Video testimony about Academy at Ivy Ridge - Volume IV

Academy at Ivy Ridge was founded in 2001. They used the curriculum invented by the WWASP organization. In 2005 they were forced to restructure because their high school diplomas was issued on a basis of a poor education quality. Melees among the students didn't improve anything. In 2009 they closed down without having contributed anything positive for the students who were forced to attend the school.

A former student visited deserted campus the former school. The building have been left empty for many years as its reputation in the local community has left it hard to sell. The suicide rate among former students who have passed through the WWASP curriculum is alarming high and rumors speak of the campuses widespread out over several states and countries as haunted places housing the lost souls of the teenagers abandoned by their families at the schools.

The student made a number of video testimonies. Two can be seen below and other will be published in future blog-entries. First video in this blog entry here:



and second video in this blog entry below:



All rights to the videos go to the original author known as j0nas420


Sources:

• See In the Matter of the Academy at Ivy Ridge, Assurance of Discontinuance Pursuant to Executive Law Section 63, Subdivision 15 (Attorney General of the State of New York)
• School For Troubled Youth To Issue Tuition Refunds (Office of the Attorney General)
• Melee Keeps Spotlight on Hard Life at Academy (New York Times)
• Director: Ivy Ridge to close until fall (Watertown Daily News)

Video testimony about Academy at Ivy Ridge - Volume III

Academy at Ivy Ridge was founded in 2001. They used the curriculum invented by the WWASP organization. In 2005 they were forced to restructure because their high school diplomas was issued on a basis of a poor education quality. Melees among the students didn't improve anything. In 2009 they closed down without having contributed anything positive for the students who were forced to attend the school.

A former student visited deserted campus the former school. The building have been left empty for many years as its reputation in the local community has left it hard to sell. The suicide rate among former students who have passed through the WWASP curriculum is alarming high and rumors speak of the campuses widespread out over several states and countries as haunted places housing the lost souls of the teenagers abandoned by their families at the schools.

The student made a number of video testimonies. Two can be seen below and other will be published in future blog-entries. The first part:



and the second part:



All rights to the videos go to the original author known as j0nas420

Sources:

• See In the Matter of the Academy at Ivy Ridge, Assurance of Discontinuance Pursuant to Executive Law Section 63, Subdivision 15 (Attorney General of the State of New York)
• School For Troubled Youth To Issue Tuition Refunds (Office of the Attorney General)
• Melee Keeps Spotlight on Hard Life at Academy (New York Times)
• Director: Ivy Ridge to close until fall (Watertown Daily News)

Video testimony about Academy at Ivy Ridge - Volume II

Academy at Ivy Ridge was founded in 2001. They used the curriculum invented by the WWASP organization. In 2005 they were forced to restructure because their high school diplomas was issued on a basis of a poor education quality. Melees among the students didn't improve anything. In 2009 they closed down without having contributed anything positive for the students who were forced to attend the school.

A former student visited deserted campus the former school. The building have been left empty for many years as its reputation in the local community has left it hard to sell. The suicide rate among former students who have passed through the WWASP curriculum is alarming high and rumors speak of the campuses widespread out over several states and countries as haunted places housing the lost souls of the teenagers abandoned by their families at the schools.

The student made a number of video testimonies. Two can be seen below and other will be published in future blog-entries. First video in this blog entry here:



and the second video in this blog entry here:



All rights to the videos go to the original author known as j0nas420

Sources:

• See In the Matter of the Academy at Ivy Ridge, Assurance of Discontinuance Pursuant to Executive Law Section 63, Subdivision 15 (Attorney General of the State of New York)
• School For Troubled Youth To Issue Tuition Refunds (Office of the Attorney General)
• Melee Keeps Spotlight on Hard Life at Academy (New York Times)
• Director: Ivy Ridge to close until fall (Watertown Daily News)

Video testimony about Academy of Ivy Ridge - Volume I

Academy at Ivy Ridge was founded in 2001. They used the curriculum invented by the WWASP organization. In 2005 they were forced to restructure because their high school diplomas was issued on a basis of a poor education quality. Melees among the students didn't improve anything. In 2009 they closed down without having contributed anything positive for the students who were forced to attend the school.

A former student visited deserted campus the former school. The building have been left empty for many years as its reputation in the local community has left it hard to sell. The suicide rate among former students who have passed through the WWASP curriculum is alarming high and rumors speak of the campuses widespread out over several states and countries as haunted places housing the lost souls of the teenagers abandoned by their families at the schools.

The student made a number of video testimonies. One can be seen below and other will be published in future blog-entries.



