Double Black Diamond Nights
Each week a special trip is planned for all students who accumulate enough WISE points to move up to the highest level, called Double Black Diamond. This gives students a chance to celebrate their achievements at school.
The Summit School at Nyack has created a unique and robust behavioral program based on the framework of Positive Behavioral Interventions & Support (PBIS). At its core, PBIS is a framework for a systematic approach to teaching and promoting appropriate behaviors. Using data and evidence based practices and consistent language and procedures, PBIS provides an opportunity for students and staff members to communicate using a common language and clear understanding of expectations.
PBIS is a framework, and to be successful must be tailored for each community that employs it. We are the first residential treatment center in the United States to integrate PBIS in our academic and residential programs. We identified the core basis for appropriate and expected behaviors at Summit.
The WISE program fosters robust interaction between the school and the residential programs. Student behavior and the interventions used are tracked 24 hours a day and opportunities for new interventions are never lost.
The Summit School at Nyack’s New York State licensed clinical professionals offer the support and expertise required to guide students towards their strengths and potential. Clinical staff focus on individual work with students and maintain strong contact with the staff working with each student to provide a coordinated therapeutic effort.
At the core of the department, social workers specializing in work with young adults meet individually with each student to provide counseling, assist the student in setting personal and academic goals, and serve as the primary liaison to families. In addition, the social worker leads the treatment team of each student, a multi-disciplinary partnership comprised of representatives from all aspects of a student’s life at Summit. Social workers coordinate therapeutic interventions to help shape desired behaviors and create the supportive environment necessary for positive change.
Our staff psychiatrist, Veronica Fellman, D.O., meets regularly with Summit’s residential students to investigate the appropriateness of psychopharmacological interventions and carefully monitor the student’s progression if medication is prescribed. Summit’s psychiatrist is an integral part of the students’ care as they provide ongoing support and knowledge to clinical staff and families.
The Summit Health Center is open seven days a week. Its registered nurses administer medications, tend to minor aches and pains, and help a sick student feel better. A registered nutritionist is available for students to provide nutritional counseling and works with the Food Service Director to offer a variety of healthful eating choices.