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New Perspectives - Dec,
1999 Issue #64
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“Heavenly Mountain Ideal Girls’ School is a girls’ boarding and day school
enrolling students in grades 7-12. Girls of all ages can also participate in the distance education program via home study courses
offered over the internet.”
They have an open enrollment policy, with excellent grades not being a requirement
for acceptance in their program. Currently they enroll 25 boarding girls and 4 day girls from many areas of the United States. They
seeks students “who possess a sincere desire to unfold their inner potential while achieving academic success in a college preparatory
program. Full-time and six-day boarding students are accepted into grades 9 – 12; day students are accepted in grades 7 –12. Under
special circumstances, boarders may be enrolled in grades 7 and 8. Acceptance at the beginning of each academic year and each trimester,
is based on previous school records, recommendations, personal interviews, and attendance at a visitors’ weekend.
The school’s traditional college preparatory curriculum is “committed to
academic excellence without stress.” They offer a high school diploma accredited by the NY state board of regents and the North Carolina
Department of Education. Their approach emphasizes full development of consciousness – the student’s inner intelligence – through
Maharishi Vedic Scriptures. Students and faculty practice the Transcendental Meditation program, a natural, nonreligious procedure.”
Their mission is to “open all possibilities to every girl by providing the knowledge and environment that promote creativity, mental
clarity, good health, emotional balance, and harmonious behavior.” They boast of graduates who, for example, received a six month
early admission to Welsley, or were accepted in pre-med at the University of Colorado. They have students scoring in the 99th percentile
nationwide, on the SAT scores.
While it does not consider itself a therapeutic program, they will consider
girls on a case-by-case basis who’ve graduated from a therapeutic or residential program and have already dealt with any issues of
substance abuse. Karry Pierce, Director of Expansion, is quick to point out that, “With TM, such behaviors fall off without making
an effort to quit. TM is often used in substance abuse programs in a number of schools throughout the United States. “TM is a practical
way to address the frustration that leads to violence; it is a technique to contact their inner self, rid stress, and achieve at a
high level.”
The academic day begins with “Research in Consciousness (group practice of
the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program),” then continues with morning classes, physical education, lunch, afternoon classes,
supervised study hall, dinner and free time, then a short evening class. There is also an afternoon meditation period. The small classes
are 55 minutes in length, with a student-teacher ratio of 5:1. In their desire to make their classes useful, beneficial and inspiring
for the students, the curriculum “emphasizes subject matter that reflects the highest values of human life. Training in Maharishi
Ayurved prevention- oriented procedures for personal health and well-being is available to all students.”
The newly built campus, surrounded by 7000 acres of forest in the “High Country”
region of North Carolina is in the Blue Ridge Mountains. In is in an area rich with trails, waterfalls, rivers, and streams, which
enables the inclusion of chaperoned activities such as canoeing, swimming, horseback riding, hiking, skiing, and snowboarding.
Copyright © 1999, Woodbury Reports, Inc. (This article may be reproduced
without prior approval if the copyright notice and proper publication and author attribution accompanies the copy.)
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