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Safety & Success
Articles
Helping Teenage Boys Live up to Their Potential
By Meghan Vivo
When a child is struggling in school, every parent hopes the teachers and counselors will provide their child with the attention they need to get back on track. But the current state of the public school system, with a lack of funding for after school and summer programs, teacher cutbacks and larger class sizes, prevents many students from getting the personalized help they need.
Some parents in search of alternative schools for their teens have found the kind of academic environment that best suits their child at a therapeutic boarding school. These private schools assist children and teens with learning disabilities and emotional and behavioral issues to address the obstacles standing between them and academic success.
Reaching New Heights at Therapeutic Boarding School
At Stone Mountain School, a therapeutic boarding school for boys with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and learning disabilities, students have every tool they need to succeed. Every student at Stone Mountain School receives intensive teacher-led individualized and direct instruction, as well as an individualized academic plan or IAP.
Students who possess exceptional academic talent may not only complete basic course requirements, but also have the opportunity to pursue the material at a more advanced level and at a more rapid pace in preparation for college. According to Albert Krupp, a beloved science teacher at Stone Mountain School, it is the school’s policy to provide more advanced instruction whenever appropriate, and to encourage students to make full use of their talents.
Guided Independent Study: A Tool for Continued Success
One student at Stone Mountain School began high school level Earth Science at the beginning of the 2009 academic year and completed the entire course, with a strong A average, in a little over half the time normally allotted. He not only completed the minimum work required in this time frame, but also completed several research papers and presentations with excellent results.
Near the end of his Earth Science work he began to explore options for the remainder of the school year. He expressed a strong interest in pursuing a guided independent study course that he and his teacher would collaboratively design and that his teacher would mentor and grade.
According to Mr. Krupp, a guided independent study is one where the student learns and reinforces increasing degrees of organizational proficiency through frequent teacher check-in and feedback. The student is also required to maintain all other classroom expectations such as attendance, conduct and engagement. The overall expectation is that the student will learn how to generalize their newly acquired knowledge into other academic pursuits.
“Guided independent study can be a powerful intervention strategy for teens with learning disabilities, ADHD or related issues,” said Mr. Krupp. “Many of our students are highly intelligent and capable of racing through material, but they’ve been held back by a negative self-image and a lack of coping skills. At Stone Mountain School, we give them the tools they need to fly with their own wings.”
Another student followed a similar path through the standard science curriculum. In this case, the student undertook learning using a sophisticated graphics editing program to design, edit and produce original graphic artwork and to manipulate, in highly technical and artistic ways, standard images available in the public domain.
Not only were these students given access to resources that allowed them to fully engage their academic capabilities and to develop their skills to a more advanced degree, but they were also exposed to expectations of self-motivation and responsibility that will serve them well in the future.
Both students left Stone Mountain School having accomplished work of a standard beyond the norm, but aligned with what they will undoubtedly encounter in subsequent academic and life settings.
A Dedicated Team of Teachers
While guided independent study can be a useful intervention strategy for many students, part of the reason for its effectiveness at Stone Mountain School is the accomplished teachers who dedicate their lives to fostering a love for learning in teens.
Mr. Krupp, for example, not only has a passion for education but also decades of real-life experience that help him teach from a unique perspective. He served three years in the U.S. Army and worked at E. I. DuPont for 23 years as a network engineer and computer systems project manager where he designed and installed voice and data networks throughout North and South America, Asia, India, Europe and Australia.
“Mr. Krupp is a valued member of Stone Mountain School’s academic team and a fascinating individual, both personally and professionally,” said the school’s Academic Director Jake Weld, M.Ed. “Rarely do students have the opportunity to be taught by someone who is as accomplished in the business/private sector, and who brings a wealth of real world experience to his classes.”
Under Mr. Krupp’s leadership, the science department is expanding to meet the growing interest of the boys at Stone Mountain School. The students began using automatic telescopes as part of the astronomy unit and incorporated them into their wilderness trips so that they could stargaze from the top of a mountain. Mr. Krupp also plans to introduce a course in computer technology during which students will learn to create a database and write elementary code.
“I wish I had discovered this occupation 30 years ago,” said Mr. Krupp. “No matter how much satisfaction you can get working on a complex technical system, it can’t compare to seeing a boy’s eyes light up as recognition