Academy at Sisters

[MorganMDC]

There is no reason to be prescribing unnecessary risks. This girl is obviously very intelligent, nothing here has indicated that she is a threat to her own life.  Who here would really sign her off on this sentence?.  So far this 14 yr old is communicating in as adult a fashion as anyone here, arguably moreso.  Supporting action of this kind against this girl should come with some solid reasoning.

I still think that everyone is acting reasonable enough to do this at home, and that is the best solution.

[Troll Control]

I hope your parents understand what "unaccredited academics" are, Morgan.  They're going to set you back academically and most high schools and colleges won't accept any credits from the "self-study" programs.  You have an opportunity to turn it around at a real school, but these programs can really damage a kid's chances.

[Troll Control]

my daughters peer group graduated

She sure as hell didn't graduate high school from an unaccredited program.  You said she dropped out of school when she came home.  

That's not a "graduate" or "graduating."  That term leads people to believe a kid can get an actual diploma from these places, which they can't.  Most of these kids are stuck repeating grades or just getting a GED.

[Whooter]

From a parents perspective many of these kids are not going to high school at all so getting them into a class room and studying  is a big step by itself.  In my daughters case the program she attended worked with a local high school and was able to hand out diplomas. (She graduated from the program and graduated from her local high-school after she got home).   I believe the Academy at Sisters has a similar set-up.

What I suggest is to have the parents ask the school how their academics are set up and how the kids typically do after they go back to their highschools.  Many of the kids at the Academy at Swift River were gaining acceptance to college right from the Academy itself, but it depends on what grade you are in when you enter.  Most programs can gain the children access to taking PSAT's or SAT's.



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[MorganMDC]

From a parents perspective many of these kids are not going to high school at all so getting them into a class room and studying  is a big step by itself.  In my daughters case the program she attended worked with a local high school and was able to hand out diplomas. (She graduated from the program and graduated from her local high-school after she got home).   I believe the Academy at Sisters has a similar set-up.

What I suggest is to have the parents ask the school how their academics are set up and how the kids typically do after they go back to their highschools.  Many of the kids at the Academy at Swift River were gaining acceptance to college right from the Academy itself, but it depends on what grade you are in when you enter.  Most programs can gain the children access to taking PSAT's or SAT's.



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From my parents perspective, high school is not the issue, college is.
Just to give you an insight as to how the Academy says their education set up is, Chesley told us that all curiclum, programs, credits, etc. is run through Bend High School.
They have to meet the criteria that teachers in that high school would, and as a student, you have to be at the same level as the students attending.
Apparently, your stay at the Academy shows up on your transcript as if you were attending Bend high school.
If all goes well and as is planned, I am only attending this year - which is my sophomore year, - which means I wouldn't be receiving a diploma anyway.
Dysfunction Junction, I don't think my parents see any signs of the Academy giving "unaccredited academics". I'm not sure either way.

[Troll Control]

Whooter posted anon for a while when he came back after dropping his old username "TheWho."  You can start reading here to get the flow of the conversation and a few posts below Whooter (posting anon) says his daughter actually dropped out of high school and it eventually took her 5 years to graduate because the 16 months she spent at ASR didn't count for any high school credits.  For what it's worth, at the time she was there, ASR was legally barred from issuing state diplomas and was not accredited at all, contrary to what Whooter says in this thread.  In the link above he even says they were working on accreditation.

He also says she was smoking pot and drinking.  Dropping out + still using drugs + still drinking underage does not = "the program was successful" IMHO.  Rather it seems to have been a complete waste of time and money, not to mention setting her back 16 months academically.

Please, Morgan, let your parents know about these programs that are not allowed to issue high school credits.  I did a quick search on the Academy at Sisters on the Oregon department of Education website (you can enter the search terms "Academy at Sisters" here and see for yourself) and for the years they have data they show no graduates went on to college after leaving there.  They only "graduate" about 4 kids per year as well.

[Troll Control]

From a parents perspective many of these kids are not going to high school at all so getting them into a class room and studying  is a big step by itself.  In my daughters case the program she attended worked with a local high school and was able to hand out diplomas. (She graduated from the program and graduated from her local high-school after she got home).   I believe the Academy at Sisters has a similar set-up.

