HIDDEN LAKE ACADEMY,INC. FILES BANKRUPTCY

[Anonymous]

I've never seen so much baloney in such a discussion group. What's sad is so many people take all of these anonymous posts as gospel.  Who really knows if such and such anonymous poster really is who they say they are or really experienced such and such.  Myself, I prefer primary sources  such as the legal docs or inspection reports. At least they are  somewhat unbiased.  Given that, even legal docs are just opinions of both sides. Unfortunately, BOTH SIDES agreed to settle the major lawsuit in lieu of trial.  The inspection reports are more accurate, but they seem to just reference paperwork errors. Out of the dozens of staffers at the school, attacks seem to be focused on just a few. All of them don't work there anymore, anyways.

For what it's worth, I will state that right now you can walk down the halls and everything is stapled or taped to the walls.  Just typical "rah rah" type academic stuff you see in any school.   I haven't seen a tack or razor blade anywhere. I also know that the current student/staff ratio is about 1:1.  I've only seen one fight and it was broken up by counselors almost immediately when it started. For their own safety, the kids are watched almost constantly from the time they wake up til they go to bed. This type of school requires it. Maybe a past instructor/counselor or two had some issues, but I dare you to find anyone working there today "in the trenches" who doesn't desire nothing but the best for each and every child. just my .02.

[Anonymous]

And what are your 'qualifications' to help addicts, cutters, pedophiles,bulimics,anorexics,psychopaths,sociopaths,rape victims,incest vicitms ,suicidal children,
 ADHD children, ODD children, court ordered children, etc.  That was HLA when my child was there, including one narcissist and numerous sycophants. Did you get your degree on-line like Chris Grimwood?  HLA had no business taking children that were in need of very special care, when HLA could not provide the appropriate help with seasoned, licensed providers.  Hell two M.D.'s didn't even hold an MD for Gods sake.  Buccellato was forced to get rid of one fake MD knowing he wasn't even an MD and then used "Clay Erickson  M.D." for marketing purposes, knowing full well Clay was stripped of his MD.  The State of Georgia came in and forced Buccellato to remove the MD after Mr. Ericksons name.
Again, there are 2900 pages of ORS documents with regard to their investigation of HLA in 2006 that forced licensing.

[Anonymous]

Please re-read my last two lines of my previous post. Sorry for your grief. Don't know much about 2006, only today.  Currently, I don't think there are any complaints about the qualifications of current staff or state/Fed. demands for any additional HLA licensure or certifications.

[TheWho]

Bankruptcy forces the owners to take a realistic look at what it is that got them to that point and gives them a chance to change things, make adjustments so that they don’t repeat their past mistakes.  It also gives them a clean slate to redefine the school and the direction they would like to take it in, reorganize staff and philosophies.  HLA, like most places that emerge successfully from bankruptcy, will become better and stronger because of it.

I think what we are starting to see is a clash in the experiences of the old HLA vs the new HLA.  It is interesting to watch this transition.

[Anonymous]

For what it's worth, I will state that right now you can walk down the halls and everything is stapled or taped to the walls.  Just typical "rah rah" type academic stuff you see in any school.   I haven't seen a tack or razor blade anywhere. I also know that the current student/staff ratio is about 1:1.  I've only seen one fight and it was broken up by counselors almost immediately when it started. For their own safety, the kids are watched almost constantly from the time they wake up til they go to bed. This type of school requires it. Maybe a past instructor/counselor or two had some issues, but I dare you to find anyone working there today "in the trenches" who doesn't desire nothing but the best for each and every child. just my .02.

did you walk through the dorms and see the personalized bulliten boards that every student has next to their bed? thumbtacks. and of course you never saw any razor blades. as soon as one is visible it gets stolen and stashed by a student.

anything you see during a tour is a facade. they clean up the school for a day or two and only bring you to see the "safe" areas and the "good" kids, and do everything they can to get your money. did you not have a single independant thought going through your head while you were there? were you just allowing the HLA salesmen to freely inject thoughts into your head?

did you ever consider how the school was built and maintained since the inception? child labor. Lower left was once forest. until the kids were given saws and axes and told "CHOP! and dont let the splinters hit you in the nuts!". all those nice pathways, including the one around the lake? kids. the gravel road to ridge creek? kids. the added 300sqft of dirt on the lakeside of lower left (the creek diversion)? kids. rock walls? kids. 90% of the landscaping and maintenance is done by the kids.  

