Hidden Lake Academy

The school was founded in 1994 by Dr. Leonard Buccelatto in Dahlonega, Georgia.{{cite web |last=Hall |first=Sharon |date=June 4, 2009 |title=Hidden Lake officials see Chapter 11 as chance to regroup |url=http://www.thedahloneganugget.com/articles/2009/06/04/news/09%20hiddenlake.txt |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090608142125/http://www.thedahloneganugget.com/articles/2009/06/04/news/09%20hiddenlake.txt |archive-date=June 8, 2009 |access-date=December 10, 2019 |website=The Dahlonega Nugget |issn=2994-4627 |oclc=18486914}} 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."{{cite web|url=http://www.hiddenlakeacademy.com/ |title=Hidden Lake Academy website |website=Hiddenlakeacademy.com |date= |access-date=July 27, 2011}}

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. The lawsuit caused a drop in student enrollments and cost the school $1.5 million in legal fees. This, combined with the impact of a poor economy, led the school to file for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 in 2009.

After the bankruptcy hearing, the school was renamed "Ridge Creek School".{{cite web |url=http://www.hiddenlakeacademy.com/petition.html |title=Explanation of the petition |author=Faculty & Staff of Hidden Lake Academy |year=2010 |website=Hidden Lake Academy |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100629232502/http://www.hiddenlakeacademy.com/petition.html |archive-date=June 29, 2010}}

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.{{Cite news |last=Aitken |first=Matt |date=26 January 2011 |title=Deputies respond to disturbance at Ridge Creek |pages=9A |work=The Dahlonega Nugget |issn=2994-4627 |oclc=18486914}} The school closed in 2011.

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).{{cite web |url=http://www.sacscasi.org/schools/Proceedings_Accredited_SACS_CASI_GA.html |title=SACS CASI Accredited Schools in Georgia |website=Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211200559/http://www.sacscasi.org/schools/Proceedings_Accredited_SACS_CASI_GA.html |archive-date=December 11, 2007}}

The length of the program was eighteen to twenty-one months.{{Cite web |date=2005-12-31 |title=Hidden Lake Academy |url=http://www.hiddenlakeacademy.com/ |access-date=2023-05-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051231180246/http://www.hiddenlakeacademy.com/ |archive-date=2005-12-31 }}{{Cite web |date=2007-10-12 |title=Program Details - Hidden Lake Academy |url=http://natsap.org/program_details.asp?id=40 |access-date=2023-05-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012112407/http://natsap.org/program_details.asp?id=40 |archive-date=2007-10-12 }} Each group consisted of fourteen students and the daily group counselling sessions were seven hours long.{{Cite web |url=http://n.b5z.net/i/u/10044700/i/NATSAP-directory.pdf |title=NATSAP 2009 Directory |website=National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs |access-date=2023-05-07 |page=78 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210901051444/http://n.b5z.net/i/u/10044700/i/NATSAP-directory.pdf |archive-date=2021-09-01}}

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.{{Cite book |title=Peterson's guide to private secondary schools, 1996-97 |date= |publisher=Peterson's |year=1996 |isbn=9781560795865 |edition=17th |pages=1208}}

The Ridge Creek wilderness program was founded in 2001{{Cite web |date=2010-11-25 |title=Program Details - Ridge Creek School |url=http://natsap.org/program_details.asp?id=73 |access-date=2023-05-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101125175450/http://natsap.org/program_details.asp?id=73 |archive-date=2010-11-25 }} and was listed on National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs (NATSAP) website as early as 2003.{{Cite web |date=2003-03-25 |title=Program Details |url=http://www.natsap.org/program_details.asp?id=73 |access-date=2023-05-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030325203001/http://www.natsap.org/program_details.asp?id=73 |archive-date=2003-03-25 }} The address listed on the NATSAP and Ridge Creek websites is the same as that of Hidden Lake Academy.{{Cite web |date=2010-05-16 |title=Therapeutic Boarding School - Healthy Living For Teens - RidgeCreekSchool.com |url=http://www.ridgecreekschool.com/ |access-date=2023-05-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100516212513/http://www.ridgecreekschool.com/ |archive-date=2010-05-16 }} The website states that Leonard Buccelatoo was the founder of Ridge Creek.{{Cite web |date=2006-05-02 |title=New Page 1 |url=http://www.ridgecreek.org/Home.htm |access-date=2023-05-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060502160043/http://www.ridgecreek.org/Home.htm |archive-date=2006-05-02 }}

• Joseph Stapp{{Cite web |date=2007-08-29 |title=Hidden Lake Academy - Faculty/Staff |url=http://www.hiddenlakeacademy.com/FacultyStaff.aspx |access-date=2023-05-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070829184455/http://www.hiddenlakeacademy.com/FacultyStaff.aspx |archive-date=2007-08-29 }}
• Charles W. Cates{{Cite web |date=2005-11-24 |title=Hidden Lake Academy - Faculty/Staff |url=http://www.hiddenlakeacademy.com/FacultyStaff.aspx |access-date=2023-05-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051124162113/http://www.hiddenlakeacademy.com/FacultyStaff.aspx |archive-date=2005-11-24 }}
• Rudy Bentz{{Cite book |title=Peterson's private secondary schools, 1998-99 |publisher=Peterson's |year=1998 |isbn=9781560799726 |edition=19th |location=Princeton, New Jersey |pages=1274 |language= |oclc=5164250814}}

• Dash Snow, artistFeuer, Alan; Salkun, Allen (July 24, 2009) "[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/nyregion/26dash.html Terrible End for an Enfant Terrible], New York Times. Retrieved May 5, 2023{{Cite news |last1=O'Hagan |first1=Sean |last2=O’Hagan |first2=Sean |date=2009-09-19 |title=The last days of Dash Snow |language=en-GB |work=The Observer |publisher=Guardian Media Group |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/sep/20/dash-snow-new-york-artist |access-date=2023-05-06 |issn=0029-7712 |oclc=50230244 |quote="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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Category:Therapeutic community

Category:Schools in Lumpkin County, Georgia

Category:Private schools in Georgia (U.S. state)

Category:Schools accredited by Cognia

Category:Therapeutic boarding schools in the United States