Recreational and physical activities are integral to the experience at New Leaf Academy. We encourage every student to participate in a variety of team and individual activities - not only for our many champions in competition, but for all.
Through interscholastic and intramural competition and diverse sports and activities, New Leaf Academy seeks to build character and integrity, to instill team values, and to advocate a lifelong commitment to physical and emotional fitness. On the playing field, as in the classroom, New Leaf Academy promotes citizenship and leadership, and teaches sportsmanship and fair play. Mexico Trip Allows
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New Leaf Academy offers competitive interscholastic sports such as volleyball, soccer, basketball, and softball. Students also compete in various 5k running events and chess tournaments.
New Leaf Academy also offers many non-competitive activities including:
| Tennis | Swimming | Frisbee golf |
| Walker's club | Ultimate Frisbee | Field hockey |
| Runner's club | Hiking | Mountain biking |
| Chess | Bowling | Use of weight room |
The National Youth Program Using Minibikes
New Leaf Academy also offers the National Youth Program Using Minibikes (NYPUM) to our students based on each individual student's needs and progress. NYPUM grants the privilege of riding minibikes (small motorcycles) as a means of getting young people involved in exciting and challenging activities as part of a healthy peer group with positive adult role models.
Following the guidelines of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation and receiving guidance from certified NYPUM instructors, students learn principles and behaviors of safe and responsible minibike riding and go track or trail-riding under the supervision of their instructors. Through this program, students have an opportunity to work as a group, take risks, challenge themselves, build self-esteem, learn new skills, work on peer leadership, and have fun.
Physical Education at New Leaf
Physical education is an essential component of the total educational program at New Leaf Academy. Through the medium of sport and movement, all students will participate in a sequential, differentiated program that fosters each student's personal health, fitness and safety. Through exposure to a wide variety of activities, students will learn the importance of and make educated decisions around achieving and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
In addition to a wide range of recreational activities, New Leaf Academy offers fencing, yoga, and dance. We believe that fencing is more than just recreation or a purely competitive sport. Fencing enhances fitness, confidence, self-awareness, concentration, positive social skills, and creative problem-solving. Fencing is truly a mind-body sport.
Dance contributes to increased personal confidence, as well as good posture and body alignment. The act of stretching and getting comfortable in one's own skin can set students at ease in social situations, and help them overcome shyness and relieve stress. As an aerobic exercise, dance benefits the cardiovascular system and promotes flexibility and stamina.
Yoga provides many physical benefits for our students. Yoga can improve flexibility, bringing a greater range of motion to muscles and joints. Because many yoga poses require students to support the weight of their own bodies in new ways, it can also improve strength. Some exercises require students to move slowly in and out of poses, which also increases strength. As a by-product of growing stronger and more flexible, students can expect to see increased muscle tone and improved physical fitness. Learn how
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Doing yoga also gives students an increased awareness of their own bodies. Students are often called upon to make small, subtle movements to improve their alignment. Over time, this will increase their level of comfort in their own bodies and improve posture and self-confidence.
More than an exercise for the body, yoga can also improve mental clarity and nurture a sense of overall well-being. By introducing students to meditation techniques, such as watching how they breathe and disengaging from their thoughts, yoga helps to calm the mind. The emphasis yoga places on being in the moment can also help relieve stress, as students learn not to dwell on past events or anticipate the future. Students often report leaving yoga class feeling less stressed and anxious, and re-energized to go on with the day's events.