CEDU

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CEDU Educational Services Inc
CEDU Logo.jpg
Location
United States
Information
TypePrivate therapeutic boarding schools
Motto"See Yourself As You Are and Do Something About It"
Opened1967
Closed2005

CEDU Educational Services, Inc., known simply as CEDU (pronounced see-doo), was founded in 1967 by Mel Wasserman and his wife Brigitta. The company owned and operated several therapeutic boarding schools and behavior modification programs in California and Idaho. The company's schools have faced numerous allegations of abuse.

Origins[]

CEDU origins go back to Synanon,[1] a cult founded in Santa Monica, California in 1958 by Charles Dederich.[1][2] According to Paul Morantz, JD,[citation needed] Synanon ..."went from the first ever no doctor involved self help drug rehab (Synanon I), to a building of a new society in Synanon cities to lead the world into the 21st Century (Synanon II), to becoming a self-claimed religion (Synanon III)."[1]

The troubled teen industry[3] today largely consists of Synanon and CEDU offshoots.

History[]

Original CEDU period (1967–1985)[]

The average time a student spent at a CEDU school was 2½ years. The school year was year-round. The original CEDU program did not believe in use of medicine. Three times a week for four hours students would attend Raps, pseudo-psychology group sessions led by untrained staff. Students and staff were incentivized to "indict" students for minor rule infractions in the name of emotional growth. Yelling was appropriate and expected.[citation needed]

Expansion (1982–1990)[]

In 1982, a small group of students and staff, including founding headmaster Dan Earle,[4] left the Running Springs campus for Bonners Ferry, Idaho to open Rocky Mountain Academy (RMA). RMA's curriculum and philosophy were identical to the original school, CEDU Running Springs. On rare occasions staff and students were transferred between schools. The staff generally transferred campuses for promotions, while students were transferred because the staff felt a "fresh start" was the best (and usually last) option for the student.[5][6][7] Rocky Mountain Academy was one of the largest employers in Boundary County during the period, diversifying its timber and agriculture economy.[8]

CEDU Education - Brown Schools (1998–2005)[]

CEDU Education was sold to Brown Schools in 1998.

Started Name[6] Location Closed Fate
1967 CEDU High School Running Springs, California 2005 Campus sold to [7]
1982 Rocky Mountain Academy Bonner's Ferry, Idaho 2005 Property purchased by Universal Health Services[7]
1984 Hilltop for Young Adults Running Springs, California ?
1992 CEDU Middle School Running Springs, California 2005 Campus sold to Bnei Akiva of Los Angeles[7]
1992 Ascent Wilderness Program Naples, Idaho 2005 Re-opened by Universal Health Services[9]
1993 Boulder Creek Academy Bonner's Ferry, Idaho 2005 Re-opened by Universal Health Services[9]
1994 Northwest Academy Naples, Idaho 2005 Re-opened by Universal Health Services[9]
1999 Milestones Transitional Program Coeur d’Alene, Idaho 2005 property in litigation[7]

Closure[]

Brown Schools operated 11 boarding schools and educational facilities in California, Idaho, Texas, Vermont, and Florida. Facilities in Austin, Texas and San Marcos, Texas were sold to Psychiatric Solutions Inc. in 2003.[10] CEDU closed in early 2005 due to financial problems.[10][11] Several CEDU employees reported to Lake Arrowhead Mountain News, however, that pending litigation against CEDU for abuse and violation of rights as well as citations against the schools contributed to the downfall.[12] In March, 2005 Brown Schools declared bankruptcy, in part because of legal costs related to lawsuits filed by the families of several former students. The same year, Universal Health Services bid $13.5 million for the Brown School properties in bankruptcy.[13]

Idaho Educational Services[]

Universal Health Services Inc.,[14] a public company focused on hospitals and behavioral health centers, subsequently reopened three of the former CEDU facilities: Ascent, Boulder Creek (located on the former Rocky Mountain Academy property) and Northwest Academy. These operate under the new name of Idaho Educational Services. Each program is overseen by individual directors.[15]

CEDU Offshoots[]

A number of behavior modification facilities/CEDU offshoots were opened by former CEDU staff and students, including

  • Mount Bachelor Academy[16]
  • Monarch School,[citation needed] founded by Patrick McKenna,[citation needed] the first Rocky Mountain Academy Alumni and Daniel Earle's son, Timothy Earle, a former staff member and team leader at Rocky Mountain Academy.
  • , Whitmore, CA,[citation needed] founded in 1984 by Michael and Michelle Allgood, Eric Von Meltzer, Gayle and Art Tilles, Paula Rudy, and Craig and Barbara Cass[citation needed] closed 2003
  • ,

Celebrity and CEDU[]

The first facility was located in California — not far from Hollywood. The busy life of the persons in the entertainment industry meant that some of the known celebrities had less time for their children and outsourced the upbringing to CEDU. As The Spokesman-Review reported in connection with the closure of CEDU[17]

Tuition at CEDU schools was about $5,700 a month. Actress Roseanne Barr and broadcaster Barbara Walters are among the rich and famous who have sent their children to the academies, according to a Spokesman-Review report in 1998.

