Campus Life

Room & Board

Clubs, Activities, Enrichment

Student clubs are an integral part of the community at Northern Academy. Clubs provide forums for discussion and opportunities for action, and they foster students’ leadership and business skills via consulting engagements, workshops, round-tables, conferences, and fundraisers.

Currently, the school has Student Council and more than a dozen student clubs including Math Olympiad, Model UN, Newspaper, Yearbook, Dance, Music, Cooking Club, Chess, Board Games Club, Meditation Club and Sports. Students sign up for their chosen clubs at the beginning of each semester.

Student leaders apply to form an organization by submitting an application and writing a constitution. Check with the Student Affairs Office if you’d like to apply.

In addition, students are encouraged to participate in field trips, special school events, such as basketball tournament, dance competitions, music performances, table tennis tournament, city cleaning, career fair, providing food to low income families, bake sales, etc.

Students at Northern Academy have plenty of opportunities to travel, explore, experience great culture, and have fun on weekend outings and class trips. Being conveniently located just north of New York city, and near the bordering states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, there are many options for our Student Affairs department, dormitory parents, and students to choose from.

We enjoy trips from Manhattan’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, shows at Carnegie Hall, and Central Park, to gorgeous mountain ranges, waterfalls, and hikes in the Catskills of New York, and from Amish Country in Pennsylvania to the largest planetarium in the northern hemisphere and shopping malls in New Jersey.

We have a lot of fun at school too, and students have plenty of chances to show their talents. We celebrate with in school parties for Christmas and the Chinese New Year, complete with amazing food and hilarious acts and games by faculty and students, and beautiful performances from our classical music students and dance track.

Thanksgiving gets crazy with the Turkey Run, and student-led Clubs give you a chance to explore other interests and make great friends.

Weekends for dorm students, when not going on planned trips, mean getting to hang out together, go to the mall, bowling, movie nights, use of school facilities for dance and music studios, ping-pong, the cafeteria, library, and time to just relax.

  • Bear Mountain Ice-skating Rink and hiking, NY
  • Faust Harrison Piano Factory, NY
  • Woodbury Common Outlet Mall, NY (we perform there too)
  • Bowling
  • Olana Estate, NY (Fine Arts Track)
  • Sugarloaf Arts & Crafts Village, NY
  • The MET – Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC (Fine Arts Track)
  • West Point – The United States Military Academy, NY
  • The Statue of Liberty, NYC
  • Mount Hope Moon Festival, NY (we performed there too)
  • The Frick Collection, NYC (Fine Arts Track)
  • Delaware Water Gap, PA
  • NYC Aquarium, Coney Island, NYC
  • FDR Museum, NY
  • Amish Farm & House Tour, PA
  • Snow Tubing, Thomas Bull Park, NY
  • Cloisters Museum, NYC (Fine Arts Track)
  • Harness Racing Museum, NY
  • Liberty Science Center & Planetarium, NJ
  • Chinatown, NYC
  • Museum Village, NY
  • Horseback Riding at Juckas Stables, NY
  • The Castle Fun Center, NY
  • Soons Orchards apple picking, NY
  • Shen Yun Performing Arts, Lincoln Center, NYC
  • Carnegie Hall, NYC
  • Palace Theatre, CT
  • Florence Academy of the Arts, NYC (Fine Arts Track)

Student Health

Click here to view Northern’s Health Policy.

Healthcare in the United States is complicated, and unfortunately, illness and injury in teenagers can occur unexpectedly.

Hence all students boarding at Northern Academy are required to have a valid health insurance or the Northern Medical Center (NMC) health package. Health insurance is mandatory for all boarding students who must have insurance coverage at all times.

Students who feel sick or are concerned about becoming ill must promptly discuss their symptoms and concerns with the school nurse. They should refrain from attending any class, co-curricular activities, or casually staying in the dorm until they have consulted with the school nurse.

Failing to do so puts their friends, classmates, faculty, and staff at risk of illness. Please remember that your health and the well-being of the community are more important than missing class.

In general, parents will not be contacted for routine use of medical services, including the care of minor injuries and illnesses.

It is the student’s responsibility to
inform parents about illness and injury. Occasionally, routine referrals may be made to local specialists for uncomplicated injuries without notifying parents.

However, parents will always be informed by the school nurse of any significant illnesses and injuries, especially when anticipated treatment is prolonged or complex.

Due to safety and liability concerns, sick students are only permitted to stay in the dorm with both a physician’s instruction and the parents’ consent.

The dormitory will not be able to accommodate requests from parents to leave sick students alone without a physician’s instruction. If parents wish for their child to rest without a physician’s instruction, parents must either take their child home with them or designate a legal guardian who will. Residential staff will initiate a leave of absence request when parents or legal guardians take the student
home.

Students who have confirmed risks of bacterial or virus infection must immediately take
medication and receive treatment as per physician’s instructions. In the case where a
student refuses medical treatment due to parents’ religious concerns, the parents must arrange for a guardian to immediately take the student away from the school or the dorm.

For sick students without risks of bacterial or virus infection who refuse medication or treatment,
we understand. However, it is the student and the parents’ responsibility for the student’s
safety. In cases where students refuse medical treatment but require bed rest for over 48
hours, parents need to arrange for a guardian to provide private services for the student.