FamilyLight ^sm now recommends against referring to or enrolling in any Aspen or CRC Health school or program due to what the closing of New Leaf of North Carolina says about the value system of that company. For detail, see Tom's blog for May 2010.

This program is one that FamilyLight ^sm holds in high regard and expects to review in more detail in the foreseeable future. Because of the sudden closing of Mt. Bachelor Academy, we will add some additional information now for the benefit of parents considering a transfer.

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Article actively being updated at this moment. 

Academy at Swift River  is owned and operated by Aspen Education Group, also known as CRC Youth Division.

Briefly,  Academy at Swift River has become one of the pre-eminent therapeutic boarding schools in the country.  Founded by Aspen Education to provide an eastern location to accept students who might then have been enrolled at Aspen's  Mount Bachelor Academy, Academy at Swift River started out with a raid on the staff Hidden Lake Academy and at first mimicked their program.  It has gone through many changes and ups and downs.  However under the leadership of Don Vardell (former Executive Director) and Dr. Frank Bartolomeo (originally came to Academy at Swift River as clinical director with Don Vardell; he is now Executive Director) the school has thrived and become a pre-eminent example of how a therapeutic boarding school should be operated.

Parents considering  transferring their sons and daughters to Academy at Swift River from Mt. Bachelor will notice more of a clinical emphasis at Academy at Swift River.  While we strongly prefer the way Academy at Swift River is operated, as opposed to the way Mt. Bachelor Academy was operated, the transfer will not likely be seamless, as the philosophical foundations of the two programs are entirely different. As a point of comparison and not meaning to assert absolutes here, Academy at Swift River has been more influenced by current research and "Best Practices"  while Mt. Bachelor Academy seemed to be more heavily influenced by the "Emotional Growth" tradition of the days of its founding, when there was a vacuum of true evidence based indications of how best to intervene with teens at risk.  Our sense is that you would be transitioning to a better operated facility more in tune with evidence based approaches to the issues its students present. But it will not be a continuation of what started at Mt. Bachelor Academy. 

We have looked at items on the web site about the school and see criticisms based on events in the early years of the school. We do not know whether or not those criticisms are accurate or valid.  We do know there is little connection between Academy at Swift River after the team of Vardell and Bartolomeo were put in charge.  We ask a lot for meeting our Positive Intervention ^sm guideline. We encourage schools and programs to move in that direction and we do not know whether or not this school would qualify.  But we are skeptical at best regarding accusations of abuse, and we simply do not believe that would be tolerated under present leadership. 

We believe  Academy at Swift River has become one of Aspen's strongest offerings and one of a small group of the exemplary therapeutic boarding schools. 

Above comments were drafted prior to the closing of New Leaf of North Carolina. Despite local quality, we cannot endorse enrollments at or referrals to this school. For detail, see Tom's blog for May 2010.

While you wait for us to present a more complete review, please look around this website.  Look at our Guidelines -- a fairly comprehensive statement of what we believe quality is all about.  If you come to a search and planning process with limited experience, this is an opportunity for you to find some principles to measure schools and programs against.

Keep coming back to see the updates. Look at "What's New" (Announcements).  In spring of 2009 we expect to have returns from schools, programs, and related organizations published, giving deeper insight into these than has ever been available on the web before. 

Links:

Official web site of Academy at Swift River

Aspen Education Group aka CRC Youth Division

Return to Major Provider Groups

Return to Individual Schools and Programs Index

Visit Report from Woodbury Reports

Feedback is invited. We will publish any feedback in good taste. Email FamilyLightResponse@yahoo.com

Disclaimer: No  program review, no matter how positive, is a blanket endorsement. No criticism is a blanket condemnation.  When we express our level of confidence in a school or program, that is our subjective opinion with which others might reasonably disagree.  When we assert something as fact, we have done our best to be accurate, but we cannot guarantee that all of our information is accurate and up to date. When we address compliance with our guidelines, you need to remember that these are only OUR guidelines -- not guidelines from an official source.  We have also set the bar very high, and do not expect any school or program to be in total compliance.  It is not appropriate to draw a conclusion of impropriety (or even failure to live up to conventional wisdom) from our lack of confidence in a school or program or from less than perfect conformity to our guidelines.  Some will say we expect too much. Readers are responsible for verifying accuracy of information supplied here prior to acting upon it. We are not responsible for inaccuracies.

Last updated  5-17-2010