Author Topic: Ashcreek Academy reviews  (Read 3478 times)

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Offline Oscar

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Ashcreek Academy reviews
« on: October 15, 2020, 08:33:02 AM »
The facility is located north of La Verkin in Utah. The owner Tammy Prince aka Tammy Berhmann was also involved with Copper Canyon Academy - now known as Sedona Academy.

Quote from: Amy Farrell
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Stay clear. This place is nothing close to what the website presents. Communication is horrible, staff ratios are low, therapeutic approach shifted with the wind during the two months my son attended and was never clearly defined. Emotional & physical safety are not a priority. Boundaries are loosely enforced (at best). Weekend activities include an hour or two of rec time and a bunch of sitting around. Promises are made to the boys and never followed through, with no explanations. Academically the teachers don't communicate and when pushed provide only bear bones feedback. After endless complaining the food did improve over the Fall but the amount of sugar and processed foods provided showed the level of disregard to overall health and wellness. My son made amazing progress at Wilderness and Ashcreek not only failed to build and leverage that growth but set him back. Fortunately we pulled him from the program and he is now thriving in a new environment.

Quote from: Wilson G
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Ashcreek Ranch Academy is truly the worst experience of my 17 years on this planet. Worse than when I was bullied and suicidal, worse than when I wasn't allowed in my own home because my family was afraid of me. It is run by greedy power-hungry pigs absorbed in their own wealth. Darren Prince is NOTHING but a good salesman. He manipulates any parent that takes a tour of ARA. The amount of lies that are told by the administration is repulsive and shameful. I was bullied while at Ashcreek by students AND staff. I admit that I did feed the fire at some points. But when a group of students urinated on my bed and clothes the staff did nothing to find out who it was or punish them. I have been verbally abused at times and berated by staff. There have been times where staff have restrained me and used excessive force when none was necessary. Those times remind me of the videos where a police officer shoots someone because he was "resisting" when the suspect was not, the officer was looking for an excuse to use that force. The staff are highly unprofessional, I have personally heard a 21 year old staff make sexual remarks about a students 15 year old sister. This same man also sexually harassed female staff and glorified drugs and sex. He has said that he wanted to hit his wife and talked about his sexual encounters with her. I strongly encourage parents to find another program. Your son will be emotionally traumatized and will NOT make therapeutic progress. I have seen many kids leave or graduate this place and only know of two that are sober. Parents, when you talk to a student of Ashcreek and they say positives about the program that is because they a scared of the consequences of saying negative things. There have been staff that would intentionally humiliate students. I was forced against a wall and made to stand nose to the corner because I didn't want to vacuum. The program is built upon a mountain of lies. Darren Prince constantly tells us and parents about projects that will be finished with in a month, and they never get finished. For example, the transitional living home, we were supposed to have kids living there in mid February, but that never happened. There are numerous examples of discrimination of students, or rude comments made about a student's sexual orientation or race. The residential director, Dave Saldana, has made derogatory comments about gay students, calling them sexual predators. I asked Dave if a student with a turban would be allowed to wear it inside, and Dave responded by saying "Hell no! I wouldn't even let and of them in here! Freaking terrorists!" I was being questioned by Dave Saldana at one point about personal stuff. He asked a question I was not comfortable answering, so I told him "I don't have to tell you that, you're not my therapist." He promptly escorted me to the basement and forced me to sit in a chair and stare at a wall for about 2 hours while he used his iPad. This program emotionally traumatized me and did not help. When I was pulled I told my parents about the injustice and they were enraged. Ashcreek will milk every penny they can out of you, the parent. They will lie to you about your son's progress and tell you he needs to stay longer. Parents, I STRONGLY encourage you to find another program, I do believe treatment can help, but I don't believe Ashcreek is the right place for anybody. Please email me if you have any more questions about the multitudes of injustices Ashcreek does.

Quote from: Noah Hoge
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DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILDREN TO ASHCREEK RANCH ACADEMY.

I had a 2 month stay at ARA (May-June 2015) and it was the absolute worst period of my life. I was pulled from the program by my parents because I was being discriminated upon for my sexuality, not by students, but surprisingly by STAFF.
Please note that the majority of the staff at ARA are Mormon (nothing is wrong with that) but they push their beliefs on the students.

In my 2 month stay, I observed horrific things.

  • staff broke a kid's wrist while restraining him (when the kid was NOT fighting against the restraint).The issue was put down-low and no staff were fired or suspended for any time.
  • Horse mistreatment/cruelty
  • Ranch staff aggressively hitting, kicking, elbowing horses when the horses were of no harm. Horses are never cleaned, brushed, washed, etc.
  • Staff cussing at students.
  • I was personally called a dumb-ass several times by staff at the ranch. I also heard terrible vulgar words being thrown at students in the house by house staff.
  • When ARA was being visited, the staff forced all of us students to pretend to be happy and go out and do activities around the house to make the program look good.
  • I was told by many staff of ARA that my sexuality was wrong and I should not be who I am. I was laughed at, joked about, and yelled at by staff.
  • Staff teaching about natural psychedelic plants around the house which resulted in an epidemic of several students taking the plants and getting high off of them to a very dangerous extent. The natural psychedelic plant was poisonous to the liver.
  • Staff taking belongings from students and hiding them away and never giving them back such as shoes, clothing, books, etc.
  • All food is from the freezer (completely unhealthy)
  • Staff yelling at students harshly which creates a negative vibe around the house

All students at ARA are miserable. When I was there, the only thing that got us all through the program was each other. The staff were terrible to us so we ONLY had each other.

