| New
Perspectives
- Apr, 1991 Issue |
Discovery Academy
(801) 374-2121
Provo, Utah
Kathryn Moody, Admissions Officer
Dr. D. Eugene Thorne founded
Discovery Academy in February of 1990. Dr. Thorne was a co-owner of
Provo Canyon School until it was bought by Charter Hospital about five
years ago. Housed in a wing of the Holiday Inn which used to be owned
and used by Provo Canyon School, Discovery Academy now uses the Holiday
Inn for its own vocational program. Despite the past ties, the School
is emphatic its program bears no relation to Provo Canyon's, and they
look for children who are in a downward spiral, but before the intervention
of a Provo Canyon is needed. As a consequence, the school does not have
a locked element.
The name of the school comes
from their slogan/logo "Discovering who you are and learning what you
can become." As of mid-March they had 24 students, and enroll whenever
a student needs placement.
When a student is enrolled,
he or she starts with a battery of tests which usually takes several
days. Out of that, an Individual Education Plan is developed for each
child. The student's academics are then competency-based, that is, a
student moves on to the next concept in each subject only after the
previous one is mastered.
A therapeutic plan is also
developed for each child, and he or she is assigned to a credentialed
therapist and co-therapist, who are also the primary liaison between
the school and the parents. Therapy is mostly individual and based on
the cognitive behavior method. There is some group therapy, but only
as needed and when several students are working on the same problem.
Students work through three
levels, with most the privileges of recreation and responsibility coming
from achieving the third level, as well as earning parent and home visits.
Copyright
© 1991, Woodbury Reports, Inc. (This article may be reproduced without
prior approval if the copyright notice and proper publication and author
attribution accompanies the copy.) |