fights dont always get broken up. there is a nighttime fight-club that has been running for the last decade or so at HLA. It happens at night in the dorms, students wait till nightstaff is asleep then a few people sneak into one room and they have a fight tournament. older students initiate the newer students who in turn initiate others as they come to the school.  the school has tried to break it up on numerous occasions but there's nothing they could do to permanently get rid of it. it's part of HLA's legacy. Also, some of the time staff allow the students to fight it out before they separate them if a fight happens during the day. fights are not the problem at HLA.

Instructor or two? more like everyone who worked there EXCEPT an instructor or two were on power trips.

why do we remain anonymous? because we have already suffered enough abuse and dont feel like further defending our own integrity beyond our graduation/pull date from HLA. we dont want to hire lawyers to defend us. we dont want harrasing phone calls. we dont want hired thugs showing up at our house. what we know and describe in our posts can be corroborated by anyone who has spent any time at hidden lake.

do you see people spending so much time trying to bring down other schools? NO. why do you think? because they are innocent. we are here, fornits is here because HLA is not innocent. the tens of thousands of posts on this site dont exist just because of a few disgruntled employees and angry students. do you really think we would go through so many years of effort just because of a grudge? you have to be insane to think that.

You have some serious intellectual deficiencies. please go see your local logic professor so he may whip you with his cane and maybe pass along a few IQ points through osmosis during the impact.

[Anonymous]

Last two posts: TheWho returns?

[Anonymous]

Bankruptcy forces the owners to take a realistic look at what it is that got them to that point and gives them a chance to change things, make adjustments so that they don’t repeat their past mistakes.  It also gives them a clean slate to redefine the school and the direction they would like to take it in, reorganize staff and philosophies.  HLA, like most places that emerge successfully from bankruptcy, will become better and stronger because of it.

I think what we are starting to see is a clash in the experiences of the old HLA vs the new HLA.  It is interesting to watch this transition.

When one has a crook minding the store, there is no 'old' vs. 'new'.  Two reasons this clown still has his Psychology license is because the psychiatrists that were affiliated with HLA did not have the moxie to turn Buccellato in and the Class case did not go to trial.  Remember.."a leopard cannot change his spots".

[Anonymous]

I think what we are starting to see is a clash in the experiences of the old HLA vs the new HLA.  It is interesting to watch this transition.

every year HLA claims to be done with the "old" HLA and in with the "NEW" hla. how many headmasters has the school had since the beginning? how many counselors? do you remember the turnover rate? how much has changed in the day-to-day operations at the school, and how much has REALLY changed? it's gotten less worse, but not any better. it's like if stalin tried to claim a good human rights record based on installing a few jacuzzis at a few gulags. a gulag is a gulag, jacuzzi or not.

[Anonymous]

it's like if stalin tried to claim a good human rights record based on installing a few jacuzzis at a few gulags. a gulag is a gulag, jacuzzi or not.

ya, ve zend zees poliker criminalz to zee tundrra, dey vork, dey die, but ve have jacuzzis for zem! dey be cold vhen vork, den dey be varm in jacuzzi after! look! nyet vrostbite! goood ethic! DA!?

[RobertBruce]

Please re-read my last two lines of my previous post. Sorry for your grief. Don't know much about 2006, only today.  Currently, I don't think there are any complaints about the qualifications of current staff or state/Fed. demands for any additional HLA licensure or certifications.

Current staff? That's because they no longer list the staff on the website, for just that reason. They don't want anyone checking up on their qualifications, or lack thereof.

As to their current license status, who knows what it is? HLA has an established record of not caring about proper licensure. The last report made available states that a corrective plan of action is due by 01/24/09 or HLA will no longer licensed. Whatever happened with that?


As for 1 or 2 bad staff members in the past. Please, enlighten us as to who these two rotton apples were. What steps were taken to remove these two, and what damage did they inflict? Are you certain there were no other bad or abusive staff members in the past fifteen years?

I'll agree with you on the staff to student ration probably being 1:1. That's of course because their referal network was decimated.  :seg:

You also mentioned a "new" HLA. How new can it be when the same people are at the helm?