Top Flight Academy

Has anyone heard any positive or negative comments about this school in Mt. Pleasant????

Did you ever get a response on this? Did you send your child? I am thinking about sending mine.

Top Flight Academy is a great place. I am now 18, have a job and care about my life. Before I went to TFA I sat at home, didnt go to school, smoked pot and sold drugs. After 7 months in Utah my whole mindset changed, just the way I looked at the world had changed. The program is run by the students most of the time, and each student helps one another. The staff do not intervine unless it is necessary, but there are requirments of each person. It is a safe caring enviorment, where no force is applied to make people change. They help you to understand that it is positive influence is what will promote changes, not forcefulness. I found it to be a great way to help and a useful life lesson. You wont change unless you want to change, and that is what they help you achieve. The staff there are spectacular, and help each individual on a personal level. You feel a great caring, which helps you keep in high spirits. There are also many great activities which are always a great treat. Mt. Pleasant,UT is a beautiful place in a mountain valley. The weather is almost always good, and the scenery itself is theraputic. I was very pleased when I left, not because I was going home, but because they helped me so much and I was starting my life over again. Not always can you get a second chance, but TFA gave me that and I cant thank them enough... One thing to watch for. Ive seen many new students dramatize issues for up to the first few months even. I dont want to call your kid a liar, but the shock of being there can be hard to deal with at first, and several people tell their parents things that arent the exact truth, trying to somehow get pulled out. Dont be discouraged if your son isnt happy for a while, that will change as he gets used to being there. The flying is great way to break free of issues. To have the freedom to fly an aircraft through the rocky mountains is amazing, and it really makes you look at the world a little different. Like there is more to this world than all of my little issues back there in that log cabin or back home.
You can ask me more if you'd like.
cdingmon@comcast.net

would like more feedback on TFA
cookclan5@bellsouth.net

cook wrote:

would like more feedback on TFA
co
okclan5@bellsouth.net

--- My son has been at TFA for nearly three months now. I have been encouraged by his progress and would give the school an "A" so far.
I think they have a good approach to dealing with troubled young men.

I work as a consultant in the Troubled Teen industry. I've visited the facility and talked to the administrators and boys there.

The facility is nice, not glamorous by any means, yet quaint given the rural surroundings, and the program is small compared to some - 16 beds or so (a plus for adapting the program to your son's needs).

The kids I talked to had all been grateful their had sent them to Top Flight, though I mainly spoke with boys that had been in the program for a while. I'd agree with the student who posted above about students that are new to any type of residential treatment saying anything to try and manipulate their parents into bringing them home.

I think that Top Flight's use of positive peer culture is a noteworthy portion of the program. Teens are great at catching each other in lies and manipulations - and it becomes much more infuential when your peers are trying to help straighten you out rather than authority figures.

Top Flight also offers the addition of a solid aftercare/transition program. This is a must for anyone seeking residential treatment for their teen. It will be a little wierd when your teen comes back home healthy - both for you and them. Don't just hope that move back home is going to go well. Without good quality aftercare it is too easy for you and your teen to slip back into old patterns of behavior. I appreciate that Top Flight is one of the programs that recognizes how crucial this transition is to long-term success.

The flight portion of the program is also very interesting and unique, not something I've come across anywhere else. It has got to be a great motivational tool. One of the boys I spoke with even mentioned he'd like to continue learning about flight after returning home.

The $5-6k/month cost is very modest for the industry. You certainly can pay $4-6k more than that per month for residential treatment, but at that point you are mainly paying for a more lavish facility, and some other bells and whistles, for the most part you core treatment is not going to be any more effective.

I do not know anyone personally connected to or enrolled in TFA, however, I have had contact with the student pilots who come to Mt. Pleasant airport. My friends and I fly R/R airplanes at the airport, and occasionally I'll stop at their hanger (I'm also a private pilot) and shoot the bull for a bit. The student pilots seem to be nice young men and are always polite and courteous to me, and I've nothing derogatory to say about them. Manners and deportment mean a great deal to me, and they do not seem to be lacking in those qualities. Aviation is a GREAT career. There are so many varied occupations to enter, and believe me, there aren't many any better!

Fred wrote:

<quoted text>
--- My son has been at TFA for nearly three months now. I have been encouraged by his progress and would give the school an "A" so far.
I think they have a good approach to dealing with troubled young men.

I'm also thinking about sending my son there, he's still in wilderness therapy now. Is there any chance we could have a phone conversation ? Thanks very much.
annehs@sunrise.ch