The Program
The program
A culture of acceptance
Individual Growth – Helping young men understand their own unique story as well as their personal constellation of strengths and struggles, dreams and disappointments. On this foundation of personal understanding we can help each young man construct a vision for his future that is reality based yet ambitious and hopeful.
Family — In many cases, our students’ main relational resource—their family—has been gravely disrupted by their own emotional and behavioral struggles. We help young men and their families heal through individual and family therapy combined with cultural immersion in the family-centric Samoan culture.
Academics — Understanding that every young man in our care has different academic needs, we provide a variety of customizable academic options including accredited high school and college coursework, individual instruction and special accommodations for those with learning differences. Our goal is that every student identifies clear academic goals and makes efficient progress toward those goals while at Coral Reef Academy.
Self Care – For many young men, emotional dysregulation in the form of angry outbursts, depressive episodes or anxiety leaves them feeling terribly out of control. For others, a fear of seeming weak or inadequate leads to hiding their struggles and either suffering in silence or acting out. In both cases, their ability to take care of themselves emotionally and otherwise is greatly compromised. We create a safe place in which young men can identify and process personal needs, and learn to meet those needs themselves and with the assistance of others.
Social Responsibility — Every student contributes significantly to their host community through service, internships and/or paid employment. Since Samoan culture is based on the idea of leadership through service, our students learn experientially how to contribute to the common good through generous service to others while building self-esteem and enjoying earned respect.
Cultural Immersion — Samoan culture is a wonderful context for developing qualities of compassionate manhood such as familial commitment, responsibility, compassion, maturity and leadership through service. It also teaches them to be compassionate global citizens with a broadly informed perspective.