I was the youngest girl to attend the academy as of the time I spent there, 12 years old. The…read morepictures they post on social media only consists of the highest level of girls who get special privlages, there is no other kinds of pictures of the girls who were struggling just to live another day. On their website they claim to have "A no level system" which is a lie, there IS levels and when you first come in you aren't even allowed to have your own clothes, they degrade you by putting you in sweatshirts and sweatpants with big letters so everyone knows your on a lower level then them and they gave you zero enrichment or anything entertaining to do and seperated you from others, If you were on that level. They also claimed to not have a point deduction system which is also a lie, maybe by some miracle they decided to change it but when I spent my time there they would deduct points for every little thing. A smaller thing to mention is they claim to not be a rehabilitation place but made us do Twelve-Step books as if we were in a rehab. These lies are only the tip of the iceberg. During my time, they housed a very sweet severley mentally handicapped girl who hadn't showered and didn't know how to manage her hygine, the staff ignored her and left it to us to help her, we lost sleep trying to help her shower and trying to untagle her matted her which resulted in us getting punished. They tried to cover up many suicide attempts and girls who did try were punsihed harshly instead of getting they help they deserved. They don't help you, they take troubled girls and give them more problems and punish them for trying to manage their stress as teenagers. There was some nice staff that I can remember and I made close bonds with girls that I still keep in touch with and majority of the girls that went here can all agree this place is a facade and a nightmare. When I came back home, I couldn't sleep for three months and woke myself up screaming from the nightmares. The leveling system was degrading and ripped any dignity I had of myself. I went to the Academy looking for a way to get out of my troubled home, learn from bad choices. I wanted and needed the guidance and honestly looked foward to a helping hand. But of course that wasn't at the "academy" at all, I came home stripped of my sense of self and felt dissociated from reality for months on end. In my time there, they also had "private" journals you could write in as they said they would never look through them, this is also a lie. They invade any basic rights to privacy and punished me for writing about feeling depressed and lonley at the academy. Many of the girls that were once sweet when they came, turned scared and timid as I witnessed it in myself as well. They also don't tell you all of your personal items will be confinscated once you come, no pictures, stuffed animals, personal blankets, makeup, nothing. Being in that place had made me feel dread I had never even thought could be felt before, I felt less than human. I had to see a therapist regularly to help me be able to socialize and get over my constant night terrors. Girls here have had to clean up blood from those who tried to slit their wrists with broken glass. If you were "really bad", they would put you in a cold dark room, make you wear an orange jumpsuit like a prisoner and keep you in that room for roughly 2 weeks, you also had to drink water from the sink and someone would watch over you 24/7 with the door open so you had no privacy. If a girl was in here, she couldn't talk to anyone, not even the other low levels or look at them, they were the most seperated and treated the most cruely. A lot of the staff like to remove points or hand out "consequence essays" for the smallest accidents or mistakes, sometimes, it wouldn't even be a mitake, this might be a stretch but I'm sure some of the staff got some kind of sick pleasure from making all of these girls feel on edge and paranoid about every move they make. I have always been apprehnsive about using the word "hate" towards someone because I believe that's a really strong word, but I cannot describe how much hate I have for Boomer (the owner), who runs the whole scam, he's sick man for making vulnerable torubled girls into hollow shells of themselves. As much as I've been healing from this experince, the feeling of dread and dehumanization and the fact that this place still runs,lingers... So many young girls have been psychologicaly destroyed because of this place. Parents, please don't leave your daughter here, they will take your money and bring your back your girl hollowed and depressed. There is plently of places like this in Utah so do your research. It's been years since and I still feel dread thinking about the abuse of these girls and how it's still continuing. . If you were a girl who went here and your reading this, my heart goes out to you, you are not alone. Sincerely, Eden.