ARA was a horrible and awful experience for me. After being transported out of ARA, I was put in a treatment program in Puerto Rico called Surfhouse, where I am doing great and have created a better relationships my family and friends and my life is headed in the right direction.

Don't make a mistake and send your child to ARA. Your family and your son deserve much better.

Best wishes to all of you on your journey.

Quote from: Justin Salmon
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I am a former student of ashcreek. I first came there in the beginning of 2013 and was there for 15 months. I hated it, and I loved it. But as far as treatment, I learned most of my knowledge of drugs just living there. I was sent for a minor drug issue and walked away from there with the mind of a pharmacist. Upon graduation, I did not go directly home and instead attended school at the local high school and lived with associates of Ashcreek. After another year of living a semi free life in the local town, I returned back to my hometown. After being gone for 3-4 years, I basically had to jump back into normal life, without warning, resulting in a methamphetamine addiction along side with other "hard" drugs that I had never used prior to Ashcreek. I will say that I graduated the program, and learned a lot about horses. But where has it left me? A high school drop out and Junkie? You know it! Just some advise to parents who want to send their kids to a residential home, UNLESS you're kid is so messed up that his life is in danger, don't. Because you might end up turning your kid into the 100lb tweaker on "COPS." ID SUGGEST A PARENT SHOULD SEE A THERAPIST OFFICE before casting their kid out to some program for a year against their will. That causes more damage than good. I have used a different name to conceal my identity due in part because of my drug addiction. I never would have expected to be doing crystal meth and cocaine in high school, therefore, the 7steps had failed and I can't think of any other student besides one who is sober. Kudos to the one, but the rest of us never benefitted from it.

Quote from: Jake Anastasi
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My name is Noah Seri.I am on my step brothers account. I just recently came home from a ten month stay at Ash creek. I have a lot to say about this place and the people who run it. First of all, I personally think Tammy Prince (aka Tammy Berhmann) and Darren Prince, the owners of the program, are manipulative, consumed in their own wealth, and deceitful to parents looking to send their kid to ash creek. I saw Darren come in and give tours all the time, making sure to choose the most well behaved students to come and glorify the program. The teachers every time would come and play like puppets when darren was giving tours. The only relationship i have seen Darren build with a student is one where he was taking him to LDS church services every sunday. I witnessed numerous accounts of misconduct during my time at Ash creek. A restraint that resulted in some sort of wrist injury ( the student had a cast for a few weeks), insensitive and religiously biased comments in group therapy about a homosexual student. There was nothing derogatory said, however the program director at the time said that he " didnt agree with the choice to be gay" . He emphasized several times that he believed it was a choice. I personally was shoved into a window by an employee at the ranch, and the glass broke. He did this in reaction to me shoving him in the shoulder ( i meant it playfully, however it was not appropriate on my end) . The staff was put on suspension, came back two weeks later and then left a few months after that and no longer works there. One of Ash creeks policy is that if a student is refusing to do something they are to be restrained physically by bending the wrist, even if that student was not in physical danger to himself or others. Garth Lasater, the clinical director, is a great man who invests personally in each student. He was always kind, proffesional, and respectful. Dave Saldana, the residential director, is also a very open minded man who supports and cares for every kid. Garth actually bought me a pair of sneakers because mine were in poor condition. Another thing is that the food is mostly frozen stuff warmed in an oven by our cook. At one time we were having frozen corn dogs once a week, we still have frozen orange chicken and rice every thursday (as of one week ago when i was there), and little ceasars pizza every friday. The lunch is usually cooked and of higher quality, except for fridays when we ate leftovers in the fridge for lunch. If you are considering sending your kid to ash creek, please be mindful of Darrens intentions, him being the owner of the program. Really investigate if this is the right place for your son. Ive seen this program send many kids home that seem improved, however they boast about their "success rate", which is based off of how many kids graduate the program, not off of their home behavior. I personally know many kids who are home from ash creek who still display similar behaviors, but that being said i think ash creek does teach a lot of good lessons about becoming a man, being less entitled, self sufficient, respectful, and taking accountability for their actions. Unfortunately, i cant say the program itself takes accountability for THEIR actions. I had a lot of struggles at ash creek and that was not the fault at ash creek at all. I relapsed several times and only made it to level 2 in their program. I have been home over a week, i have applied for 3 jobs, i have been attending school every day, communicating well with my family, and i havent touched drugs or cigarettes. Please listen to your kid about what is going on if they are at ash creek, or any other treatment center, and do them the favor of really looking into the place before you send them there. I will say that i have seen ash creek academy attempt to improve as a program. PS: i forgot to mention the academic portion of the program. I passed 9th grade with As and Bs there on time for when i was leaving. How far you progress iin your credits depends on how hard you work. I liked the way the school was run