What I suggest is to have the parents ask the school how their academics are set up and how the kids typically do after they go back to their highschools.  Many of the kids at the Academy at Swift River were gaining acceptance to college right from the Academy itself, but it depends on what grade you are in when you enter.  Most programs can gain the children access to taking PSAT's or SAT's.



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From my parents perspective, high school is not the issue, college is.
Just to give you an insight as to how the Academy says their education set up is, Chesley told us that all curiclum, programs, credits, etc. is run through Bend High School.
They have to meet the criteria that teachers in that high school would, and as a student, you have to be at the same level as the students attending.
Apparently, your stay at the Academy shows up on your transcript as if you were attending Bend high school.
If all goes well and as is planned, I am only attending this year - which is my sophomore year, - which means I wouldn't be receiving a diploma anyway.
Dysfunction Junction, I don't think my parents see any signs of the Academy giving "unaccredited academics". I'm not sure either way.

They are actually not accredited by the state of Oregon.  They're registered as a private school, but not accredited.  They are accredited by the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools, a program "rubber stamper" that covers most programs that are not state accredited.  Some programs have been sued and shut down for issuing state diplomas illegally under NAAS because NAAS standards are far below state standards.  Click here and scroll down to the part about the Academy at Ivy Ridge, a WWASP program sued by New York state and all of the kids' parents after they found out AIR was issuing NAAS diplomas as "New York State high school diplomas."  NAAS is very shady and well-known to be a red flag to colleges.

In 2005 the Association attracted controversy when it was found to have accredited a school in New York that was found to be issuing high school diplomas without the necessary state authorizations, which are supposed to be prerequisites for accreditation.[2] Association officials told the press that it had accredited this school, Academy at Ivy Ridge, and other schools located outside its primary service region because they were operated by the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools, which is based inside the region, in Utah.[3]

NAAS accredidation has nothing whatsoever to do with the state of Oregon.

[MorganMDC]

Whooter posted anon for a while when he came back after dropping his old username "TheWho."  You can start reading here to get the flow of the conversation and a few posts below Whooter (posting anon) says his daughter actually dropped out of high school and it eventually took her 5 years to graduate because the 16 months she spent at ASR didn't count for any high school credits.  For what it's worth, at the time she was there, ASR was legally barred from issuing state diplomas and was not accredited at all, contrary to what Whooter says in this thread.  In the link above he even says they were working on accreditation.

He also says she was smoking pot and drinking.  Dropping out + still using drugs + still drinking underage does not = "the program was successful" IMHO.  Rather it seems to have been a complete waste of time and money, not to mention setting her back 16 months academically.

Please, Morgan, let your parents know about these programs that are not allowed to issue high school credits.  I did a quick search on the Academy at Sisters on the Oregon department of Education website (you can enter the search terms "Academy at Sisters" here and see for yourself) and for the years they have data they show no graduates went on to college after leaving there.  They only "graduate" about 4 kids per year as well.

So there is absolutely no record of them going through Bend high school during the time you're schooling with them?
Wow, thanks.
How lovely.

[Whooter]

From a parents perspective many of these kids are not going to high school at all so getting them into a class room and studying  is a big step by itself.  In my daughters case the program she attended worked with a local high school and was able to hand out diplomas. (She graduated from the program and graduated from her local high-school after she got home).   I believe the Academy at Sisters has a similar set-up.

What I suggest is to have the parents ask the school how their academics are set up and how the kids typically do after they go back to their highschools.  Many of the kids at the Academy at Swift River were gaining acceptance to college right from the Academy itself, but it depends on what grade you are in when you enter.  Most programs can gain the children access to taking PSAT's or SAT's.



...

From my parents perspective, high school is not the issue, college is.
Just to give you an insight as to how the Academy says their education set up is, Chesley told us that all curiclum, programs, credits, etc. is run through Bend High School.
They have to meet the criteria that teachers in that high school would, and as a student, you have to be at the same level as the students attending.
Apparently, your stay at the Academy shows up on your transcript as if you were attending Bend high school.
If all goes well and as is planned, I am only attending this year - which is my sophomore year, - which means I wouldn't be receiving a diploma anyway.
Dysfunction Junction, I don't think my parents see any signs of the Academy giving "unaccredited academics". I'm not sure either way.

