Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > Aspen Education Group
Mount Bachelor Academy Shut Down
Anonymous:
I feel I have to post in case there are some parents considering the Academy at Sisters (Bend, Oregon) as an alternative to MBA. My ex-husband put my daughter at the Academy at Sisters and while I am fairly certain they did not do the lap dancing and other forms of sexual role playing, they did engage in other forms of abuse mentioned at MBA. For instance, they will take away school credits and/or remove the student from the public school some of the students get to attend (Bend High School). In my daughters case this was done one week before finals because she made negative comments about the Academy to her father who was fully and completely brainwashed. This frequently happens before a girl is to graduate either from the program or high school in order to keep them longer. They also will force students to be isolated - either in solitary confinement or by not permitting them to interact with the other girls around them. For more than a month my daughter was not allowed to talk to the other girls or eat with them at mealtimes. The Academy even went so far as to tell the other Academy girls who attended Bend High School with my daughter that they had to ignore her and not acknowledge her while she was at school. Why a public high school puts up with shunning is beyond me but it is done frequently. On occasions they ask the girls to disclose embarrassing things about themselves to the group. Privacy and respect are nonexistent. They also have "feedback," that common form of abuse where they can only say "thank you" as all the other girls and staff tell you anything and everything negative about you they can come up with. Since the only way a girl can move up levels and get privledges is by snitching on the other students they will make up complete lies if they have to. The point of all this is that I am sure parents of Mt. Bachelor students are probably looking at alternatives for their kids who have been messed up by their experiences at MBA and can't return home. The Academy at Sisters is not the answer. I would imagine most programs are probably equally as abusive so all I can suggest is that you get a good therapist and maybe find a family member or friend the kid can live with for awhile. They get out of these programs very angry and need a lot of time, space and support to get acclimated to the real world. I was not prepared for the anger I saw when my daughter ran away a couple of weeks before her 18th birthday and was disowned by her father for a period of time. It has taken a couple of years to get to the point where she we no longer has nightmares about the place and she has been able to put it behind her.
Whooter:
This is why I always suggest that parents get to know the program that they intend to send their child to. They should speak to families who have gone thru the process and have had kids who graduated. If the particular program in question graduates kids who are angry and still heading down a bad path or living an at risk life style then they should avoid those programs.
The child should be seeing a therapist first before any program should be considered.
Whooter:
Dear Referring Professional Community,
We understand that there has been a flood of opinions and assumptions about Mount Bachelor Academy made in various forums lately, and we would like to clear up some of these rumors as well as update you on the status of our legal efforts.
First, we would like to reiterate that our initial focus has been and will continue to be on our students and families. The action by the Oregon DHS defies explanation, as we believe it was both entirely undeserved and unnecessarily urgent, thereby creating an enormous burden of distress and disruption to our students and families. After each student was carefully transitioned to alternative care or home, we began working to resolve academic issues. Upon notice of our suspension, we had nine students who were to graduate in December. At our attorney's insistence, the state agreed to modify the emergency license suspension so that MBA will be able to allow all students who had planned to graduate by the end of this year to complete their course work and receive diplomas on schedule.
Second, many of you have questioned why we have not mounted a more aggressive defense in the press, which has up to this point, produced numerous inaccurate and misleading reports. Given the complexity of the issues and the difficulty of discussing therapeutic approaches with public audiences amidst sensational headlines, we as a company decided not to pursue an extended defense in the press. Instead, we are focusing our efforts on the best legal options to defend the reputation of Mount Bachelor Academy and its outstanding, caring staff. Let me reassure you that we stand 100% behind the exceptional work accomplished at Mount Bachelor Academy and the talented professionals who worked tirelessly to help our students exceed even their own expectations. We did provide statements detailing our commitment to the school and its staff, yet the media often chose to ignore or incorporate mere portions of these statements.
It is with great regret that I share the reality that Mount Bachelor Academy will not reopen any time soon. Given the abrupt order to suspend operations and remove students within 48 hours, DHS effectively shut the school down. Rather than allowing us to make further adjustments to the program to address their concerns, as we had been doing for seven months, they determined that an emergency evacuation was needed.
Unfortunately and inexplicably, we have yet to be provided a copy of the full, unredacted report detailing the DHS allegations and findings. Although this full report will be central to our appeal of the allegations, we have already begun to "put the wheels in motion," so to speak.
Our attorneys are active on several fronts simultaneously. Before most of the students had left the campus, our attorneys had already appealed the emergency licensure suspension and the order requiring us to make further changes to the curriculum. The attorneys are pressing hard to get the complete and unredacted copy of the investigation report. They also are preparing to appeal the findings of the Office of Investigations and Training which substantiated the allegations of child abuse and neglect. We intend to challenge those findings vigorously, both on behalf of MBA and on behalf of its Executive Director personally.
Finally, our attorneys are exploring the possibility that the state may be financially liable to parents for the impact of the cruel and unnecessary manner in which the school's license was suspended. We have received reports by numerous parents of their intent to pursue their own legal action against the state for the unnecessary impact on their child and family.
We appreciate the outpouring of support we have received and continue to receive on behalf of the school and its employees. We hope that this communication helps to clarify the situation for you. We will do our best to continue to update you as more information becomes available and to the extent possible as we proceed with legal action.
Sincerely,
Phil Herschman
President, Aspen Education Group
Anonymous:
Empty threats, generic whining, and overall hopeless bullshit. Phil doesn't have a prayer.
Whooter:
--- Quote from: "Guest" ---Empty threats, generic whining, and overall hopeless bullshit. Phil doesn't have a prayer.
--- End quote ---
I dont see it as threats of any kind. I dont think MBA will open again ever either does he. But it is good to see a response to explain their direction. It is good that these parents are going after the state to recoop thier loss and that the state will allow those students to receive their diplomas. It appears all the kids were re-placed successfully and that is the important thing. In this economy it was probably a blessing that they cut a program or two, but they dont need the negative publicity.
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