Spring Ridge Academy
Coordinates: 34°20′45″N 112°10′06″W / 34.345825°N 112.168385°W Spring Ridge Academy is a boarding school for teenaged girls licensed as a behavioral health care provider by the State of Arizona. The Academy, founded in 1996 by Jeannie Courtney, is located in Spring Valley, Arizona, US. The school is now owned and operated by Jeannie Courtney's son and daughter-in-law, Brandon and Suzanne Courtney.
Spring Ridge Academy's program addresses four areas: emotional, physical, academic, and community. According to the program's marketing information, Spring Ridge works closely with the student's family. Parents are required to participate in family therapy with their daughter, attend occasional workshops, have monthly visits (after an initial period of restricted access), and have communication through letters and phone calls.
The campus was originally a house with an attached barn. As of 2017, Spring Ridge is able to house a population of 72 girls ages 13–17, although 18 and 19 year olds may stay to complete the program. Students are housed four to a room in a modern facility with living, catering and medical areas, teaching rooms and labs, and sports fields and courts.[1]
Parents or guardians who have their child admitted to Spring Ridge pay tuition and fees in excess of $8,800 a month. Medical insurance may cover part of the costs. The average stay is 15 to 18 months, and in order to graduate from SRA's program, students must complete a four phase system. The length of each phase is not time based, but based solely on the girl and her individual process. As a girl progresses in the phase system, she accrues certain privileges as well as shifts her focus in the program. Phase One, known as Orientation, focuses are getting the girl situated in her new surroundings and accepting her placement. Phase two, consistency, has a large focus on self-growth and showing consistency in behaviors and actions. Phase three, integration, has a large family focus as the girls may now start attending visits at home and practicing all of their tools as they relate to their home and family lives. Phase four, transition, adds in friends and social media to thoroughly prepare the girls as they transition beyond Spring Ridge Academy. Upon graduation from the SRA program, parents are advised to continue their child's education in another structured setting, usually another boarding school, private school, or college, depending on the child's education level at that time.