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About Us
Stone Mountain Boarding School for Boys provides boys ages 11 to 17 with an exciting alternative to traditional education programs. Specifically tailored to boys with learning disabilities, ADHD behaviors such as impulsivity-hyperactivity, inattention, or lack of focus, and non-verbal learning disorders, our program is designed to help these boys succeed both academically and socially.
Stone Mountain School is a SACs-accredited, state-licensed, year-round school that features a "combined" instructional approach. This approach provides state-of the-art programming for our students and includes the following elements:
- A nationally standardized academic curriculum in the four primary academic subjects according to grade, as well as courses in Spanish and study skills. With small classes and a 1:5 teacher-to-student ratio, we offer individualized academic plans, Orton-Gillingham specialists who tease out strengths and weaknesses as well as individual learning style, and technological accommodations applied to specific student needs.
- A stage system teaches students social skills, communication skills, self-regulation of behaviors, self-management, and self-esteem building.
- Activities include "green time" : yoga, hiking, bouldering, canoeing, sports, gardening, landscaping, swimming, and fishing are just a few of the recreational activities available to students.
- Medication management by a board-certified child psychiatrist.
- Transition planning for the student's next placement begins on day one and emphasizes a strong family component.
- Biofeedback and auditory stimulation performed by a certified occupational therapist utilizing the Tomatis Method, which is designed to improve fine and gross motor skills and reading/writing/spelling skills, and to decrease behavioral problems and social difficulties.
- Fine Arts, taught by a professional musician, incorporating guitars, singing, music theory, acting, and visual arts into campus life. Weekly performances are held in the lodge.
- A Life Master Chess competitor holds weekly chess classes.
- A healthful diet of natural, fresh, and organic foods.
Our Program
Students at Stone Mountain School live in cabin-like dormitories that are supervised 24 hours a day by two trained staff members. In a cooperative living environment, students share common spaces and complete chores such as cleaning and laundry. In addition, students learn to cook in our campus kitchen and have opportunities to serve meals in the lodge on weekdays.
Friday through Sunday students are off-campus on a camping, hiking, canoeing, fishing, or climbing adventure. Campus activities include swimming, gardening, primitive skills, music, and landscaping, as well as sports such as softball, touch football, soccer, and ultimate Frisbee.
The campus community is built on the positive-peer model. This model allows the students to express their feelings in a safe and appropriate manner. Through processing groups and positive reinforcement, students learn to regulate their own behaviors and communicate in healthy ways.
Stone Mountain School utilizes a stage system to monitor each student's growth. By meeting certain requirements for personal hygiene, social behaviors, academic performance, and independent living/self-management skills, students advance to a higher stage. Every week, the staff members who live with the student and the student's counselor meet to review each student's progress on their "journey through the stages."
We maintain a campus staff-to-student ratio of 1:5 so that we can give each student the individual attention he deserves, including weekly individual counseling, weekly group counseling, weekly phone calls home, and weekly counselor-to-parent calls. Parents whose children have attended Stone Mountain School report that their son gets along better at home, performs better in school, and has a more positive outlook on life.
Enrollment in Stone Mountain School is the start of a personal journey for the student and his family. Our goal is to send each student home with the skills and tools they need to succeed personally, socially, and academically, with a firm foundation as they transition into adulthood.