Seeking out an alternative for struggling boys in South Dakota? Perhaps you will consider Heartland Boys Academy, an affordable Christian boarding school in Western Kentucky. Heartland is an alternative year-round boarding school serving boys from South Dakota.
Heartland Boys Academy enrolls troubled boys from across the U.S., including from South Dakota. It is an evangelical boarding school that employs adventure as a powerful therapeutic tool for turning around negatively motivated boys. We are an early intervention school with a mission to lead wayward teens to achieve their individual purpose, or destiny, in Christ.
Heartland exclusively enrolls troubled or struggling boys. Parents of these boys find it valuable for their boy to spend time in a new environment here at Heartland that is detached from negative influences back home in South Dakota. We show love and respect to disrespectful and unruly boys who are in need of a better life perspective including a foundational spiritual belief system. Our mentoring and encouragement brings about transformation where there was once only negative motivations and failed family relationships.
Accredited Academics for Boys from South Dakota
Our commitment to a quality education is also a top priority. Heartland Boys Academy is a fully accredited private school that uses a model of independent study with personalized instruction. Students work through courses at their own pace, with weekly objectives established by teaching staff based on the student’s program of study. Heartland also encourages students to work toward post-secondary goals by helping them prep for college testing.
Students from South Dakota, who attend Heartland achieve phenomenal progress towards successful high school completion and beyond. Our partnership with Edgenuity facilitates an educational atmosphere that builds a desire to succeed, which gains momentum and encourages the boys to reach their full potential. Edgenuity is certified by COGNIA, the highest accrediting body for schools in America.
While the Edgenuity program is intuitive and self-paced, our own certified on-campus teachers make sure that our students keep up their coursework. They tutor, answer any questions, and give each student plenty of encouragement. Our teachers can see at a glance how well each student is progressing. Students who lag behind or are having difficulty with a certain topic are helped, but if they are falling behind as an act of rebellion, they may lose out on some on-campus privileges like special outings until they choose to get caught up.
Heartland’s Spiritual Focus
Spiritual life is the foundational characteristic of Heartland Boys Academy. We believe that ultimately Jesus Christ is the only answer for struggling youth from South Dakota. We are committed to introducing every boy to a relationship with their Maker. We help them find their spiritual gifting and destiny in Christ.
Many South Dakota teenagers who come have rebelled against their spiritual heritage or have never professed belief in Christ. Heartland offers a safe place for them to take ownership of their faith, perhaps for the first time. Godly character frames every aspect of life at Heartland Boys Academy.
Where Boys from South Dakota, Can Gain Leadership Training
Besides helping capable students learn to apply themselves academically and spiritually, we present specific leadership training to unlock the potential in each boy. We teach teens to serve and love other people. Mission trips and community service projects give real life experience and application of the leadership principles learned at Heartland.
Reversing the Negative with a Positive Peer Culture
Heartland acknowledges that adolescents and their parents in South Dakota, face huge challenges from the culture. Boys are impacted by a barrage of negative peer pressure. The Heartland plan for change is called Positive Peer Culture (PPC), which believes that young people can develop self-worth, significance, dignity, and responsibility only as they devote themselves to the positive values of helping and caring for others.
Where Adventure Therapy is Paramount
Adventure therapy is an important therapeutic tool of Heartland. We find that boys are more open to talking and learning while enjoying adventure activities, so we use those times to instill better thinking and to develop better communication skills. It also facilitates improvement in their ability to work cooperatively with others.
Adventure therapy is a type of experiential therapy that uses challenging adventure activities to aid the therapeutic transformation. It plays a key role in character maturation. Every boy is a part of our adventure program because of the important values that can be gained. We offer a number of adventure activities including camping, backpacking, rappelling, canoeing, swimming, hiking, hunting, and spelunking (cave exploration).
At an adventure therapy program like Heartland, students enjoy being able to engage in numerous activities and new adventure experiences during their stay. Adventure therapy activities at Heartland are where boys learn to listen, learn regulation skills, and push themselves to overcome challenging fun tasks. The challenges the boys face through our adventure programming are designed to forge a more positive identity, build character, and create a sense of accomplishment. Students do not just participate in the activity; they reach for a goal and accomplish it. This is a therapy know as experiential learning.
Our staff are trained to facilitate the adventure program in a safe and effective way for boys from South Dakota. The same guides who live with students all week, building rapport and making connections, are then able to mentor students during their adventure activities.
Heartland Boys Academy is a campus teeming with healing and hope for boys from South Dakota. We have been privileged to see many at-risk and struggling boys transformed into hard-working, respectable young men. We help restore boys to their families; healthy, confident, and spiritually and academically on track. Call (888)300-2830 to learn more today, or fill in our online inquiry form.
| More about alternative boarding schools for struggling boys in South Dakota, South Dakota (SD) is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. South Dakota is the 17th most extensive, but the 5th least populous and the 5th least densely populated of the 50 United States. Once the southern portion of the Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. South Dakota is bordered by the states of North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Montana. The state is bisected by the Missouri River, dividing South Dakota into two geographically and socially distinct halves. The largest cities are: Sioux Falls, 153,888; Rapid City , 67,956; Aberdeen, 26,091; Brookings, 22,056; Watertown, 21,482; Mitchell, 15.254; Yankton, 14,454; Pierre , 13,646; Huron, 12,592; Vermillion, 10,571. Excerpt about boarding schools for struggling boys, used with permission from Wikipedia. |