Boulder Creek Academy Inspires Success

Housed on stunning grounds eight miles from downtown Bonners Ferry, Boulder Creek Academy is re-establishing itself as one of the premier therapeutic boarding schools in the United States.

Boulder Creek Academy director Paul Johnson (back row) with teacher Claude Bisson ,who took a group of BCA students to Washington D.C. for the inauguration.
 

The 180-acre property purchased approximately 30 years ago has gone through several reincarnations. Originally named Academy of the Rockies, it changed to Rocky Mountain Academy before it was renamed Boulder Creek Academy in 2005. Founded in 1994, BCA is a part of Universal Health Services Corporation, a publicly-held, Fortune 500 Company.

School director Paul Johnson, who came to BCA as an outdoor recreation specialist 15 years ago, has seen many positive changes since the school re-opened four years ago. He said the current program is much more clinically-focused and includes a flexible-level system where students earn privileges and activities based on behavior, attitude and performance.

"Many of our students have significant learning issues or clinical issues in their past that have contributed to their making poor choices," said Johnson. "These students have not been successful in their former schools, but at BCA they are making progress and finding value within themselves."

He stressed that the goal of the program is for students to leave BCA with more choices than when they enrolled and are equipped with tools needed to advocate for themselves.

"Our hope is that students leave here ready to work or go to college, have rebuilt their relationships with their families and can make good choices for themselves as they grow older," Johnson said.

An important part of the BCA philosophy is to create a sense of normalcy so BCA feels like a school and not a treatment center.

"We are more than a traditional boarding school," he added. "You can call this an emotional growth school or a therapeutic boarding school. When parents have exhausted all the available resources near their home, they contact us because of our amazing resources and tremendous adult support."

Currently, BCA employs 86 faculty and staff members who work with students in various capacities. About two-thirds of its employees live in Boundary County.

Instead of "rules," Johnson said BCA is based on "agreements" because the students agree to be there and participate in the program. He emphasized that BCA is not a lock-down facility. Students are allowed weekly phone calls to their families, visits from their parents every two or three months, have home visits and can take parent-child adventure education trips together.

The typical length of stay at the private institution where parents pay monthly tuition is 18 months. Students primarily live in dorms or young adult apartments monitored by night staff.

"No staff member lives on-campus," Johnson said. "We have very healthy boundaries between staff and students."

The facility houses an art studio with pottery wheels and a kiln, a state-of-the-art computer tech lab, two libraries, two science labs, a greenhouse and an organic garden. Students eat together in a large, log home-style dining room. Plans are being made to convert the lodge, which formerly housed classrooms, into a recreation center.

Johnson emphasized that students who attend BCA receive an excellent educational experience. With an average of six to eight students per class, teachers can focus on helping students in a productive, individualized manner.

A certified reading specialist assesses students with reading difficulties and teaches skills that have allowed some to increase their reading levels during their stay. Tutors are also available for more one-on-one help.

"Our students have earned their diploma," said Johnson. "We are a fully accredited school, and our teachers hold very high academic standards for our students."

Service to the community is also a vital aspect of BCA's program.

"We look for opportunities to participate in," Johnson said. "Our students do community service at the Restorium, Community Kitchen and assist in elementary schools. They helped build two houses for Habitat for Humanity and have completed several community art projects, such as the 'Welcome' mural painted on the back of the Boundary County Museum."

Shawnale Wilson, Admissions Director, said students have built nesting boxes for the Wildlife Sanctuary, put up holiday lights and decorated Christmas trees in downtown Bonners Ferry. Many volunteer weekly at the Sandpoint Animal Shelter and also participate in activities like skiing, horseback riding and dog sledding expeditions.

Additionally, BCA offers an Adventure Education program such as attending the Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Ore., participating in the Presidential Classroom in Washington D.C. and a paleontology science trip. It also offers parent-child trips which are accompanied by an adventure education staff and a therapist.

"We are always trying to enhance our programs," said Wilson.

Six BCA students attended the Presidential Inauguration in Washington, D.C. through the Presidential Scholars program.

"Success looks different for each student," said Johnson. "We don't want to label kids with diagnoses. We want to give them tools to proceed and succeed in their lives. When students leave BCA, they will lead far richer, far healthier, far more successful lives than they had previously. In many cases, they create the deepest relationships they've experienced in their lives and they take those with them."