Higher Ground

During Parents Week, Scott and Shelby get into a fight and Juliette meets Auggie's parents. Meanwhile, Shelby's sister runs away from home and to Horizon; Scott lies and tells his father his stepmother never abused him.

Peter gets hooked on pain killers. Scotts mother comes to vist. Shelby comes back to Horizon.

Scott tries to get Peter to get Shelby back to Horizon. Shelby finds out her stepfather abused her little sister Jess.

Peter's brother arrives to contest their father's will; Sophie undergoes a medical procedure; Shelby's mother pulls her out of school to take care of her ailing, formerly abusive stepfather; Ezra steals the plot of Romeo & Juliet for his new play.

Daisy returns home with Sophie and Shelby for her mother's funeral and must face her abusive, drunken father. Meanwhile, the Cliffhangers read and identify with Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein".

As a winter storm moves in, the kids' solo treks are ruined, Shelby becomes lost, and Peter's visiting father has a heart attack.'

When an undercover reporter shows up to do an expose on the school, the students feed her the wild stories that she wants to hear.'

Horizon's new boss wants to make a promotional film that uses actors instead of the actual students, Daisy and Ezra try to make their own movie instead, and an investigation is made into Scott's accusations against his step-mother.''

When a tough father brings his troubled son to the school, the kid soon antagonizes the other students as the father treks through bear country with Peter.'

After Auggie and Juliette run away, Auggie is arrested for stealing food, and Peter must try to obtain his release at a probation hearing.'

Juliette is devastated when she isn't invited to her mother's wedding; Ezra is devastated when he learns that his parents' apparent reconciliation is a sham.'

Scott travels down a treacherous river, trying to run away after an encounter with his abusive stepmother. Meanwhile, Shelby falls in love with a horse that's been abused and abandoned.

After a student attempts suicide by overdose, Hannah resigns and Frank decides to take the Cliffhanger boys on a trek to the site of his son's death 22 years earlier.

As a thunderstorm causes the school to flood, Shelby's attempt to seduce Scott brings him unpleasant memories.'

Auggie's older brother tries to talk him into selling drugs to the rich kids at Horizon. Meanwhile potential investors visit the school, and Sophie and Peter try to figure out their relationship.''

Peter gives the group a parenting assignment, and Katherine's behavior with her boyfriend threatens her impending graduation.''

A search-and-rescue mission is mounted to find Juliette, who has fallen into an uncharted cave containing ancient Indian bones.'

To teach the kids to work as a team, they are entered in the Junior Eco-Challenge competition.'

Peter visits his father while in New York trying to get a loan, and back at the school the students dread taking their PSATs.'

As the students are recruited to help search for a six-year-old girl lost in the woods, Ezra tries to learn the reasons behind Shelby's apparent unconcern for the child.
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Troubled Scott is brought to Horizon School against his will, and is tormented by flashbacks of abuse at home. Meanwhile, at the school Peter learns that the bank is foreclosing on the school property.