All rights to the videos go to the original author known as j0nas420


Sources:

• See In the Matter of the Academy at Ivy Ridge, Assurance of Discontinuance Pursuant to Executive Law Section 63, Subdivision 15 (Attorney General of the State of New York)
• School For Troubled Youth To Issue Tuition Refunds (Office of the Attorney General)
• Melee Keeps Spotlight on Hard Life at Academy (New York Times)
• Director: Ivy Ridge to close until fall (Watertown Daily News)

Philipe David Garibay at Academy at Ivy Ridge (From:Youthrights.org)

This story was originally written on a webpage created to provide statements for a GAO hearing in 2007. The address is cafety.youthrights.org and it waits for your statement if you believe that your stay at a boarding school included unfair treatment or even abuse. All rights and credits goes to the author Philipe David Garibay, who posted the original story on cafety.youthrights.org

My name is Philipe David Garibay. I attended the WWASP programs for a period of 16 months. I have seen alot and experienced alot of tramautizing events that I will never forget in those 16 months.

I started out at Casa by the Sea in Ensenada, Mexico. I was only there for two months. The first that happended when I entered those big wooden gates. I was met by 4 Mexican Staff members. I was torn away from my family and put up in the top floor, all I could here was screaming and yelling and thumping. I was led into room and told to strip down naked and do jumping jacks. I felt very uncomfortable in this situation, I asked why and before I knew it I was restrained on the ground by 4 mexican staff calling me a "puta" and other degrading words in spanish. They twisted my arms back so I complied and did jumping jacks naked in front of four mexican staff members laughing and joking to eachother at me. They then sat me down in a chair and shaved my head. I was nothing, I was stripped of all rights and my diginity.

I was led into a food area and sat down with a group of other "program kids". They put a plate of boney fish and told me to eat. They said eat it or you get a "refusal". I wasnt hungry and it didnt look appealing at all to me, it made me sick to the stomach. So 2 mexican staff grab me and take me back to the top floor of the building and was told to sit on the floor and look at the wall. My body got sore from sitting and I laid down, next thing I know im being smashed into the wall being told "sit or be bent! sit or be bent!" I was up here for 3 days.

All around me was kids getting restrained and the joints bent around. A boy got his arm snapped from a staff member right next to me. All I can remember is the screams and yells of the kids up there. It was all day and all night, only quiet when I fell asleep only to be woken up to the boy sleeping next to me getting restrained for not going to the bathroom. I was told that I was going to be broken down and "molded".

I was not able to talk to my family via phone and only allowed t0 write to them once a week. I had nothing here, nothing at all, I didn't enjoy life anymore I felt like a rat in a cage being watched and forced to clean and scrub toilets with toothbrushes. They were trying to break me and it was working. I went to "O.P." "Isolation" for a period of 14 days and nights for a offence that I didnt even commit! I could not write t0 my family or anything.

Eventually the Mexican police came in and told us the place was being shut down. Riots broke out all over the facility, I was beaten down my a mexican staff member with soap in a sock. I passed out for a hour due to this. I woke up in daze on the concrete floor. And saw the chaos all over, windows shattered, water streaming all over the ground, poop and urine all over the walls and ceiling, we were fed twice a day for 3 days of this. the police got control over all of us.

I was left there to be only shipped on a bus thru the border back to my hometown of San Diego,California. I was told we were all going home and our parents were waiting for us at "The Town and County Hotel" in Mission Valley. We were escorted the whole way on big charter buses and then contained by a human wall leading in to the hotel. we were locked in a room and watched by "parents of other program kids".

My name was called. I went into a room only to be handcuffed very tightly cutting off circulation to my wrists. I was led into a room with 10+ people in a hotel room. They took the handcuffs off me finally. I was here for 24 hours. Then I was excorted in handcuffs totally humiliated in front of everyone in the San diego airport. "I WAS IN HANDCUFFS AND I WAS'NT EVEN ARRESTED BEING TREATED LIKE A CONVICT" We were all excorted in a group of kids with hancufffs.

I ended up in Ogensburg, New York at the Academy of Ivy Ridge. I was here for about a year.

I ended up in "isolation" here 5 times for all a period of 3 days with no talking or writing to my parents. there was a riot at the academy on May 16, 2006. On that night kids were beating eachother and staff was coming at us with pieces of wood and bats. I watched my family member " Chris Baslios" get beaten with a Mag Lite Extendo flashlite all metal by "Jason Finlinson and Jason Tulip" All you could here was yelling and screaming. I was scared, I wasnt safe, this wasnt rite. W I ended up being slammed into a closet door by "Lucas Smith" for not putting on my uniform. they were using force to make us comply back to there rules. Later on they were trying tofigure out who started the riot. I was led into the program directors room and interviewed by "Jason Finliinson" I had no idea about this. I told him that , then he slammed a golf club driver right over my head I felt it give me a shave on my head. I was lucky to not get hit. he did this 5 times making a hole in the wall above me. I urinated my pants and was very scared. I got kicked out of The academy and ended up being isolated again from all the friends that I made there in my family.

