Columbus Girls Academy

Columbus Girls Academy offers a structured Christian boarding school environment for struggling teenage girls. The therapeutic Christian school focuses on character growth, spiritual life, and personal responsibility to help girls overcome life-controlling issues. Columbus Girls Academy offers help to troubled girls through four main components: spiritual, academic, physical and social.

Residents at Columbus Girls Academy receive professional counseling, both individually and in group settings. However, the therapeutic program extends well beyond formal counseling sessions. Every interaction with school staff, counselors and peers presents an opportunity for growth in relationships and respect for others. They foster a positive peer culture, in which each teen assumes responsibility for her own actions as well as holding others accountable for their choices. In this way, teens influence one another in a positive manner, and they begin to make the right decisions out of a genuine change of heart. They encourage teens to shift their focus away from self and toward serving others through community service and special projects, mission trips and other outings.

Students at Columbus Girls Academy pursue high school diplomas through an accredited Christian education curriculum. Girls benefit from personalized lessons, multimedia enrichment, instruction from qualified teachers, and a unique credit recovery program. Columbus Girls Academy is registered as a non-public school with the State of Alabama.

Girls and their families enjoy the tranquility of the 200-acre campus, which includes a 35-acre lake for canoeing, paddle boats and fishing, as well as hiking trails, a swimming pool, and sports facilities. Columbus Girls Academy is a special place where teenage girls experience life transformation and families find restored relationships.

Columbus Girls Academy therapy involves an interpretation or identification of why the inappropriate behaviors are occurring, and then a contextualization of these reasons as a function of what erroneous assumptions are in place regarding meeting basic needs.   Through discipleship curriculum and ongoing pastoral counseling relative to the curriculum content, the students are able to discover their incorrect assumptions and replace them with a relationship with God.

Students come to Columbus Girls Academy with dysfunctional behaviors and attitudes. Counseling and education at Columbus Girls Academy generally involve the integration of principles from various psychological disciplines and with varying philosophical underpinnings.

Along with individual and group counseling, this assigned counselor is also responsible to ensure a smooth delivery of all of CGA’s services to the student and family. The counselor is the point of contact for the family, available to answer questions and give updates on the students progress.

Group counseling occurs on a regular basis, guided by the pastoral counselors on staff here at CGA.  This time is utilized to allow students an opportunity to grapple with and resolve commonly faced issues.  Students learn to constructively express their thoughts, ideas, and questions in an environment where each member is accepted and respected.  Group counseling is not utilized to scrutinize individual members or to glorify past poor decisions.

Each evening, residents attend an Evening Group Time.  This special time of sharing is staff directed and designed to promote growth and unity in the dorm. Some of the topics that may be discussed include: Positive Peer influence, Accountability, Personal Responsibility, Peer Reconciliation and Conflict Resolution.

Aftercare Program

Columbus Girls Academy is committed to the continued success of its students.  Prior to completion of the program a Parent/Student contract will be developed by the counselor, student, and family.  The goal of the contract will be to define and uphold the boundaries within the home.  Topics included in the contract include the re-establishment of trust, specific responsibilities, guidelines, conflict resolution, educational goals, and spiritual commitments.  Columbus Girls Academy will work with the student and family to set up a support system at home before the student graduated the program.

Emerging Leaders Program

Columbus Girls Academy is not only interested in recovery but has also recognized the need to train up the next generation of leaders. The Emerging Leader’s program is an extended training program designed to identify, equip and train emerging leaders through mentoring, curriculum, and training though an on-site internship. Columbus Girls Academy typically has 8-10 students from its student body enrolled in the program. The ELP is a voluntary opportunity that is available to students enrolled CGA.  Students who are accepted into the ELP have a three month internship with CGA after graduation.