Specialty Private Boarding Schools, Help for Parents of Troubled Teens

Turning Winds Private Boarding School Program Description

Turning Winds Academic Institute is a co-ed program which is fully accredited by the National Private Schools Accreditation Alliance and The Accreditation Associates International, Inc. for alternative education. The program accepts children between the ages of 12-18. Turning Winds Academic Institute, a specialty private boarding school, can accept enrollment for 36-40 students. The entire program averages approximately 12-months. By integrating outdoor activities with innovative therapeutic techniques, Turning Winds "provides structure and understanding for the adolescents." Staff members email parents weekly with pictures and updates on their child. Turning Winds believes families are an integral part of the changing process, and parents are able to actively participate along with their child in making the changes necessary for success. Parental participation can include, but are not limited to the following activities: parent work-shops, parent homework assignments and family counseling.

While at Turning Winds Academic Institute your son/daughter will go through three program phases; the orientation, transition, and aftercare phase.

Orientation Phase

The orientation phase at Turning Winds is approximately four-six months; however, the length will be determined by the progress of your teen. This is also known as the stabilization phase of our troubled teen program. During orientation, your child will be assessed three areas: behaviorally, emotionally, and academically. Once these assessments are made by our clinicians and academic teachers, an individual treatment plan will be completed and will act as a road map to healing for your teen during the remainder of their program. Amongst other things, your son/daughter will participate in individual and group counseling sessions, life skills classes, team-building activities and outdoor adventures to cultivate personal growth and internal change.

Transition Phase

After graduating from the orientation phase your teen will enter the transition phase of the program. The transition phase of the Turning Winds Academic Institute prepares students to transition back into the home environment. During this phase your child will continue to stabilize emotionally, behaviorally, and academically. This is the time that your child will graduate from high school/get GED, start on college courses, get involved in extracurricular activities, start mentoring peers, and engage in off-campus activities. This is also the time when you as parents will start the one-on-one counseling calls with your child and one of our therapists. This is helpful in providing you with the needed guidance to ensure that when your teen is ready to come home the outcome will be successful. Once it is determined by our staff, therapist, academic leaders and you the parents that your child is ready to start the transitioning process back into your home, from our group home for troubled teens, we will start planning a series of visits for the family to come to Turning Winds, and then for your child to go on short visits home. These visits are not meant to be vacations; rather they are opportunities for your child to prove that they can maintain their positive lifestyle while with their family. The visits will help us to "test the water" and ensure that when problems arise they pointed out and are fixed before your teen finally goes home.

Aftercare Phase

Finally, after arriving home we have set up a support network in which one of our therapist will be assigned directly to your family for weekly counseling sessions and continued support during the critical Aftercare phase. We also recommend that once your child arrives home that a visit is planned for them to come back to Turning Winds within three months of their discharge date. We have found when students comes back to visit Turning Winds we are able to make sometimes necessary adjustments to help ensure continued growth.