I was woken up at 3:00 am by a escort handcuffed and flown out to Jamaica. I was now at Tranquility Bay. I was put in "o.P." for 4 days isolated from everyone. I was forced to lay on a thin mat that reeked of urine and body smell's on my stomach with my chin on the mat face up.Forced to eat boney meat and fish everyday. If I didnt I was going to have my bones grinded. I was forced to attend seminars" at all of this programs being told stuff that I didnt want to accept, they were trying to force beliefs into me brainwash me and make me a different person. I was oushed thru all of these programs until I turned 18 on Jan 28, 2006. I wanted to leave that Day. I coudnt, I was held there against my will for 6 days till I left.

I endured alot of physical and mental abuse for 16 months at these WWASP programs. Memeorys always haunt me and now I have Post Tramic Stress Disorder and panic attacks all the time and flashbacks of the program. Im 20 I have tried to forget this all , but I cant. I am not the same.

I believe WWASP needs to be re-evaluated as "boarding schools" This was no boarding school. I am not the same. Can we please put a stop to these abusive school? Can you help me? Can you help the future kids that are going to go through this. Can we stop this?

God Bless, Philipe David Garibay (hidden email to prevent spammers - can be found at the source)

References:
Datasheet about Academy at Ivy Ridge at Fornits Home for Wayward Web Fora
Datasheet about Casa by the Sea at Fornits Home for Wayward Web Fora
Datasheet about Tranquility Bay at Fornits Home for Wayward Web Fora
The original statement on cafety.youthrights.com

WWASP Experience (From antiwwasp.com)

This story was originally written on a webpage called antiwwasp.com, which sadly is not online anymore. All rights and credits goes to the author Erin, who posted the original story on antiwwasp.com.

Antiwwasp.com has been relaunced as antiwwasp.us. Unfortunately without the testimonial part and as a message board only.

My parents told me that I would be home in three months to the day, landing me 4 days before my 16 birthday. For someone like me, who has never done drugs, had sex, or put a drop of alcohol in their body, a place like Ivy Ridge was a little extreme. I spent most of my time there on level one. I had no points ever.

I sincerely believe that I would have died in that program; sometimes I wish that I had. When I came home after 25 months of only being allowed to talk for a maximum of 15 minutes a day, my social skills had atrophied.While I was there, I ran into the problem that has hurt me every day, and will for the rest of my life. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and no matter how much my therapist told them that I needed help since they hadn't found good medicine for me, I was still in trouble all the time. I didn't want to be in trouble, contrary to popular belief. The thing is I never even needed to be there.One day, I decided that I should die. This was about three weeks into my stay, so I attempted suicide. They caught me, and I was sent into observational placement.

I sat on a tile floor in an under heated building in February in so far upstate New York that I could see Canada, for about a month. The thing about being so far north is this: I got so cold that it couldn't snow. All the moisture froze out of the air. I was cold all the time anyway, and there I sat. This didn’t help me. When I got up, I wanted to die. I had said that I wanted to before, but never REALLY meant it, well, I meant it, but I had never experienced pain like this before.My grandfather died while I was there. When I found out, I screamed for about an hour. I begged to talk to my parents, and they said no.

When I asked them about it later, they HAD asked to talk to me, and to have me home for the funeral, and the school had said no. they sent me to O.P. again, and I sat on the tile and cried for a week. No one cared how I felt.By far the most scarring thing that happened to me there was when my brother got married. The weekend before I was to leave for the wedding, a staff member, my family representative, told me that I would do nothing in life, and that I would ruin the wedding. She said it to me about five times before I got mad enough that I yelled back.

I yelled about all the times that I had been put down. I yelled for all the times that I had needed someone and no one was there.They came and restrained me. I was put in "intervention" which is code for observational placement. (OP sounded bad so they changed it)The staff member, who said it to me, came to see me later. They laughed and said "See? I told you. You won't do anything with your life." I wasn't the only person she had said that to. She told my parents that I was a waste of time and money. That I was useless and that it was pointless to keep me there. She said that I would never amount to anything, and that I would only take up their valuable time.My mother came to the rescue. She had, for the first time in 20 months, stood up for me, and brought me home for the wedding. It was the best thing that happened to me there.One day, I woke up in bed, and was so depressed that I couldn’t move, because it made my body hurt. I asked them to help me, and let me stay in bed for the day, or do something about this, and they proceeded to restrain me. I have never screamed so loud in my ENTIRE life. I screamed and screamed. They then walked me out holding my arms behind my back in front of all the girls in the program. I cried, and they made comments about my inability to control myself while other girls were there.

