Eckerd Academy - Blue Ridge
Suches, GA

New EYA Alternative School

A new licensed, accredited outdoor therapeutic program and alternative school called Eckerd Academy of the Blue Ridge will hold an open house for the public on Wednesday, Oct. 3 from 1-4 p.m., announced Eckerd Youth Alternatives Inc. (EYA) President and CEO David Dennis.

"We are thrilled to open our first facility in Georgia for private care youth," Dennis said. "We invite the community out to learn about what we will offer to youth and their families." The program will be open for business on Monday, Oct. 8.

Youth who are accepted in the program will live there 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

It is designed for boys and girls from 10-17 who are having trouble in academics, social responsibility and many other areas, including: low self-esteem, low motivation, poor decision making, impulsivity, susceptibility to negative peer pressure, parent/child relationship problems, defiance of authority, refusal to take responsibility for behavior, refusing to go to school or in suspension, confrontational behavior, drug or alcohol experimentation or abuse, adoption issues, social alienation, depression and/or promiscuity.

The program is targeting children that are "educationally challenged" as well. This may be youth who are having difficultly with only one or two academic subjects; may not be diagnosed with a learning disability but may be "on the bubble" according to testing; may be overlooked by most Special Education Programs, but are unable to succeed in the regular classroom; or who may or may not have identified learning disabilities.

The academic aspect of the program features an accredited, on-campus alternative school. It will feature Classworks, an award-winning diagnostic reading and mathematics curriculum that has been proven to boost student achievement and is aligned with National Education Standards, as well as learning standards and test objectives in 21 states. For a complete list of the program's licenses, certifications and memberships, and more detail on the educational component, as well as applications for enrollment, go to www.eckerd.org.


Located in 205 acres in Union County, EYA has operated a program on the site since 1996 for youths who were referred by the state. That program, known as E-Ma-Laku, was closed several months ago.

Improvements for the new program have included the addition of two additional campsites, all the buildings on campus have been repainted, significant landscaping has been added throughout the camp and 10 new computers have been added to the education building, as well as other improvements.

Eckerd Academy of the Blue Ridge is the third private care facility for EYA, joining Eckerd Academy at Deer Lodge in Tennessee and Eckerd Academy at Brooksville in Florida.

Eckerd Academy of the Blue Ridge is at 4970 Camp Road, Suches Ga. The telephone number is 706-747-1082

Eckerd Academy is operated by Eckerd Youth Alternatives, a national leader in outdoor therapeutic programs since 1968. Eckerd Academy offers students individualized treatment and academic plans through a nurturing, strength-based approach. For more information, call 1-800-914-3937