In addition to the behavioral well-being of teens, we look to ensure that the teens at Muir Wood receive strong academic support and enrichment to help them prepare for their futures. The on-site Muir Wood Learning Center is a year-round supplemental education program (multi-course) that teens attend Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. till noon. The Learning Center is comprised of Masters-level, credentialed state of California teachers and academic tutors.
An Accredited Supplemental Education Program
The Learning Center is a recognized California supplemental education program for grades 7 to 12, including physical education. Muir Wood is one of few residential treatment centers with an academic program that is fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). To obtain full accreditation, the Muir Wood Learning Center underwent an objective evaluation by a team of outside peer professionals trained by WASC. Full accreditation signifies that our Learning Center is worthy of the trust placed in them to provide high-quality learning. Our program is dedicated to continual self-improvement. We are student-oriented and we examine our students’ performance regularly.
Academic Options
Home School Collaboration
One option is for your child’s school of record to provide independent study work while they are with us. This option ensures a smooth transition back to the teen’s school upon discharge from Muir Wood. It is the parents’ or guardians’ responsibility to coordinate an independent study program with the school of record. Once our teachers have authorization from the parent or guardian to communicate with the home school, our teacher can help facilitate the transfer of schoolwork and support your child’s academic achievement. Parents often act as a liaison between the Muir Wood Learning Center, our teachers, and their teen’s home school. We also encourage parents to bring their child’s textbooks with them at the time of admission.
Accredited Online Learning Program
A second option to keep teens on their academic track while at Muir Wood is to enroll them in an accredited online learning program. Our teachers, along with your child’s school of record, can collaborate in selecting the appropriate, and most advantageous coursework to help ensure that they are academically productive while in residence at Muir Wood. Typically, it is our teachers’ recommendation that parents or guardians enroll their children in one course at a time to ensure that they are successful in this method of learning before taking on additional classes. It also allows the teens to focus on the primary reason why they were admitted to Muir Wood – healing their behavioral health and/or substance abuse issues.
Muir Wood Learning Center Objectives
Our objective is to provide a safe and supportive learning environment where your child has the opportunity to be academically engaged and productive. Supervised access to computers and the internet is intended for academic work only, and available only during class hours. Each week our teachers email parents a Weekly Academic Report that summarizes your child’s use of class time for the prior week. Upon arrival at Muir Wood Adolescent and Family Services, your child will be given a casework binder with therapeutic assignments to be completed during their residency. The assignment in the therapy binder may be worked on in class, in addition to their assigned schoolwork.
“Accreditation from WASC is a milestone for our organization. We have always strived to go above and beyond for the teens and families we serve at Muir Wood Adolescent and Family Services. Our organization is not only accredited by WASC, but our clinical program is also accredited by the Joint Commission, licensed by both DHCS and DSS in the State of California, and in-network with most major large insurance providers. Our goal has always been to make exceptional care accessible.” – Scott Sowle, Muir Wood Adolescent and Family Services Founder and CEO
Academic Support
