What to Expect When Starting P.E.A.S.E. Academy

Welcome to P.E.A.S.E. Academy, Peers Enjoying A Sober Education, the country’s longest running recovery school located in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Informational Meetings can be set up with either the Director, Mike Durchslag, or the Dean of Students, Catherine Holovnia.  These meetings will explain everything P.E.A.S.E. Academy has to offer both in regards to academics and recovery support. At the end of this meeting, the school will have everything we would need to make enrollment possible if that is what the family decides to do.  Tours are also available.

When your student arrives on campus, you will be greeted by our friendly staff and provided a schedule as well as another tour of the building.  New students will be introduced to our wonderful Substance Use Counselor, Rufus Brown and they will be encouraged to meet with him as needed to help them get through the day. Students will also be introduced to all the other teachers and staff and get a feel about where everything is located, including being offered breakfast before the day officially starts. Your student will also be greeted by several students who are always excited to welcome new students. Sometimes the exuberance that our students show for new students can be a little overwhelming but it has been our experience that incoming students ease into their new environment fairly quickly and it won’t be long before they are the ones providing the warm welcome.

Our daily schedule is from 8:30—3:20 and will feel like a typical school day.  Students will have their core subject areas; Math, English, Social Studies, and Science taught by highly qualified and licensed teachers. We have also integrated Mindful Movement, Peer Support, and Electives into the school day.  Class sizes are purposefully small which means students can get 1-on-1 attention. This allows for a lot of quality work to be accomplished during the class period. In-class work completion also means that there is not a lot of homework assigned.  This allows students time in the evening to be actively engaged with the greater recovery community.  Besides their academic and elective classes, students will also have:

1. Daily Peer Support Teams (PST).  PST replaces the traditional advisories or homerooms.  They are led by a classroom teacher who facilitates the students supporting each other as they maneuver through life without using drugs including alcohol.
2. Twice a week All-School Check-in Circles.  Students check in with their recovery date, high point, low point and answer different questions regarding their engagement in the greater recovery community
3. Weekly Sobriety Support Group (SSG) with our Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LADC)
4. Individual time to work on treatment assignments

Our electives include Art, Dance and Drumming, Gym, Music and a host of others which allow students to explore their interests and develop new ones while also learning to have fun in recovery.

We understand and appreciate how important being connected is.  We also know that our class periods are only 55 minutes long and we want our students to be fully engaged in their classes.  Therefore, all students are required to check-in their phones at the beginning of every period.  They can have them during passing time and during lunch.

Breakfast and lunch are served daily.  Breakfast is a grab-and-go style breakfast.  Lunch is a hot meal brought in each day. Both meals are free of charge. We can accommodate most dietary needs if we know about them in advance.  Students are also allowed to bring their own food.  We have refrigerators and a microwave for student use.  There is also an open-campus privilege that allows students to access Dinkytown food establishments.  There are also plenty of snacks available to help our students get through the day.

P.E.A.S.E. Academy is located at 601 13th Ave SE., Minneapolis, MN 55414.  We rent space from the University Lutheran Church of Hope.  On the north side of the building there is a large parking lot that has a solar canopy over the middle.  Parking is free and there is a double door directly off this lot.  This is the main entrance into the school and our office is located down the stairs and to the right.  Our students can either take public transportation on school issued transit passes, drive themselves, or by school provided transportation determined on a case-by-case basis.