Searching for an alternative therapeutic boarding school for troubled boys in Grand Rapids, Michigan? Perhaps you will look at Heartland Boys Academy, a low-cost Christian boarding school in Western Kentucky. Heartland is an adventure-based year-round boarding school known for its devotion to adolescent boys who have wandered away academically, emotionally, legally, or socially.

Heartland Boys Academy accepts troubled boys from across America, including from Grand Rapids, Michigan. It is a faith-based boarding school that employs adventure as a powerful therapeutic method for turning around troubled boys. We are an early intervention school with a purpose to lead troubled teenagers to realize their individual purpose, or destiny, in Christ.

Heartland exclusively works with troubled or struggling boys. Parents of these boys find it advantageous for their boy to spend time in a new environment here at Heartland that is detached from negative influences back home in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We demonstrate love and respect to disrespectful and difficult boys who are in need of a better life perspective including a foundational 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 Boys from Grand Rapids, Michigan

Our commitment to a quality education is also a top priority. Heartland Boys Academy is a fully accredited high school that employs a model of independent study with personalized instruction. Students work through courses at their own pace, with weekly goals set by tutors based on the student’s program of study. Heartland also encourages students to prepare for post-secondary goals by helping them prep for college testing.

Students from Grand Rapids, Michigan, who come here achieve quick progress towards successful high school completion and beyond. Our partnership with Edgenuity produces an educational environment that builds a desire to succeed, which gains momentum and encourages students to do their best. 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 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 doing. Students who lag behind 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 special outings until they understand it is better to get caught up.

Heartland Spiritual Focus

Spiritual life is the foundational component of Heartland Boys Academy. We believe that ultimately Jesus Christ is the only answer for troubled teenagers from Grand Rapids, Michigan. We are devoted to introducing every boy to a relationship with their Maker. We help them find their spiritual gifting and destiny in Christ.

Many teens who enroll have dismissed their religious heritage or have never professed belief in Christ. Heartland offers a safe place for them to renew or gain their faith, perhaps for the first time. Godly character surrounds every aspect of life at Heartland Boys Academy.

Where Boys from Grand Rapids, Michigan, Can Gain Leadership Training

Besides helping capable students get back on track academically and spiritually, we offer specific leadership training to unlock the potential in each child. We teach teens to serve and love other people. Mission trips and community service events provide real life experience and application of the leadership principles demonstrated at Heartland.

Reversing the Negative with a Positive Peer Culture

Heartland acknowledges that adolescents and their families in Grand Rapids, Michigan, 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 asserts 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 Paramount

Adventure therapy is a key therapeutic tool of Heartland. We find that boys are more open to discussion and learning while enjoying adventure activities, so we use those times to instill positive thinking and to develop better communication skills. It also helps improve 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 is meant to contribute to character maturation. Every boy is a part of our adventure program because of the important values that can be learned. We offer a number 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 time here. Adventure therapy activities at Heartland are where boys learn to listen, learn regulation skills, and push themselves to accomplish challenging fun tasks. The obstacles students face through our adventure programming are designed to forge a more positive identity, build character, and develop a sense of accomplishment. Students do not just participate in the activity; they learn how to do it themselves. This is a therapy know as experiential learning.

Our team are trained to manage the adventure program in a safe and effective way. 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 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We have seen many at-risk and troubled boys 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 fill in our online inquiry form.

Please consider looking outside of Grand Rapids, Michigan to learn how our Christ-centered adventure-based therapeutic boarding school program can move your struggling boy toward life transformation. To find out more, please call or inquire online today.