The Abundant Life Academy admissions process is concise, specific, and an orderly exercise designed to minister to the parents of troubled and hurting teems. Additionally, our admissions system is a screening process; designed to weed out inappropriate student candidates and stay “pure” toward our student/family profile. The last thing we want to do is to enroll a student that does not fit our student and family profile. If we allow a student to be enrolled who is “beyond” our ability to serve, it could be detrimental to the other students. Additionally, as stated many times before, we only work with families who believe that Jesus is the only answer.

We are geared to serve parents who are in crisis, confused, and hurting. Our admissions process is meant to serve the needs of the parents in a way that ministers to them. Additionally, the process is designed to weed out students and families who do not fit our “student and family profile”. We rely on the power of prayer. We expect our parents to know that their child’s enrollment into ALA is the will of God. Without prayerful consideration the enrollment wont be profitable for anyone.

At Abundant Life Academy we only serve students who were raised in the church, taught right from wrong, and come for parents who have lived by strong character and integrity. Essentially, we serve good kids from good Christian families. We only work with children who already have a solid foundation. Moreover, we don’t work with kids who have gone too far… kids who are dealing with substance abuse issues (drug addiction), or have been diagnosed with mental or personality disorders, or are acting out sexually (sexual deviants). Parents have no idea that most schools and programs for troubled teens are filled with drug addicts, criminals (thugs), and sexual deviants. You don’t want your child who is need of early-intervention to end up in a program of druggies and thugs.

Abundant Life Academy is an early-intervention boarding school dedicated to restoring the hearts of the children to Jesus, and to their families. We only work with children who have been raised by parents who dedicated their lives to the Lord of Lords, and Kings of Kings. Again, the students we serve already have a solid foundation. Unfortunately, for whatever reason these kids are now off track and heading in the wrong direction… trapped in self-centeredness, justification, and blame. And, unless there is an immediate intervention these struggling kids could be lost forever.

Most parents that contact Abundant Life Academy have waited too long, and we are not able to help them. In many cases we have to turn these kids away. The problem is that their child is displaying behaviors that are beyond the scope of Abundant Life Academy. On average we turn away 49 out of 50 parents that contact us. Why? Mostly, because they cant afford a boarding school. Secondly, their child has gone too far down the road of rebellion and is in need of immediate long-term therapeutic care. At that point ALA is not even a consideration. Had the parents contacted us 6 months earlier perhaps we could have helped. More importantly, a majority of parents who contact us choose to give their child one more chance before committing their child to enrollment. Of course their child promises to do better. Essentially, there is usually one parent who is in favor of the boarding school option and the other parent is not (this is usually the parent who “rescues” the child over and over again… this parent cant bare to hold the child accountable out of fear the child may never talk to them again. In reality, this parent has become the problem, and the child ends up hating this parent anyway). This scenario plays out everyday and very rarely turns out like the parents hoped, causing loss of time and numerous painful memories.

Unfortunately, most parents who wait have no idea of how fast their child will spin out of control. The parent who warns the child to “straighten up or else”, and then gives them another chance teaches the child to hide their inappropriate behavior better then ever before. This is why the child spins out of control so fast. They become better liars, better sneakers, and better manipulators. Unfortunately, because this child knows right from wrong, their conscious can’t handle all of their deceit. They begin to crumble and are unable to make good decisions… looking for quick ways to escape the damage they have caused. In other words, they feel lousy about themselves so they get to the point where they no longer care. Since these kids are emotionally immature they can’t see how they are the cause of their own destruction, and they end up blaming their ever-ending discomfort on their parents. Essentially, they fail to grow because they see themselves as the victim, and their parents as the victimizer. Then, the next step happens as they get into sex, drugs, and alcohol, smoking cigarettes and/or marijuana. Consequently, their behavior gets worse fast, and often they are no longer good candidates for Abundant Life Academy.

Most of the parents who contact us have tried everything to stop the spiral downward, but still they just can’t let go of their child. They feel so guilty about the prospect of sending their child to a boarding school they end up caving in and back out. They hope that by giving the child one more opportunity to turn it around everything will be okay. It rarely works, and usually backfires. Again, by the time these parents contact us again it is often too late. At that point their only option is to place their child into a school or program with really messed up teens (drug addicts, criminals, sexual deviants, etc.).

Moreover, many parents contact us and then start the enrollment process. And, then right before the enrollment date they decide not to place their child. They want to give “therapy” a try. Unfortunately, most of these parents re-contact us a few short time later. Why? Therapy with for the troubled child NEVER works. Why? Therapy only works for those who know that they have a problem, and are motivated to change. Troubled teens believe that there is nothing wrong with them, and that their parents are the one’s that need help. The teen that is not motivated to change will not change through therapeutic intervention, they only get worse.

Another reason parents decide to wait and give their child another chance is the cost. Abundant Life Academy charges $4,250 per month. Parents think this is an outrageous price. Let me put everything into prospective… if a parent hired three 20-year old baby-sitters for $6 per hour to watch their child 8 hours per day each (thus covering a 24 hour period) they would end up spending $4,320 per month on baby-sitters. Therefore, if you compare what ALA provides against what 3 baby-sitters would provide, you would see that ALA is a bargain at $4,250 per month. Not only does ALA provide 24-hour professional care, we also provide room, board, food, accredited education, athletics, leadership training, vocational development, career counseling, discipleship, and direct-supervision… all for the same amount that it would cost for 3 baby-sitters.

Most of the time it is the “dad” who balks at the monthly tuition rate. He just can’t see spending that kind of money. Some of our parents get student loans and get the cost down to about $300 per month. What these dad’s don’t realize is that they will buy a car for more then what we charge for our 9-month program. And, their monthly car payments would be more then the $300 per month it would cost for the monthly student loan payment. If the parents choose to wait and their child ends up needing a therapeutic program it will cost a whole lot more then $4,250 per month, and will take much longer then 9 months.