The school was founded in 1994 by Dr. Leonard Buccelatto in Dahlonega, Georgia.[5] It was intended to "fill the need for a specialty school to fill the gap between services of residential treatment centers and traditional boarding schools."[6]
A federal class action lawsuit against the school by a group of parents was filed in 2006. Although denied class action status, the parties settled out of court for $400,000.[5] The lawsuit caused a drop in student enrollments and cost the school $1.5 million in legal fees.[5] This, combined with the impact of a poor economy, led the school to file for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 in 2009.[5]
After the bankruptcy hearing, the school was renamed "Ridge Creek School".[7] In 2011, a disturbance occurred in which multiple students tried to leave the school. This resulted in the Lumpkin County Sheriff's Office being called out to the scene.[8] The school closed later that year.[3]
About the program
New students had typically struggled with homework, depression, anger management, or various addictions. Some students were from outside the United States. The student population ranged from 15 to 200. Hidden Lake Academy was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS), and the Georgia Accreditation Commission (GAC).[9]
The length of the program was eighteen to twenty-one months.[10][11] Each group consisted of fourteen students and the daily group counselling sessions were seven hours long.[12]
Campus
The campus included academic and recreational facilities designed to support student education and extracurricular activities. The academic facilities consisted of 15 classrooms, including a building with seven classrooms, a library, a computer room, and a science lab. Additional spaces were available for arts and crafts, aerobics, dance, and drama.[13]
Ridge Creek
The Ridge Creek wilderness program was founded in 2001 and was listed on National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs (NATSAP) website as early as 2003.[14] The address listed on the NATSAP and Ridge Creek websites is the same as that of Hidden Lake Academy.[15] Additionally, the website states that Leonard Buccelatoo was also the founder of Ridge Creek.[16]
↑ Johnston, Abby (June 7, 2013). "To be or not to be Danny Malone?". AustinChronicle.com. Archived from the original on May 15, 2023. Retrieved December 10, 2019. The facility has since closed, never quite recovering from a $400,000 lawsuit over accreditation.
↑ "NATSAP 2009 Directory"(PDF). National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs. p.78. Archived(PDF) from the original on September 1, 2021. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
↑ O'Hagan, Sean; O'Hagan, Sean (September 19, 2009). "The last days of Dash Snow". The Observer. Guardian Media Group. ISSN0029-7712. OCLC50230244. Retrieved May 6, 2023. Snow's rebellion against his family, and his mother in particular, seems to have begun in earnest when, as a disruptive child, he was sent by her to a boarding school called Hidden Lake Academy in Georgia which specialised in the treatment of children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder.
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