Incidents[]

January 16, 1993: 17-year-old John Christopher Inman disappeared from CEDU School's campus in Running Springs, California. He was never found.[18]

June 26, 1994: 14-year-old Blake Wade Pursley disappeared from CEDU School's campus in Running Springs, California. The family believes that he was abducted. He has not been found.[19]

July 16, 1994 - Jon Avila of Richardson, Texas hanged himself with a belt from a pipe of an overhead sprinkler system in one of the dormitories of lower Camelot at Rocky Mountain Academy in Bonners Ferry, Idaho.[20]

January 1997 - Five persons were injured in a riot at Northwest Academy in Naples, Idaho.[21]

2002 - CEDU Educational Services, Inc. pays settlement to former client on charges of abuse.[21]

February 8, 2004 - Parents search for their son Daniel Yuen who disappeared from CEDU School in Running Springs, California.[22]

2009 - A police investigation is conducted into the unsupervised presence of the convicted killer on the CEDU Running Springs Campus in connection with the two disappearances in 1990s.[23]

2012 - The first book about CEDU is published by Waxlight Press. The Discarded Ones: A Novel Based on a True Story by James Tipper marks the first detailed account of life at the school in literature.[24]

2015 - Dead, Insane Or In Jail, a CEDU Memoir[25] written by Zack Bonnie was published.

2018 - Whiteout, a memoir about the time Lathrop Lybrook spent at Rocky Mountain Academy, Ascent, and North Idaho Behavioral Health is posted online.[26]

2019 - Three students in Boulder Creek Academy assaulted another student, invoking severe head injuries, stole two vehicles, and got arrested on a highway after being caught stealing from a convenience store. Three of them went to juvenile detention for a few months, but only two of them returned, both failing rehabilitation to the program.[citation needed]

2020 - Adam Eget, an actor and comedian known for his work with Norm Macdonald, talked about his experiences with CEDU on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast.[27] Eget described CEDU as an abusive cult, and talks about multiple examples of child endangerment he saw first hand as a child sent to CEDU School. He also says in the interview that a night janitor was arrested for murdering several of the children. The counselor had made it look like the children had simply run away.

See also[]

Notes and references[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c "The History of Synanon and Charles Dederich". www.paulmorantz.com. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  2. ^ Gelder, Lawrence Van (1997-03-04). "Charles Dederich, 83, Synanon Founder, Dies". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  3. ^ The Cult That Spawned the Tough-Love Teen Industry
  4. ^ "IDSOS Search Results; ( R.M.A., INC. ... ROCKY MOUNTAIN ACADEMY, INC. )". Idaho Secretary of State. Idaho Secretary of State. March 14, 2016. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  5. ^ "Tribute To Mel Wasserman - Essays".
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Ditz, Liz. CEDU timeline, I Speak of Dreams blog
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "CEDU Properties Sold".
  8. ^ http://www.spokesmanreview.com/tools/story_pf.asp?ID=61576[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-03-13. Retrieved 2009-09-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b "CEDU Closing: Reaction from Running Springs Area".
  11. ^ CEDU Education Announces Closure of Rocky Mountain Academy, Press Release brought on strugglingteens.com, the homepage of the industry marketing firm
  12. ^ CEDU School Declares Bankruptcy Archived 2009-04-29 at the Wayback Machine, Lake Arrowhead Mountain News, 31 March 2005.
  13. ^ "A Business Built On the Troubles Of Teenagers; Schools Are Popping Up to Deal With Drug and Behavior Issues". The New York Times. 17 August 2005.
  14. ^ "Universal Health Services Inc". The New York Times.
  15. ^ "ASCENT PREPS FOR GRAND-OPENING".
  16. ^ "Ever unconventional, long controversial". The Bulletin. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  17. ^ Drumheller, Susan; Hansen, Dan (2005-03-26). "CEDU shutting down". The Spokesman-Review. Archived from the original on 2021-06-16. Retrieved 2021-06-16.
  18. ^ Good, Meaghan Elizabeth. "The Charley Project: John Christopher Inman".
  19. ^ Blake Wade Pursley at The Charley Project
  20. ^ "Spokesman-Review excerpt". Archived from the original on 2008-09-16. Retrieved 2008-10-09.
  21. ^ Jump up to: a b CEDU Sued for Abuse and Fraud[permanent dead link], International Survivors Action Committee
  22. ^ Father endures 2-month search for missing son[permanent dead link], International Survivors Action Committee
  23. ^ Wyatt, Chuck. "Death Row Serial Molester Connected to CEDU", , 13 November 2009.
  24. ^ Tipper, James (18 September 2012). The Discarded Ones: A Novel Based on a True Story. Waxlight Press. ISBN 978-0988243309 – via Amazon.
  25. ^ "Dead, Insane or in Jail : A CEDU Memoir This is the right place for you, you are special!". www.deadinsaneorinjail.com. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  26. ^ Lybrook, Lathrop (13 May 2018). Whiteout. Lathrop Lybrook – via https://lathroplybrook.com.
  27. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAv3p5vv5cs

External links[]

  • Surviving Cedu, a 2008 documentary by Liam Scheff, featuring a closing segment with cult expert Paul Morantz.
  • The Discarded Ones:A Novel Based on a True Story, the definitive 2012 book about life at CEDU. The story is set in 1983 and told through the eyes of a new student.
  • Whiteout, a memoir written in 2018 by Lathrop Lybrook about her experience at Rocky Mountain Academy, Ascent, and North Idaho Behavioral Health from 9/30/1998 to 12/13/1999.
  • Running My Anger: The Legacy of the CEDU Cult, an anonymous account of what it was like to live through CEDU in Idaho and California. Medium Anonymous discuses the current documentaries on CEDU, Rocky Mountain Academy, and articles on trauma and how they relate to them as a survivor of CEDU.
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