Lake House Academy

[Anne Bonney]

So from the industries stand point there is no payback on investment and the risk of not getting coverage is too high.  Why should they spend the money when their beds are full?  What is the motivating factor?
Do you see what I mean?

So, it's not really about helping kids then.  It's about making money....which is what we've been saying for years now.  Glad you can finally admit it.

[Oscar]

The program is closer to open.

Private school hopes for lodge, By Mark Schulman, Blue Ridge Now, August 8, 2010

[Ursus]

BlueRidgeNow.com

Private school hopes for lodge
Flat Rock council considers permit for girls' program

By Mark Schulman
Times-News Staff Writer

Published: Sunday, August 8, 2010 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, August 7, 2010 at 11:10 p.m.


Cat Jennings, left, executive director of the Lake House Academy, samples some locally grown produce while talking with Lauren Kolios, 11, Allison Aurbach, 12, and Ellie Alexander, 10. Jennings said the girls are potential Lake House Academy students if the Village of Flat Rock council approves changing LakeHouse Lodge and Spa into a private school.
MICHAEL JUSTUS/TIMES-NEWS

FLAT ROCK — The Village of Flat Rock is reviewing a permit application that if approved, would allow for a private school for struggling young girls to move into existing Highland LakeHouse Lodge and Spa.

Kerry Lindsey, who currently owns the property, submitted an application to the village June 16 to change its usage from a conference room-type environment to a private school. If Lindsey gets approval, he will sell the LakeHouse Lodge and Spa to Connecticut-based Greenwich Education and Prep, which plans to launch The Lake House Academy.

Flat Rock officials will hold a public hearing on the permit issue Aug. 30 at St. John in the Wilderness Parish Hall.

The academy offers programs for girls ages 10 to 14 with needs in developmental, emotional, social and academic areas, according to academy officials. They said the Lake House Academy academics are accredited by the N.C. Division of Non-Public Education.

Cat Jennings, executive director of Lake House Academy, has more than 25 years of experience with children who struggle with life's issues, and their families.

In 2005, Jennings led a similar program off North Rugby Road called the New Leaf Academy of North Carolina. It was open for six years, Jennings said.

New Leaf recently shut its doors for financial reasons; however, the program was consolidated with another location in Oregon. The North Rugby Road building will transition into the Talisman program, another program to help struggling children, according to Jennings.

"That was not a happy day," Jennings said about seeing the Henderson County location close. "But it's a happy day today."

One of the activities girls can participate in at the academy is gardening. On Friday afternoon, three young girls were at the garden near Lindsey's house picking fresh vegetables like cucumbers and peppers. They were there this week to talk with Lake House Academy staff about the possibility of attending the school in the fall.

The girls would attend The Lake House Academy if the lodge and spa is converted into the private school.

Ellie Alexander, 10, of Houston, Texas, was surprised at the beauty of the area.

"It's really neat here," she said. "I imagined when they said we would be swimming that it would be in a pool. Not in a lake."

Lauren Kolios, 11, of Atlanta, said she loves everything about the Highland Lake area.

"My favorite part is the lake," she added.

Classes

If Lake House Academy gets the OK and is located at Highland LakeHouse Lodge and Spa, the year-round school will offer academics, experience in nature, camping, team building and leadership activities.

Tuition is $5,800 a month, and students typically stay for about 14 months with sessions starting as early as September if approved, Jennings said.

There can be as many as 40 students with about 36 to 38 supervisors, and there will be someone to watch the girls at night, Jennings added.

"These girls are not 'at risk,' " she said. "They are struggling with middle-school life's demands. If no one helps a young girl put her life together, she could lose herself."

"We try to connect with (them) in healthy ways," she added. "We help them discover their strengths and talents and healthy relationships."

Screening process

Academy staff screen each student. The typical student "has not yet experienced" significant issues with substance abuse, sexual acting out, criminal behavior or running away, according to documents submitted from the Lake House Academy to village officials.

The school evaluates the history of each girl for a 90-day period before acceptance to ensure that she fits the criteria. The academy helps girls who suffer from anything from immaturity and tantrums to bi-polar behavior, anxiety, social phobias, mood disorders and Asperger's Syndrome, the documents say.

Those documents also say the academy does not take girls with homicidal thoughts, active suicidal intent, active psychosis, aggressive behavior outside the home, regular drug or alcohol abuse, cutting, sexually acting out and fire-setting.

Officials at the academy said students cannot have a history in stealing, vandalism or with the legal system.

The girls will not have access to vehicles and transportation will be provided by program officials.

Students will always be supervised and cannot have a past that involves drugs, alcohol and promiscuity nor be aggressive or dangerous, academy documents say.


Copyright © 2010 BlueRidgeNow.com

[Pile of Dead Kids]

Have you informed the Flat Rock Council about the history of the people trying to open this place?

[Ursus]

Have you informed the Flat Rock Council about the history of the people trying to open this place?

One might think, in a bad economy, that a new binnis in town would generally be considered to be a good thing by a town council... But as far as the rest of local townsfolk are concerned, their focus appears to be more concerned with property values and the like, as per the following article:

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

BlueRidgeNow.com

Flat Rock neighbors argue for, against plan for girls' school

By Mark Schulman
Times-News Staff Writer

Published: Sunday, August 8, 2010 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, August 7, 2010 at 11:12 p.m.

