Mount Bachelor Academy
Prineville, OR

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Mount Bachelor Letter To Woodbury Reports

The State of Oregon Department of Human Services is conducting an investigation of Mount Bachelor Academy (MBA) regarding allegations of child abuse. We firmly believe that the allegations are completely unfounded, and we are doing everything we can to ensure that we receive a fair investigation so that the State does not reach any incorrect conclusions. We understand that the State has no choice but to investigate all allegations of child abuse, and we are committed to cooperating with the investigators as fully as possible. At this time, we remain focused on our daily work with our students.

On March 31st, the State sent a letter to all MBA parents suggesting that they start making arrangements to move their children out of the school. The State has since admitted that this letter may have been "confusing" and they have indicated that they will notify parents that there is no imminent threat of closing MBA. They have agreed to sit down and discuss the findings from the investigation with us prior to taking any drastic action. If the state does decide to take action, then Mount Bachelor will be entitled to legal due process.

A local newspaper ran a story on Sunday April 5th which has prompted some media attention to the school. In addition, Maia Szalavitz, a known industry critic, has told us that she is writing a story for Time magazine online. We know that several students and a part-time employee they befriended have been in communication with Ms. Szalavitz, hoping to get the school shut down so that the students would then be sent home. Again, we believe what they told Ms. Szalavitz to be unsubstantiated fabrications. In fact, at least one student has recanted their story and asked Ms. Szalavitz and Time magazine to refrain from publishing what they had previously said. We have been in touch with Time's Publisher and General Manager to encourage them to run a balanced article and alerting them to Ms. Szalavitz's bias of the industry.

MBA has received hundreds of letters of support from parents and graduates of the school, as well as from the referral community. We are truly appreciative of everyone's calls, letters and words of encouragement. We, too, believe in MBA and the positive effect our school has had on more than 2,000 students over its 20 year history. MBA's admission staff continues their work with prospective parents evaluating and enrolling students that are appropriate for Mount Bachelor Academy.

If you have any specific questions regarding MBA, please contact Patty Evans, Chief Marketing Officer, at 760-859-6261 or email at pevans@aspeneducation.com; or Mark Dorenfeld, Senior Vice President of Operations, at 626-390-0672 or email at mdorenfeld@aspeneducation.com.

Thank you for your ongoing support. We will keep you updated as we receive information.