Student Life
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Community Living
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Wellness
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Technology
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Community Living
The Carvela Academy's “dormitories” are log cabins equipped with electricity and heat and a small private changing room. Wake up each morning to the sights and sounds of the wilderness coming from the “Outback”.
To better support an inclusive community, students will be housed in our South Manitou and North Manitou cabins and will be assigned randomly one of the two. The two cabin groups will not be based on gender. Learn more about our Inclusion Policy here.
Wellness
Social & Emotional Health
At The Carvela Academy, social and emotional learning is at the core of our program. Providing a space for students to create positive and healthy social connections is present in everything we do. By creating a non-competitive, student-centric environment, whether it’s helping prepare food for the group, working together on a project, enjoying some downtime in the cabin or taking a walk on campus, our staff and students are afforded the ability to connect with each other and create the sort of healthy bonds that are vital to their development and so lacking in our digitally connected world.
Food
Preparing meals together is essential to community building at The Carvela Academy. Students and staff will work with the kitchen manager to prepare each meal. We emphasize the importance of balanced, healthy eating, and will provide options for dietary restrictions, including (but not limited to) gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, nut allergy, and lactose intolerant. Students are welcome to bring ideas for their favorite dishes to share with the community.
Mental Health
Staff will be trained on how to support the education of students that lie anywhere on the mental wellness spectrum. Students will be encouraged to explore mindfulness, exercise, time outdoors and other activities that cultivate mental well-being. We can assist with organizing an on-call pediatric therapist to aid in the case of emergencies if desired.
Play & Rest
Playfulness is always a part of our program. While not in class, we look forward to spending much of our time welcoming new experiences and going on adventures. We invite students to lead community-oriented activities and projects. While it is important to provide a structure to guide our daily life, we consider student input an essential part of everything we do.
Fitness
Being active at Carvela is important as this helps maintain teen's physical and mental health which is important for building a strong community.
Reflection
The Carvela Academy promotes the necessity of reflection in learning, and in the awareness of one’s gifts, needs, desires, and goals. Group-time or project-time often promotes reflection, sometimes through journaling, talking with each other or getting into a state of "flow". Students, as part of their free-time, regularly visit self-selected spots on campus to practice careful observation and reflection.
Open Dialogue
Giving students the agency and power to have control over their experience means that our educators and directors encourage our students to voice their opinions and give feedback openly in just about every aspect of the program. We strive to build as close to a non-hierarchical system as we can without diminishing our staff’s ability to implement our risk management protocols and provide a safe program throughout. With open dialog, our students have the chance to evolve the program to fit the needs of the community.
Technology
The Carvela Academy is about forming a supportive community, expressing creativity, fostering independence, and connecting with nature. The presence of phones and other electronic devices can threaten these core values. In an effort to maintain an authentic Carvela community, students are encouraged to engage in the community at school as much as possible.
We recognize that students will need total access to their devices during the academic portion of the day and that’s fine. After school-hours and on weekends, students will have very limited access to phones and computers. In special circumstances, students can have access to their phones or computers but access will be monitored by a program mentor.
A few of the reasons electronics are not allowed at CLA, and from the words of previous students:
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These electronic devices undermine the face-to-face interactions necessary to build a cohesive community.
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These electronic devices isolate students from their camp-friends and counselors by plugging them into the hectic worlds of social media, gaming, and on-demand music and video streaming.
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Students who use these devices while at Carvela, allow parents to substitute themselves for counselors, making the crucial transition to academy-life much more challenging and in some cases impossible.
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These electronic devices create an unsupervised space in which negative and inappropriate conversations, as well as cyber-bullying, can occur.
We encourage communication between students and parents but request that it occur mostly via post, email, and —if necessary — calls or video conversations. The group, as a whole, will decide on a “calling home” policy that is right for them and this will be communicated to you. A semi-regular scheduled call to check-in, hear your student’s voice, and provide some support is definitely an option.
The staff and directors will always be available, via phone or email, throughout your child’s time to provide a snapshot of how your students are doing.
What is allowed outside of classroom time?
Music Playing Devices:
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Musical instruments
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Non-internet-connected digital music players
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CD players, tape players and AM/FM radios
Reading Devices:
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Hardcover or paperback
Cameras:
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35mm or digital (without any sort of wireless or data connection)
