New Parent Letter

August 10, 2011

Dear SRA Parents,

We have just begun our fall semester at SRA. Over the last few months we have been reviewing and revising our program to better serve our students and families. In essence we have looked at what is working and what could be working better.

We have revised our phase guidelines and requirements to enhance our strong focus on the mastery of skill development in the following areas: emotional self-regulation, academic excellence, interpersonal relationships, physical wellness and family interface. Monthly updates will be in the phase sheet format.

Each phase has a clear purpose and delineated skills that develop from introduction to consistency to mastery. Our new phase sheets are posted on the Spring Ridge Academy website in Downloadable Documents as Phase Guidelines. Please take the time to acquaint yourself with these skills and requirements. It is important that you have a thorough knowledge of what is expected since you are a key component in your daughter integrating these skills into her life, family life and the community at large.

We are implementing the following changes:

Phase I / Orientation

Phase I is a four-week orientation and introduction. The purpose of orientation is to have students understand Spring Ridge Academy structure and philosophy, to develop emotional, physical, academic and interpersonal skills, and to assess the student and create a plan of action.
New elements to Orientation Phase:

1. Orientation Group held 5 – 6 times a week with a Community Life Director to assist in skill development and program structure
2. Meeting with Academic Advisor to insure any IEP and/or learning differences are being integrated.
3. Building relationships with all areas of SRA community.
4. Revision to our school uniform policy to eliminate phases by color.
6. More opportunities for off campus activities and service.
7. At the completion of the four-week phase, the small treatment team will determine the skill group placement, the academic strategy for Phase II, the suggestions for family interface and visits, and the therapeutic treatment plan.

Phase II / Consistency

The purpose of Phase II is to experience self-acceptance, trust, growth of self-regulation and delayed gratification, development of problem solving skills, and consistency in creating self-enhancing beliefs, emotions, and behaviors.

Phase III / Integration

The purpose of Phase III is to create consistency in skill development, to effectively integrate the skills practiced at Spring Ridge Academy into the home environment, and to enhance communication and connection in the family.

Students on Phase III may now dress in their own clothes in compliance with dress code or wear their uniform. We want our Phase III students to learn to practice appropriate dress in a variety of situations.

Phase IV / Transition

The purpose of Phase IV is to create mastery in skill development both on campus and at home and to create and implement a transition plan for the home environment and/or transition community.

Other changes at Spring Ridge Academy include:

1. We have revised family visit guidelines and assignments sheet. These documents may be viewed on our website. Your treatment team will acquaint you with the family phase expectations for visits including creating structure, ground rules, assignments, and resources for each family to support student specific treatment plans.

2. Our small treatment teams have expanded to include our Community Mentors. Treatment teams include a therapist, two academic advisors, a Community Life Director, and assigned Community Mentors. We are excited to incorporate Community Mentors into our treatment teams. All of our Community Mentor schedules have been adjusted to provide more time to exchange information, interact with students and attend treatment team meetings.

3. Spring Ridge Academy therapists will begin using EMDR, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, with appropriate students and parental consent. This methodology is highly regarded in the treatment of trauma and is a wonderful tool fitting in with the general philosophy of Spring Ridge Academy.

4. At times our students complete their high school requirements prior to completion of the SRA therapeutic component. These students continue their academic path by addressing academic areas of need, holding leadership roles in classes, and taking collegiate level correspondence course work. Additionally, these students will participate in more off-campus service work, immersive off-campus activities to enhance age specific skills and experiences, and thorough transition skills.

5. Academic breaks will be a combination of family time and emotional growth / therapeutic activities. Our large academic breaks will be broken into visit specific family time and on-campus emotional growth activities. For example, four academic break days may be designated for a student workshop while the other days will be designated as phase-specific family time. Phase IV students will continue to spend the duration of breaks off campus.

One of the changes we have not made at SRA is our nutritional guidelines. Each year we meet with our dietitian and she reviews our menus and recipes and makes suggestions for improvement in nutritional balance and portions. This year we once again received excellent marks in these areas. Her only suggestion was consistency in portion control.

If you have any questions about these program adjustments, please contact a member of your treatment team, the Parent Liaison Suzie Courtney, or Jeannie Courtney.

Warm regards,


Jeannie Courtney and the SRA staff