Nestled in a sprawling six-million-acre state park, Mountain Lake Academy offers an immersive therapeutic program.  While making gains towards their New York State Regents diploma requirements, Academy students access a plethora of adventure-based outings to foster personal growth. The trained residential team leaders work closely with 36 total students to design individualized “peak experiences.” These remarkable excursions are tailored to reflect the cumulative progress of each therapeutic phase. Whether it involves a senior’s capstone climb up a rocky precipice or a Phase One sunrise hike to a fire tower summit, students share their excitement and radiance with their families back home.

Peak experiences in nature provide the requisite challenges that spark change. New students face their anxieties and develop skills in a challenge-by-choice manner. With 90 acres of on-campus trails, a high ropes course, and various climbing walls on the property, students can learn how to recreate safely before embarking on longer trips. The Adirondack Park setting, just outside of the Olympic Village of Lake Placid, NY, provides bountiful opportunities for hiking, biking, backcountry skiing, snowshoeing, paddling, and rock climbing.

These personal accomplishments are bolstered by the cadre of clinicians on staff. Mountain Lake Academy’s Clinical Department is supported by a team of mental health counselors, social workers, and Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselors. Parallel weekly check-ins with the Family Support Specialist, family therapy, and parent coaching are provided to ensure that the students’ families are informed along the way.

About Mountain Lake Academy

Mountain Lake Academy is a therapeutically-driven educational community for male students (Grades 7-12) in Lake Placid, NY. Our residential program provides wrap-around counseling services for students experiencing emotional or educational difficulties in their home school districts. Referrals must be sent by a sponsoring New York State school district, New York State Department of Social Services, or various state agencies.