Accredited Academics
Stay on Track While You Grow
Unlike most therapeutic programs, Summit is a fully accredited and equipped academic center. Students don’t fall behind academically while they’re here. They stay on track, earn transferable credits, and often rediscover confidence in their ability to succeed in school.
Real School, Real Credits
Students attend school in traditional classrooms staffed by core-subject teachers. They work on individually selected courses, earn credits that transfer to their home or next school, and practice the skills and habits they’ll need to succeed in any academic setting.
Summit’s Academic Director works directly with parents and schools to develop a customized course schedule targeting each student’s specific needs. Students with learning differences receive support from our Academic Director, who interacts with all students daily and ensures accommodations are in place.
The Academic Program
In Venture:
In Traverse:
Curriculum + Methodology
Summit’s catalog includes more than 60 courses across all subject areas and levels of instruction. Course options are modular, allowing students to start at the beginning of a semester or even mid-semester if needed.
During the admissions process, parents receive a copy of the course catalog and are encouraged to work with their child’s school guidance counselor to select the most appropriate courses. For example, if a student is currently in Algebra I, Semester 2, they can enroll in that same course at Summit and pick up right where they left off. This ensures no learning time is wasted.
Most students enroll in 3-4 courses upon admission. Students can earn a half-credit for each course they complete in full, whether at Summit or after they leave.
The curriculum is multi-sensory, with material presented through:
- Text and reading assignments
- Video instruction
- Hands-on, project-based learning
- Online interactive modules that benefit different learning styles
Supplementing the web-based curriculum are textbooks, writing assignments, and research materials.
Individualized Support
During class, each student works individually using a laptop to access the accredited web-based curriculum. When a student demonstrates mastery of a lesson, they move on to the next one without waiting for others. If a student struggles with material, their teacher is immediately available to offer individualized instruction, replay a lecture, or provide an alternate approach.
Students receive accommodations based on IEPs, 504 plans, and other learning differences — including those that may have been previously unidentified — all under the guidance of our Academic Director, who is special education certified.
Each classroom teacher has detailed information about every student’s needs and is ready to assist with difficult concepts, provide encouragement, and help students build confidence through concrete accomplishments.
Through this process, students gain ownership of their learning and begin to see themselves as capable, engaged learners.
Building an Academic Portfolio
Throughout their time at Summit, each student builds an academic portfolio that includes:
- Individualized learning style assessment report
- Daily and weekly academic checklists to support organization and executive functioning
- Weekly goals for coursework, class performance, and study skills set collaboratively with an academic advisor
- Weekly academic reflection assignments
- Daily coursework progress logs
This portfolio, along with the student’s grade report, lesson progress outline, and transcript, provides a concrete presentation of the academic work completed at Summit. If a student doesn’t complete their courses in full during their stay, the work can be finished at home or at their next educational setting. Some students choose to extend their time at Summit to complete the coursework they started.