Word spread throughout the community once Highland LakeHouse Lodge and Spa owner Kerry Lindsey submitted a permit application to have the property's usage changed to allow for a school for girls with social, academic or family issues.

Citizens in the village wrote nearly 30 letters to the council expressing support or opposition to the plan to allow a school, which would be called The Lake House Academy, at the site.

Many in the community, including some in the Highland Lake village subdivision, do not want the school at the lodge and spa, which sits within a 200-acre resort that consists of gardens, wetlands and trails.

Highland Lake Village is across the street from Highland Lake resort. The main entrance is on Highland Lake Drive.

Several letters written to Flat Rock Mayor Bob Staton and the village council indicate the school does not have adequate land for the girls or enough supervision. Concerns also span traffic problems, diminished property values and noise disturbances.

Don Lane owns a duplex on the Highland Lake property and doesn't approve of changing the lodge into a private school.

“I have nothing against the girls,” Lane said. “It's just not the right place for a school. It doesn't fit.”

He bought the home because it's a recreation/retirement community.

“It has a tranquil setting,” Lane said, adding that he wants to preserve it.

“I don't know what they are afraid of,” said Jennings, executive director of the academy. "These girls are not broken — the family system is broken. We help the family get healthy."

The Rev. Ken and Loyd Kinnett of the Highland Lake community support the school.

“The girls are not juvenile delinquents but could become so without this program,” Ken said. “We do not believe their presence at the lake house or the field around the barn, etc., will in any way disturb our lifestyles or property values.”

Flat Rock Vice Mayor Nick Weedman said the council won't comment until the public hearing slated for Aug. 30.

Application scrutinized

In review of Lindsey's application, the Flat Rock Planning Board advised the village council to look into several issues:

• The impact the academy will have on the ambience of the Highland Lake community.

• The acreage of the area with respect to the lake being more than three acres of the total five acres required.

• Noise control.

• Ratio of staff to students.

• Economic impact on the Highland Lake community and the village.

• Limit the age of the girls to 10 to 14 years old; require that no girl be allowed to drive while attending the academy even if the girl reaches 16; and that no girl exceeds that age.

The property

The LakeHouse Lodge and Spa is a three-story rustic-type structure nestled in the 200-acre Highland Lake resort, where guests could find an abundance of gardens, trails and foliage.

Lindsey opened the lodge at 447 Lily Pad Lane in 2006 to provide guests with a connection to nature in Flat Rock. He also once owned Season's Restaurant and Highland Lake Inn, which he sold in 1999 after 15 years of proprietorship.

The restaurant and inn on 26 acres is now owned by Jack and Linda Grup. Jack Grup said that, as a businessman, he cannot see “a whole lot of negative” aspects of Lindsey's decision to sell the lodge to Greenwich Education and Prep, which would then launch the academy.

The Grup's property is adjacent to the would-be school and Grup said the area has always accommodated schools and camps.

He says unsupervised children who come to the retreat with their families are a bigger problem.

“That is the norm,” he said of finding children on his property. He sees the positive side of having the academy as a neighbor.

“I see an opportunity to help a bunch of girls learn to be a better part of the community,” Grup said.

Acreage requirements

One of the usage requirements for turning the LakeHouse Lodge and Spa structure into a private school is that the property must sit on five acres, according to the village ordinance.

The building, parking lot and its boundaries cover five acres; however, three acres of it includes the lake itself. The village ordinance does not specify whether the five acres should consist of land, water or both, according to Judy Boleman, village zoning administrator.

Lindsey owns about 60 acres of land in Highland Lake and said he will let the school have access to much of the outdoor spaces. Lindsey said he is giving the school the right to use to a 30-acre lake and a 16-acre horse pasture on his property.

For sale

Lindsey said the lodge has been on the market listed as a bed and breakfast for two years and potential buyers couldn't get financed.

Greenwich Education and Prep was the first company that could provide the money to buy the lodge. Lindsey would not disclose the amount.

He believes the school would have a positive impact on the area's economy. He said every six weeks, the parents of 40 students would be there to be with their children for a weekend where they would lodge for that period of time.

Some of these families have already been coming here for the past several years, he said.

He added that the Highland Lake resort property, which will turn 100 years old this year, has accommodated schools and camps for most of its existence.

In 1915, Highland Lake Inn was a prep school for boys, according to the late Henderson County historian Louise Bailey, who was hired by Lindsey 15 years ago to trace Highland Lake Inn's history.

Website confusion

Some citizens question Greenwich Education and Prep's website, which states that students are already at the academy. Lindsey explained that Jennings had to go into an advanced marketing phase to get the necessary students for enrollment.

Greenwich Education & Prep's provides primary, supplementary and specialized learning services as well as educational consulting and individualized college prep courses to K through 12 students and their families, according to its website.

For more questions contact the Lake House Academy's Executive Cat Jennings at 828-707-3473 or cjennings@lakehouseacademy.com.


Copyright © 2010 BlueRidgeNow.com