Cedar Ridge Academy is accredited by the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools (NAAS) and is licensed by the Utah Department of Human Services for youth ages 13-18. The campus is set at the foothills of the Uintah Mountains on 130 acres of high desert terrain. Our mission is to produce behavioral change and improve family relationships through the use of skilled therapy, a positive peer culture and a solid education.

Cedar Ridge is a co-educational, family style therapeutic milieu. We believe that teenagers need to develop healthy other-gender relationship skills before transitioning back into a larger social environment. These relationship skills are cultivated deliberately when student reach the higher program levels.

Individual Therapy --All students have an individual session weekly with their therapist. (Once a week students attend a special focus group according to their needs, i.e. Grief and Loss Issues, Adoption Issues, Relationship Skills, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Identity Development, and Addiction Issues.)

Group Therapy--Three days a week students participate in a process group.

Family Therapy--Students and parents participate in regular phone sessions. Parents also attend on-site parent workshops four times a year. Parents can schedule face-to-face sessions in conjunction with other visits and passes.

Cedar Ridge also helps cultivate change through the following:

• Family workshops
• Anxiety reduction and stress management training
• Guided imagery and meditation training
• Karate training and outdoor recreation
• Experiential activities
• Family-style structured living in a rural setting

We believe that students have a higher chance of success if they are surrounded by good role models. Therefore, Cedar Ridge operates on the basis that all staff should model the behaviors they require of the students. Staff are also trained to use the least restrictive means necessary to induce positive therapeutic and behavioral change in the students while remaining dedicated to that outcome.

We believe that every human being possesses the ability and internal resources to grow and mature. Most of the students who attend Cedar Ridge are actually more emotionally sensitive than the average teenager, with a heightened sense of vulnerability. Our task at Cedar Ridge is to help them develop the courage and self-confidence to be who they really are, instead of attempting to protect themselves with destructive defensive behaviors.

All students participate in a multitude of recreational activities on campus, according to their level in the program. On campus activities include outdoor group games and intramural sports, board games, and appropriate movies from our video library. Off-campus activities must be earned by achieving higher trust levels. Some of these activities include going out to dinner, movies in town, bowling, fishing, hiking, and local plays.

As students reach a higher trust level, students work on leadership skills and successfully managing social situations and pressures. After initially being removed from the distractions of the world in order to focus internally, students at higher levels practice effective social interactions off-campus. Whether it is being assertive with a waitress or practicing appropriate dress and grooming, all activities are chosen and planned to continue the treatment process. Activities also provide motivation to students on lower levels, with higher-level students modeling their skills to their peers in all that they do.

Annual High Level Trips
Students on a higher trust level have opportunities to participate in several off-campus, overnight trips each year.

Yellowstone National Park

The Utah Shakespearean Festival

Karate Tournaments
High level Cedar Ridge students have the opportunity to compete in several out of area karate tournaments each year. The tournaments are held in Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Salt Lake City. Students who compete can test their skills against a wide range of competitors from the region and from around the world.

Work Projects
Students participate in a variety of projects involving gardening, property improvements, animal care, and construction. Work projects help to build self-confidence by fostering a sense of personal competence. Students derive satisfaction from completing a project, or in other words "a job well done." While at Cedar Ridge, students benefit from the experience of reaping what they sow: gathering eggs, watching fruit and vegetables grow that they themselves tended and now have the benefit of eating, and caring for animals as they come to appreciate the work required to feed them.

The mission of Cedar Ridge Academy is to guide our students in a process of positive intellectual growth toward academic competence, striving to develop healthy attitudes supportive of lifelong learning and productive citizenship.

Individually Tailored Program for Each Student

• Cedar Ridge Academy is the educational component of the program. The Academy is accredited as a special purpose school by the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools, and the Utah State Office of Education. Credit earned through Cedar Ridge Academy will transfer to high schools throughout the nation. CRA graduates have been accepted at colleges and universities throughout the U.S.
• Faculty members are certified in their respective areas of responsibility.
• Academic advisors assess initial and ongoing needs and progress.
• CRA graduation requirements are consistent with college preparatory programs nationwide.
• Students take courses in a guided individual study format, or small classes of direct instruction.
• Career assessment, aptitude testing, career guidance, and college counseling are available.
• PSAT and ACT testing and test preparation are available.

Students who have not yet reached the ninth grade are required to complete appropriate course work in the core academic subjects of math, English, science, and social studies. Students may enter the ninth grade when they have the academic skills required to cope with ninth grade level course work.

Educational Philosophy
At Cedar Ridge Academy, we focus on teaching more than just the curriculum. We also focus on teaching our students how to be effective students. As a result of this additional focus, we avoid 'just getting them through' their high school credits. Cedar Ridge Academy students are required to demonstrate an acceptable level of competency in each area before moving ahead, regardless of their current grade level.

When a student arrives at Cedar Ridge, we test their academic skills in order to place them at the appropriate levels in their core classes. Some may be required to repeat a class due to insufficient skill. For some of them, the material serves as a review and they are able to move ahead quickly to catch up to their grade level in that subject area. Our individual approach allows us to meet the needs of student who have learning differences or who need accommodations.

Although the content comprehension is one way we gauge a student's academic placement, we also consider the student's ability to study, their desire to manage themselves in an academic manner (motivation), and their ability and desire to form a working relationship with the teachers. Almost all of the students at Cedar Ridge have struggles with school, sometime for academic reasons and sometimes for psychological reasons. Our goal is to ensure that when they exit Cedar Ridge Academy, they are prepared for success in any academic setting they choose to enter.

Quick Facts

Grades:	7-12
School Credentials:	Special purpose high school accredited by Northwest Association of Accredited Schools and the Utah State Office of Education
Professional Staff	One guidance counselor, seven certified teachers, and one para-educator
Academics:	Certified teachers work with students on an individual or small group basis, tailoring courses to meet individual needs. Students must meet graduation requirements as established by the Board of Directors. CRA uses a competency based grading system wherein 80% is the minimum acceptable grade on an assignment or in a course. In addition to a college preparatory focus, Cedar Ridge provides academic assessment, skills remediation, accommodations for learning differences, career guidance, college counseling, ACT/PSAT preparation and testing.
Facilities:	4000 square foot School and 6000 square foot full size gymnasium

Preparing to leave Cedar Ridge Academy, which is a crucial phase of treatment, begins when a student reaches level 800. At that time, the student begins a series of home visits in order to assess the student's and family's readiness to reintegrate. Visits become progressively longer, with processing time back at the program in between.

At this time, the family has specific tasks to complete such as therapy assignments, a home contract, shared activities, and discussions about specific issues. The student is also given tasks such as cleaning old stuff out of their rooms, assessing the value of continuing relationships with former "friends", and going back to places that "trigger" old behaviors.

Each time a student returns from a home visit, they process the visit with their therapist and group to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses and identify any new issues. They do this back at the program so that they can process information from a point of strength, including all the support they have established at Cedar Ridge.

The tuition cost is $6500monthly with financing options available.