Academics at Sunrise

Summer is winding down, and we know what that means! Back to School! Sunrise RTC has year-round school but, after a short break, the fall semester will begin!  

Academics at Sunrise look very much like a traditional school setting. Accredited through Cognia, Sunrise Academy provides licensed teachers, block scheduling to fit public school district standards, direct instruction, and small classroom sizes. Students can follow a regular or honors track. We can even support AP classes through the BYU Independent Study Program. On staff is a Special Education Director to accommodate special needs and provide IEP management. See an example of our class schedule below:

Teachers at Sunrise are much more than teachers though. Every teacher is trained in Dialectical Behavior Therapy.  They incorporate these skills into their classroom instruction, providing clients with consistent support and reinforcement of their DBT skills throughout the day. The integration of DBT into the classroom setting helps clients to generalize their skills outside of therapy and learn to apply them to real-life situations. See this past blog for examples: https://sunrisertc.com/my-day-with-dbt-skills-at-school/

Teachers attend the treatment team weekly to discuss each student’s therapeutic and academic strides. This helps draw parallels between academic performance and the student’s mental and emotional health. Students meet with their academic advisors weekly. Understanding these parallels help inform the academic advisors’ conversations around classroom needs and performance. Sometimes it’s ok to be struggling with academics if their mental health is struggling. Sometimes it’s ok to challenge the students’ abilities because they are displaying stronger health levels.

Krista Perry, Academic Director at Sunrise Academy says, 

“Academics at Sunrise is unique in a few ways.  Not only do we operate in a more traditional type of school with our schedules and our in-person-teacher-led discussions, but we also incorporate mindfulness and prompt our students to use DBT skills.  Teachers are trained in DBT and speak the same clinical language as our mentors and our clinicians.  Students get the practice of generalizing their DBT skills in the classroom for a better transition when continuing their education at home.  Professionals from Duke University told us that we are the only school to be doing this the way we are doing this!  Our teachers work incredibly with our students and build that student-teacher relationship to create a safe place to learn and grow for all of our students.” 

Although the intention of Sunrise is intensive therapy, providing a strong academic program that blends with and supports the therapeutic process is like brand-new shoes on the first day of school; inspiring hope and confidence.