Re-Tooling Education at WayPoint Academy

Dear Colleagues,

As we look back on a very successful year at WayPoint Academy, we credit a large piece of our success to the Educational Consultant community who trusted us with their referrals. Thank you!

Our next "big thing" is to re-tool our Education Program.

Achieving accreditation as an independent, non-public school is a process that involves months of preparation. We are pleased to announce that we met this goal on May 9 of this year and have been awarded a five-year accreditation through Advanced-ed and the Utah Department of Education.

Reaching this important milestone will allow WayPoint to award credits by teaching our own state and nationally approved curriculum. Hence, we are no longer being dependent on BluePrint, the online curriculum we have utilized until now.

We are pleased to announce the hire of Jessica Hartman, MS, as the new Director of Education. Jess, as she likes to be called, has a rich background in the areas of Geography, Geology, Earth and Integrated Science. She has been teaching at the high school and university level and played a key role in curriculum development at both levels. Under her leadership, the WayPoint School will move forward in a new and exciting direction.

Beginning in late June, teachers will be employed on a full-time, year-round basis. This will allow for improved integration into the multi-disciplinary team. It will also allow them to take a prominent role as Academic Advisors.

Each teacher will function as an academic advisor to a small group of students. In concert with other staff, the advisor will be responsible for:

a) past credit evaluation
b) placing the student in the appropriate classes
c) serve as a mentor and
d) communicate monthly with parents regarding student progress.

Beginning August 25th, the WayPoint School curriculum will be fully implemented.

We will issues credits on a quarter basis:

Fall Semester - Quarter 1 - August 25 - October 24
Fall Semester - Quarter 2 - November 3 - January 23
Spring Semester - Quarter 3 - February 2 - April 3
Spring Semester - Quarter 4 - April 13 - June 12
Summer - June 15 - August 14

Finally, BluePrint has proven to be an effective credit recovery tool. We will continue to use it for this purpose.

We are excited about these changes and improvement. We have every reason to believe that re-tooling our education program will be of great benefit to our students.

Our best,

Mike Bulloch, LCSW
Clinical Director

Jared Balmer, PhD
Executive Director

WayPoint Academy is a specialized boarding school of 36 students and is dually-licensed as an independent school and residential treatment center. Waypoint provides clinical treatment and academic support to young men ages 13-18 who struggle with the debilitating effects of anxiety.