lasting Impact
At New Summit Academy, student-led experiences like this are part of a broader commitment to helping young people become capable, engaged, and contributing members of their communities.
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At New Summit Academy, a small boarding school rooted in personalized support, we are always looking for ways to strengthen student growth and community culture.
Last week, our Academic Director, Yannick Pilgrim, and Strategic Enrollment Director, Adam Beeson, joined educators from across the United States at the Small Boarding School Association (SBSA) conference at Wayland Academy.
During the conference, Adam co-facilitated a session on “Strategic Novelty,” exploring how immersive, real-world experiences can serve as powerful developmental accelerators. In a world where students often feel pressure to constantly perform and stay digitally connected, creating space for reflection, curiosity, and authentic engagement is essential.
As a supportive boarding school, New Summit Academy integrates these principles into daily life. Research and experience both show that when students step into new environments, they build resilience, deepen relationships, and return with stronger academic focus and a clearer sense of purpose.
We are grateful to be part of a community of small boarding schools committed to thoughtful, student-centered growth.
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The conversation also highlights the importance of redefining success. Rather than measuring achievement through a narrow lens, New Summit encourages students to better understand themselves, develop confidence in their abilities, and discover what they uniquely have to offer the world.
We’re grateful to SENIA International for hosting this inspiring conversation and helping share the possibilities of inclusive education.
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New Summit Academy's recent "What the School Says" contribution highlights those elements of our supportive boarding school that help it stand apart from any other school in the world.
Here is an inside look at the feature:
Serving boys aged 14-18, New Summit Academy remains intentionally small, with only 26 students on campus at a time. Young men come from around the world seeking a place where they can be understood, challenged and supported in equal measure. Many arrive with anxiety, perfectionism, ADHD, executive functioning challenges or the weight of stress from competitive or mismatched school environments. What they share are strengths: curiosity, empathy, creativity and a desire to reconnect with their own potential.
Therapeutic coaching is woven seamlessly into everyday life. Students meet regularly with on-campus therapists who help them build healthy coping strategies, manage stress, strengthen executive functioning skills and understand themselves more fully. This is not a clinical environment; it’s a school with intensive social-emotional support. The atmosphere is warm, conversational and growth-oriented.
Life outside the classroom is one of New Summit Academy’s greatest strengths. Students explore Costa Rica’s national parks, volcanoes, cloud forests and coastlines through carefully planned adventures that build confidence and resilience. Weekends may include hiking, white-water rafting, service projects, cultural trips, surfing on the Pacific coast or pursuing creative passions like music, photography and filmmaking. These shared experiences create strong friendships and a steady sense of belonging.
Families choose New Summit Academy because it offers space to reset without losing momentum. On average, students enrol for one academic year, though some remain through graduation. After Costa Rica, many students transition successfully into more traditional boarding schools, while others return home with renewed confidence or move directly on to university. Whatever the next step, they leave Costa Rica more resilient, more self-aware and more capable young men.
In a world full of independent schools, New Summit Academy stands apart. It is adventurous, relational, grounded in wellbeing and unmistakably student-centred – a place where young men can rediscover joy in learning, in connection and in themselves.
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Mornings become harder. Grades drop despite ability. Social situations feel overwhelming. Motivation fades. Families try therapy, tutoring, accommodations, yet the overall pattern remains the same.
If traditional school isn’t working, it may not be about effort. It may be about environment.
Why Environment Matters
A small, supportive boarding environment offers something fundamentally different:
- Predictable daily structure
- Small class sizes
- Close relationships with adults
- Personalized academics
- Built-in residential community
Structure reduces uncertainty. Relationship reduces isolation. Together, they create the foundation for growth.
What is a Supportive Boarding School?
At New Summit Academy, enrollment is intentionally small so each student is known deeply. Faculty and residential staff understand not just academic performance, but the full picture of a student’s emotional and social experience.
Support may include:
- Individual and group therapy
- Integrated executive functioning coaching
- Structured study halls
- Regular advisor check-ins
- Experiential and outdoor learning
- Cultural immersion and travel
This layered approach allows students to practice coping skills in real time — not just talk about them in an office once a week.
Rebuilding Confidence
Confidence is rarely restored through pressure. It returns through small, consistent wins:
- Completing assignments on time
- Participating in class
- Navigating peer relationships
- Contributing meaningfully to the community
Structure creates safety. Safety allows risk. Risk builds resilience.
For many families, distance also creates space to reset family dynamics. Parents step out of the role of daily academic enforcer, allowing relationships to soften and rebuild.
When Might a Supportive Boarding School Be Worth Exploring?
- School avoidance is increasing
- Academic performance has significantly declined
- Anxiety is interfering with daily functioning
- Depression is leading to isolation and disengagement
- Outpatient therapy alone has not shifted the pattern
It is not the right setting for teens who require acute psychiatric stabilization; a small, supportive boarding school like New Summit Academy is not a residential treatment center. But for students who are capable but struggling, boarding school can provide steady, relational accountability.
When anxiety or depression begins to define your teen’s school experience, it can feel discouraging. In the right environment (one grounded in structure, connection, and individualized support) many students rediscover confidence, belonging, and renewed academic momentum.