any staff from 2000 to 2006 here?

[RobertBruce]

Thats the dumbest thing I have ever heard of. You obviously don't know what your talking about. Exactly whom might you be? Whom did you work with, ect. And please give me an example of when you tried to "access staff" and where did you get this arrested stuff. First off, how long did you work and when or how did you come about leaving HLA? That might explain the "arrested" theory!!! Did you get fired for doing something stupid like innappropriate boundries with "students"? If so, that would explain it, otherwise it's a free country, once you leave you can talk to whom ever you want just not through the school.

[/quote]

Why don't you go ask Marla how Len feels about free speech. Oh and she's right about the threats of being arrested. After escaping I returned with some friends when our PG graduated. We parked at the end of the road and waited for everyone to come out. We were told by HLA staffers if we set foot on the property we would be arrested for trespassing. You should have seen how furious they got when they found out they couldnt do anything about us sitting at the end of the road.

Priceless.

[Anonymous]

most staff members sign non disclosure agreements in return for a generous severance pay. i've talked to a few ex-staff, and i have to say  a few things

1. if they talked, and broke the agreement, HLA would be shut down in two seconds, but the ex-staff will be broke or in jail.

2. the school is going broke becouse they have to pay ALOT of people severence pay to shut up. without this expenditure parents would be getting their refunds.

3. just the simple fact that they had to pay off nearly every staff that worked there, down to the nightstaff and maintanace should send a red flag to the judge.

[Anonymous]

The judge does not know this...maybe the lot  of you that have any kind of scruples left, will go to the Judge.  He is very nice.

Although, many companies have severance contracts of non-disclosure or no-compete without permission.  It is just that 'he'
stretches everything beyond limits.

i think it is time for all of you, including what is left of current staff
to come clean.  Call the Judge, call Berger and Montague, call
ORS...

It amazes me that Charles Cates can actually live with himself and look at his wife and children.

All of those who kept their silence should be on their hands and knees in asking forgiveness.

And, the sweet young man that passed away in Texas, that did not get the proper help, yet his trusting parents, had donations sent to HLA.. Remember him when you look in the mirror,  then call his parents and ask forgiveness.  In case he became just a dollar amount, his name was Patrick Kennedy.

[Anonymous]

or how about that girl that hung herself in the closet? the one that had get ranger-helecoptered to a hospital. as far as i know, she got out of a coma nearly braindead. if i remember right it was in 04...or was it 03? she did it while kids were off on vacation. some one help me remember her name....

or how about the girl that got raped with a tree limb?

or the kids from pre-2002 HLA that only got cheese sandwitches on restriction....that are still suffering from esophogeal erosion, ulcers, and dental problems from having scurvy.....once upon a time, they didnt serve fruit to kids on restriction.

or how about the kids still suffering from general anxiety, from all the paraoia?

maybe they should mention speed dreaming.

or all the kids that cut while at HLA, with razors from the artroom, that reapear between the pages of a budhist book, only to serve their purpose again.

or Sean Davis, who slit his wrists and wrote ILOVEGOD all over the walls.

maybe they should mention that you could still see Sean's words written in blood in dorm A, hidden by a single layer of cheap paint.

oh wait.. watch how they paint over again before the judge sees it.

how about the kids who came back from surgery, only to wither in pain for days when they find out their rightfully perscribed Vicodin was switched with neurontin and advil.    

or the septic tank that you can smell for miles?

[ExStaff2003]

I worked there for almost all of 2003 and was asked to leave because I was sniffing around not-so-truthful hiring practices. All staff who leave are warned (by Bill Gray, David Reifenberger)not to come back on campus or they will arrested for trespassing. I had tried to contact former staff(coworkers) through the main office, but was unsuccessful. We were also told that we were not supposed to contact students.Things may have changed since then--to whomever questioned me earlier about this---but that's how it was.I was not let go for poor boundaries--Judas Priest!!

My initials will be left out of this, but I am not from your neck of the woods that's for sure. Try way up north of Georgia.

I enjoyed workign there(with students) but the mgmt will succeed in ruinign that place.

[Anonymous]

Amy Klemm tried to hang herself. I was her suitemate, and came back from Chirstmas early (in 2003) only to be told I wasn' allowed in my room. They didn't do anything to help. Also Ao Chikata tried to jump over the balcony is Dorm C once upon atime. Or how about Laura Shelley who would cry and cry every damn day about her "problems" (with brian alano) and old cry to us. WE WERE LOCKED UP. YOU CAN GO HomE TONIGHT CRY BABY.

[Anonymous]

I worked at HLA from 1996 to 2003. Amy Klemms actions, was one of the reasons I left the school. Very sad and unnecessary action. I have all kinds of GOOD stories to tell about HLA, and the way the school was in its inception. Amy was NOT one of the good stories.

[happyday7]

The school may have been good in 1996 to 2003 when you were there, I cannot vouch for that...I can only tell you that HLA sucked out loud in 2006 and 2007 with dwinding staff and dwindling paychecks to the ones that remained there. In May 2007, all teachers had left including the academic director except for 5 to 6 diehard teachers like Hawley Stevens, Sam Tanner, Greer Dover and maybe 2 other teachers who taught core subjects. Familes that paid tuition in 2006 and 2007 got totally ripped off by paying for a high priced tuition and getting very sub standard services in education and supervision. The staff that was left had their pay cut down and could not do all the jobs they were expected to do. What was wrong was for HLA to continue to paint a pretty picture of how life at HLA was when in fact it was in shambles and crumbling more and more every single day! The administation did a poor job.

[Anonymous]

i'm sure HLA started off with good intentions. and i'm sure it was great for a while. but as with everything, attempting to move something from a small scale to a big scale is a gamble. e.g like with true democracy - it worked great in Athens back in the day, but with 290 million people in this country it would be a disaster to implement that kind of system. likewise, something that worked with a population of 20 wont neccesarily work with 200.


i was at hla when amy hung herself....didnt she end up in a coma for a while, only to come out with serious brain damage? i'd be very surprised if the parents didnt do something about HLA's involvement in her decison to attempt suicide. (and they DID play a big part). i'm not sure if this pertain's to Amy's or Nyssa's case, but didnt (one of them) threaten to hang herself only moments before it happened, and her counselor sarcastically said something along the lines of "go do it, i dont care....".

some of the things that went on at HLA still haunt me. one moment your talking to your freind in the lodge, and then the next time you see her she's being flown out in a ranger helicopter on the brink of death. then you spend the next half decade wondering if there alive or dead.
i remember the day i came, i was moving into dorm A just a little bit after sean davis wrote "i love god" in his blood all over the walls. i got quite the first impression about HLA that day. too bad my parents couldnt see it....and couldnt be told about it. or how about watching  3 400-pound men (clay, clay, and ted) sitting on top of ["restraining"] a screaming and crying 90-pound girl (evie) on your first week.