Spring Creek Lodge Academy (SCLA) was a boarding school located in Thompson Falls, MT . The school, formerly known as Spring Creek Community (SCC), was first opened in the 1970s by Nancy and Steve Cawdrey. In the fall of 1996, the school and the property were purchased by Cameron Pullan and Dan Peart and given the name Spring Creek Lodge Academy . For several years the school was associated with the Utah-based World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools

World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools

The World Wide Association Of Specialty Programs and Schools is an organization based in Utah, in the United States. WWASPS was founded by Robert Lichfield and was incorporated in 1998...

 (WWASPS) . The school was opened as a place to address drug, alcohol and behavioral issues of young people from across the county . Its curriculum included a points and level system that rewarded compliance and punished noncompliance . Extremely non-compliant individuals were often kept in solitary confinement or transferred to a program in Mexico, known as High Impact . At its peak enrollment, Spring Creek Lodge Academy housed over 500 students and employed about 200 individuals in various positions, making it the largest employer in Sanders County

Sanders County, Montana

Sanders County is a county located in the U.S. state of Montana. As of 2010, the population was 11,413. Its county seat is Thompson Falls.-Geography:According to the U.S...

at that time . The school closed in 2009 after an extreme drop in enrollment, much negative publicity, several lawsuits, licensing issues, and oversight controversy . In 2010 the Montana-based Academy for National Native Leadership purchased the former Spring Creek facility and began to offer college classes at the school .

Notable Alumni

Authors Claire and Mia Fontaine include personal experiences from the school in their memoir Come Back: A Mother and Daughter's Journey Through Hell and Back .

Additional Sources

• Adams, John S. (June 16, 2005). "Spring Creek's Short Leash". Missoula Independent.
• Devlin, Vince. (October 20, 2010). "Jury hearing lawsuit over girl's suicide at Thompson Falls boarding school". Missoulian.
• Doran, Jamie. (January 28, 2009). "Spring Creek Lodge Students Find Home in Thompson Falls". Clark Fork Valley Press.
• Florio, Gwen. (October 28, 2010). "Sanders County jury: Boarding school not negligent in teenage girl's suicide". Missoulian.
• Independent Staff. (September 22, 2005). "Escape in Sanders County: No News is Bad News for Spring Creek's "runners"". Missoula Independent.
• Independent Staff. (August 4, 2005). "Etc". Missoula Independent.
• Story, Louise. (August 17, 2005). "A Business Built on the Trouble of Teenagers". New York Times.
• Stomnes, John. (November 17, 2002). "Youth Facility Provides Windfall for Thompson Falls". Missoulian.
• Stromnes, John. (August 1, 2005). "Spring Creek Lodge Academy, a boarding school in Thompson Falls, offers troubled teens a chance to paint a brighter picture for their futures". Missoulian.
• Szalavitz, Maia. (October 23, 2007). "Teen Whisperer or Teen Tormentor: As Congress Takes On Troubled Teen Programs, Times Inadvertently Plugs One". Huffington Post.
• Szalavitz, Maia. (August 17, 2005). "Rebuttal: New York Times Underplays Boot Camp Abuse, Lack of Success". Stats.org.
• Weiner, Tim. (September 6, 2003). "Program to Help Youths Has Troubles of Its Own". New York Times.
• Woodbury Reports (Third Party Educational Consultants)