Camas Ranch, a branch of Spring Creek Lodge Academy (SCLA), is a specialty school designed for 18 to 24-year-old young men. It is an independent campus located on a 3,000+ acre-working ranch approximately 1 ½ hours from SCLA.
Camas Ranch provides a highly structured environment for those young adults looking to make changes in their lives. Students entering Camas Ranch must be at least 18 years old at the time of admission, and willing to participate in the entire program.
An important aspect of Camas Ranch is the life skills program. This includes a rigorous schedule of chores, ranch duties, building projects, miscellaneous
off-site jobs, etc. Students take care of their personal and living areas; do their own laundry; plan, shop for, and prepare their own meals; and care for Ranch animals. Student who earn a level of trust are given the opportunity to go off campus to complete service projects, jobs for other ranchers, and other off-campus jobs.
Education is very important at Camas Ranch. Students are set up on weekly requirements to assist them in attaining their high school diploma or to work on college correspondence courses. If the young man is a high school grad, parents are asked to set up book-based (not online) college correspondence courses.
Assistance in setting up these courses is provided by the Academic Office at SCLA. Students are provided daily school time for academic goals in this independent study setting.
Students at Camas Ranch are on a points and level system similar to SCLA and other Premier Schools. To ease the transition, students enter this program at level 3 with 1600 advancement points and graduate after completing all requirements of level 6. The personal growth aspect of the program requires students to successfully complete the Premier Seminar series. These seminars are held every 6-8 weeks at the main SCLA campus.
Individual and group therapy are offered to Ranch students through Cabinet Mountain Mental Health. Therapists travel to Camas Ranch weekly to meet with students who opt for these services.
The ranch option for 18-year-olds at SCLA is not a different program, but just an enhancement of the current one. One of the reasons it has been effective with our 18-year-old students is that they tend to feel less confined and many feel that they are able to complete work that will be good experience later in life.
