Looking for an nonprofit therapeutic boarding school for troubled boys in Durham, North Carolina? Perhaps you will look at Heartland Boys Academy, an affordable Christian boarding school in Western Kentucky. Heartland is an alternative therapeutic boarding school known for its dedication to adolescent boys who have made poor choices academically, emotionally, legally, or socially.

Heartland Boys Academy enrolls troubled boys from across the U.S., including from Durham, North Carolina. It is a faith-based boarding school that employs adventure as a powerful therapeutic tool for turning around troubled boys. We are an alternative school with a mission to lead troubled teenagers to fulfill their individual purpose, or destiny, in Christ.

Heartland exclusively works with troubled or struggling boys. Parents of these boys find it valuable for their boy to grow in a new environment here at Heartland that is detached from negative influences back home in Durham, North Carolina. We show love and respect to disrespectful and difficult boys who are in need of a better life perspective including a new spiritual focus in life. Our mentoring and encouragement brings about new thinking and motivations where there was once only negative motivations and failed family relationships.

Accredited Academics for Adolescents from Durham, North Carolina

To provide a quality education is also our top priority. Heartland Boys Academy is a fully accredited private school that employs a model of independent study with personalized instruction. Students work through courses at their own speed, with weekly objectives established by tutors based on the student’s program of study. Heartland also supports students to prepare for post-secondary goals by helping them prep for college testing.

Students from Durham, North Carolina, who come here achieve quick progress towards successful high school completion and beyond. Our partnership with Edgenuity facilitates an educational environment that builds motivation to succeed, which gains momentum and helps students to reach their full potential. Edgenuity is certified by COGNIA, the highest accrediting body for schools in the United States.

While the Edgenuity program is intuitive and self-paced, our own certified classroom teachers make sure that the boys keep up their coursework. They tutor, answer any questions, and give each student plenty of encouragement. Our teachers are kept informed online how well each student is progressing. Students who fail to keep up or are having difficulty with a specific topic are helped, but if they are dragging their feet as an act of rebellion, they may lose out on some on-campus privileges like free time until they choose to get caught up.

Heartland Spiritual Focus

Spiritual life is the cornerstone component of Heartland Boys Academy. We believe that ultimately Jesus Christ is the only answer for struggling teens from Durham, North Carolina. We are committed to introducing every student to a relationship with their Maker. We help them find their spiritual gifting and destiny in Christ.

Many teens who come have dismissed their spiritual heritage or have never professed faith in Christ. Heartland offers an open environment for them to take ownership of their faith, perhaps for the first time. Godly character permeates every aspect of life at Heartland Boys Academy.

Where Adolescents from Durham, North Carolina, Can Gain Leadership Training

In addition to helping capable students learn to apply themselves academically and spiritually, we offer specific leadership training to unlock the potential in each child. We teach teens to serve and love others. Mission trips and community service opportunities provide real life experience and application of the leadership principles learned at Heartland.

Replacing the Bad Attitudes with a Positive Peer Culture

Heartland acknowledges that adolescents and their families in Durham, North Carolina, face huge challenges from the culture. Teens are assaulted 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.

Adventure Therapy is Key

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 positive 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 growth. Every student is a part of our adventure program because of the valuable life skills that can be gained. We offer many kinds of adventure activities including camping, backpacking, rappelling, canoeing, swimming, hiking, hunting, and spelunking (cave exploration).

At a therapeutic school like Heartland, students get the opportunity to engage in numerous activities and new adventure experiences during their stay. Adventure therapy used at Heartland are where boys learn to listen, learn regulation skills, and push themselves to overcome challenging fun tasks. The challenges students face through our adventure programming are meant to forge a more positive identity, build character, and create a sense of accomplishment. Students do not just participate in the activity; they learn how to do it themselves. This is called experiential learning.

Our staff are trained to facilitate the adventure program in a safe and effective way. The same team members who live with students all week, building rapport and making connections, are then able to instruct the boys during their adventure activities.

Heartland Boys Academy is a place of healing and hope for boys in Durham, North Carolina. We have seen hundreds of at-risk and struggling teens transformed into hard-working, respectable adults. We help restore teens to their families; healthy, confident, and spiritually and academically on track. Call (888)300-2830 to learn more today, or contact us through our online inquiry form.

Please consider looking outside of Durham, North Carolina to learn how our Christ-centered adventure-based therapeutic boarding school program can lead your struggling boy toward life transformation. To learn more, please contact us today.