They threw me off the bed, and broke my jaw. I found that out after I got home and my mouth hurt still.There was also a time where I could not sleep. I was scared because I had nightmares about the day. Things that should not have happened at all happened more than once a day.I hated life. But what was worse was that I hated God. I cursed him daily for making me the way I am. I would try so hard to do well, and all I could do was fail. And they never let it go. I was never able to be me. All I could be was this person who eventually became me. I was withdrawn and mad all the time.I still am that way a little. Every time I think of ivy ridge, I try to imagine what it would be like if I hadn’t been there, and the only things that come to mind are these:

1. I would have graduated in time to go to school with my friends
2. I would have a semi-normal life and personality
3. My sister and I would have a relationship that wasn't based on her anger that I left her.
4. I could have gone to the music conservatory and done nothing but play the flute. Unlike now, where I rarely play and every time I do, I cry because all my talent is gone.
5. I would have gotten to say goodbye to my grandfather.
6. I would have seen my sister and brother graduate.
7. Most importantly, I wouldn't be so socially retarded.

I have had more trouble since I left the program then I had when I went in. I have been in inpatient once and in therapy once a week for more than a year and a half.Some girls do well, and it always seems like they are the same.

There are addicts and alcoholics who everyone feels sorry for in the beginning and they get their start there. It is never the girl who comes in for small problems and makes good. All they care about are people with big problems. They didn't care about me and bipolar disorder. They didn't care that I was dying.I sincerely believe that my spirit died while I was there. All the things that were fun and good about me disappeared along with the bad. Now I am just a ghost. I walk through the days, and nothing is accomplished. All that I feel is terrible. I get depressed, and every time I do, it seems like I have been thinking of that place.I gained so much weight that when I got home I was at risk for diabetes. I was obese. And that isn't just a statement coming from me; it is on my doctor’s record.

I left at 110 pounds - 4'11", I came back at 189 and 4'11".

There are some things that happened to me there that I do not feel comfortable sharing. They are so terrible that I cannot even think about them. All I have is the time before the program and the time after. It is like there is a black hole in the middle of my life, and it hasn't only sucked time. It sucked my personality. I am gone.

Academy at Ivy Ridge closed in 2009. The Campus was sold twice. Some years earlier they were involved in a case where the state of New York fined them because they issued high school diplomas which were not of a standard the state demanded.

References:
Datasheet about the boarding school from Secret Prisons for Teens
The original story (Cached version of antiwwasp.com - may take a while to load)

Sandy at Ivy Ridge (From tbfight.com)

This story was originally written on a webpage called tbfight.com, which sadly is not online anymore properly because the boarding school closed sometime in 2009. All rights and credits goes to the author Sandy, who posted the original story on tbfights.com.

In November of 2003 i was admitted to Academy at Ivy Ridge.

My parents said i was going to boarding school and kinda tricked me into going. After arriving there the problems i had just grew bigger.. I became depressed and didnt feel like i had a reason to live anymore, in my mind i felt like my own parents had turned thier back on me without even realizing where they put me..

Everyday I wished they could spend just a minute in my shoes n they too would realize this isnt the place for me or any child for that matter. the staff there would taunt the kids. Showing them what they couldnt have..

During that time I became suicidal i started cutting myself to escape my emotions one day I couldnt take it anymore n i overdosed on my facial wash which was the only thing i could get my hands on after that i went to the emergency room and ended up in a psychiatric hospital..

You would think that didnt help any but being there was like heaven to me, people there actually listened to your problems and talked to you like a human being. Once discharged from the hospital my mom picked me up and I went home..

But it wasnt over then my life had turned black. I resented my parents for what they put me through and worst of all that wasn't the last time I had tried harming myself, even after leaving Ivy Ridge i had nightmares of waking up there again.

I ended up in the hospital 4 times after leaving ivy ridge the doctors diagnosed me with manic depression and now im sitting here writing this to all the parents who want to send their children to any of the WWASP programs. If you think your doin the right thing by sending your child away think twice. thank you so much for everyone reading this.

Academy at Ivy Ridge closed in 2009. The Campus was sold twice. Some years earlier they were involved in a case where the state of New York fined them because they issued high school diplomas which were not of a standard the state demanded.

References:
Datasheet about the boarding school (Fornits Home for Wayward Web Fora Wiki)
The original story (Cached version of tbfight.com - may take a while to load)