​Dr. Heather Tracy is the co-founder and Executive Director of both New Summit Academy and The Bridge Costa Rica. Heather earned an Honors Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in psychology and French at Saint Louis University where she was 1 of 10 Freshmen to earn the highest honor of a full-ride, four-year scholarship as a Presidential Scholar. She then continued her studies at Harvard Graduate School of Education, earning a Master of Education in Human Development & Psychology with coursework and research focusing on adolescents at-risk and school reform. In 2014, Heather completed her Doctorate of Education in K-12 Leadership with a dissertation about the importance of academic enablers (the social, psychological, physical, and emotional foundations of cognition, learning and growth) for at-risk adolescents to build resilience and learn and live more effectively and efficiently. 

Being co-founder and Executive Director of New Summit Academy (since 2004) and The Bridge young adult gap community (since 2012) has been the highlight of her career. Leading learning environments that support young people to find their purpose, build skills to achieve goals, and contribute to their community is a gift. Motivated to articulate the successful approaches at NSA and The Bridge as well as assess student growth in a strengths-based way,  Dr. Tracy and Dr. Danny Recio co-authored Supportive Immersion theory (2016) and articulated PROPS skills as the 21st Century skill set needed to thrive in today's world.

​She is tri-lingual (English, Spanish, and French), studied abroad in France for one year, backpacked all over Europe, and has lived in Costa Rica since January 2002. Heather is also a certified yoga teacher, and in her free time, she loves to travel, dance, read nerdy books, eat good food, and spend time with her family.

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