Morgan,  This is how the Academy at Swift River was set up too (through a local high school), very similar to AAS.   Some of the kids and parents worried that having a Therapeutic Boarding School on their record would hurt their chances to get into college but all the kids got accepted into their school of choice after graduating.  But it looks like either way Academy at Sisters will not show up on your transcripts.
Many of the kids ended up way ahead academically after they left.



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[Troll Control]

Many of the kids ended up way ahead academically after they left.

I'd have to see some sort of proof on that claim.  Some state statistics or something.  That's a really big claim to make without any documentation.

Right now, all we have to go on is Whooter's daughter, who dropped out of high school when she got home, eventually taking 5 years to complete 4 years of work because her 16 months at ASR didn't count toward her required credits.  

Sadly, this is the case with many program attendees and it has been well discussed by them here on Fornits and other survivor groups around the web.  Odds are that Morgan will end up losing all credit for her sophomore year because high schools and colleges don't accept NAAS credits.

[Joel]

Edited: Wednesday, October 06, 2010

[Whooter]

Many of the kids ended up way ahead academically after they left.

I'd have to see some sort of proof on that claim.  Some state statistics or something.  That's a really big claim to make without any documentation.

Right now, all we have to go on is Whooter's daughter, who dropped out of high school when she got home, eventually taking 5 years to complete 4 years of work because her 16 months at ASR didn't count toward her required credits.  

Sadly, this is the case with many program attendees and it has been well discussed by them here on Fornits and other survivor groups around the web.  Odds are that Morgan will end up losing all credit for her sophomore year because high schools and colleges don't accept NAAS credits.

Many of the kids had dropped out of school prior to placement in ASR and had a lot of catching up to do.  Within the 12 to 16 months they spent there they were able to not only catch up but exceeded their friends which were back home on regular classes.  I think the reason for this is that there isn't a ton of distraction and there is a lot of time to study... a lot of time lol.  So the kids end up catching up very easily.

I dont know if there are any studies out there anywhere but this was the case with the kids that were there when my daughter attended.



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[Troll Control]

Let's also be sure to let people know of ASR's ongoing problems with licensure and accreditation. There are some serious ethical questions raised by their behavior in this respect.

They let you know they are not accredited in the state of massachusetts in the initial interview...  My daughter was way ahead academically when she returned home in comparison to her peers at school

A few years ago Whooter did admit ASR was indeed unaccredited, that is, not lawfully allowed to hand out diplomas from the state but seems to have changed his story from his daughter being "well ahead academically" to "dropped out and took 5 years to finish high school" and eventually back again.  Now he's again claiming she was way ahead.  But if that's true, why did it take her five years to finish high school and everyone else four years?  Doesn't quite add up, does it?  The missing piece is that she got no credits while at ASR, an unaccredited school, and lost a years' worth of work and effort.

The story tends to change a lot, but you can dig out the truth if you read back a ways.  This is why it's hard for parents like yours, Morgan, to get a straight story from program pimps here because you really have to be familiar with the characters to know where to look for their true stories which are always far different from what they want your folks to believe.  They're trying to put heads in beds and asses in chairs.  They're not going to be honest.

[Whooter]

Let's also be sure to let people know of ASR's ongoing problems with licensure and accreditation. There are some serious ethical questions raised by their behavior in this respect.

They let you know they are not accredited in the state of massachusetts in the initial interview...  My daughter was way ahead academically when she returned home in comparison to her peers at school

A few years ago Whooter did admit ASR was indeed unaccredited,

Exactly,  the school will let you know if they are accredited or not.   Many schools work with a local high-school like academy at Sisters does so that the credits can be put towards your local highschool when the child returns homes.  ASR did this originally for a few years when they first opened.

The accreditation piece is typically a great concern to parents and should be cleared up prior to enrolling.  Another bit of advice is to try to speak with other parents and kids who have graduate from the program.  This allows them to get a point of view from the parents perspective and how other kids made out when they got home.



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[Joel]

Edited: Wednesday, October 06, 2010