WHY OUR PROGRAM WORKS
Evidence-based techniques merged with a passion to help teens reach their full potential.
Students often come to us feeling broken, isolated, and like failures. They try to fit in with peers and excel at school, but they don’t have the specialized training to use their unique skills for success. At New Focus Academy, students have an expert, dedicated team ready to assess their unique abilities and needs to make an individualized treatment plan. Our evidence-based techniques for developing social, emotional, cognitive, and executive functioning skills empower students to bravely face challenges and build self-confidence.
A PLAN & A PURPOSE
At New Focus Academy, every child has a plan and a purpose. We look at every student as a completely new individual with different dislikes, desires, learning differences, and needs. This is why we’re so successful; we treat the student, not the problem.
Our keys to success include developing a specific plan for progress in each student using the Autonomy Development Model, employing Concept Driven Learning to promote learning that transfers out of the classroom, and forming Social-Emotional Fluency to manage the challenges that block our students from progressing in day-to-day life.
WHY CHOOSE NEW FOCUS?
If you feel your child can thrive with the comprehensive New Focus program offerings, we would love to hear from you. Let’s get started now.
A STUDENT’S WEEK AT NEW FOCUS ACADEMY
At New Focus Academy, the goal of every day is to help our students learn something important. We’ve designed our program carefully to reach this goal. Through evidence-based techniques and positive reinforcement, our students work towards true independence and freedom.
A typical week includes:
- Academics & life skill building
- Therapy & coaching
- Social development & group therapy
- Recreational Therapy
- Active participation in meals
- Learning principles behind rules
Program Highlights
Neurodiverse students can be easily overwhelmed. New Focus purposely designed a small, close-knit community with only two students per room, a limited number of students and staff, and small classrooms.
Through groups, classes, and real world experiences, students learn valuable life skills including:
- Healthy meal planning and preparation
- Practical job skills and experience
- Expressing difficult emotions in appropriate ways
- Forming stable relationships with others
New Focus’s founder, Dr. Brandon Park, a Clinical Neuropsychologist, designed this innovative approach. Led by Six Core Principles and driven by the Autonomy Development Model, students achieve remarkable progress based on neuroscience and evidence-based practices.
Students progress towards independence by building confidence through:
- Daily life skills practice in the Foundations and Horizon Homes
- Community integration, volunteering, and vocational skill building
- Recreation opportunities, on and off campus
THE AUTONOMY DEVELOPMENT MODEL
New Focus developed the Autonomy Development Model (ADM) based on decades of practice and experience. Recognized for its effectiveness, ADM was designed specifically to help students thrive in the real world.
