Lake House Academy News

October 07, 2011

Lake House Academy Announces Susan Hardy

Lake House Academy is pleased to announce that Susan Hardy, M.E.D. will be joining our team as Academic Director. Susan obtained her master’s degree in Special Education from Vanderbilt University. This experience launched her into a career of over 20 years working with students with behavioral and learning needs and their families. Her first position was as a special education teacher in central Tennessee. She joined Three Springs Duck River as their Director of Education, where she helped create a positive academic experience for the students. Under Susan’s leadership, Duck River was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges & Schools. Following her position at Duck River, Susan’s skills lead her to become the Administrator of a program in southern Arizona with tribal Native American students, their families and their spiritual elders.

Susan next embarked on successfully growing a wilderness program in the Adirondacks of NY state. The long winters and intense cold have brought her back to the mid-south where Susan created a world-class special education school for boys with ADHD. Now Susan is bringing her passion and creativity to Lake House Academy. Susan is stimulated and excited about working directly with students and their families again.

Susan worked with Sharon Laney for 15 years. Sharon & the staff at Lake House Academy are glad to welcome Susan to our team. Susan is on campus this afternoon and on Friday. Her first official day will be October 14th.


August 15, 2011

Lake House Academy Signs Consulting Agreement with InnerChange

We are pleased to announce that InnerChange has entered into a nine-month consulting agreement with Lake House Academy.

Lake House’s ownership has engaged InnerChange to provide the expertise of Senior Vice President, Kimball DeLaMare, LCSW. Mr. DeLaMare will assist Lake House’s excellent treatment team in managing the program. Lake House’s team includes Brooke Judkins, Ph.D., LPC (Clinical Director), Bryan Tomes (Education Director) and Shannon Worley (Residential Life Director). Per the agreement, Mr. DeLaMare will be on site at Lake House Academy as the acting Executive Director.

As many of you know, Mr. DeLaMare has over 30 years of clinical leadership experience, having founded and managed some of the most respected residential programs in the country. Equally important, the members of Lake House’s treatment team are committed to the best interests of the young women they serve. Mr. DeLaMare’s experience and the integrity of the Lake House team will ensure that the students are safe and secure. Treatment and programming will continue uninterrupted.

InnerChange is excited to begin a more formal relationship with Lake House Academy, and we view this arrangement as a natural fit for both parties. This consulting contract will allow Mr. DeLaMare to apply his inclusive leadership style and leverage InnerChange’s support systems to help a strong program become even better.

Please direct further questions to Kimball DeLaMare, LCSW at kimball@lakehouseacademy.com or 801-698-7704.


August 7, 2011:

In the interest of clarifying information regarding my role with Lake House Academy I would like to provide you with the following information. I hope this will assist you in better understanding how Lake House Academy is positioned to serve our students and their families.

I was approached to become involved with Lake House Academy last summer when Lake House Academy was in serious financial distress. As my own son had benefitted from a similar setting for boys I strongly believed in this great cause and decided to take on the primary risk of financing all of the program’s needs so as to ensure its viability.

As Lake House Academy grew I was able to help with space renovations, a sprinkler system, office renovations, kitchen expansion and a host of other improvements and additions. More importantly, we were able to provide resources for hiring a wonderful team of professionals who care deeply for the families they serve.

In concert with the LHA Leadership Team I supported consultation by outside industry leaders to further develop Lake House Academy. Many of their recommendations have been implemented and there are more to come as prioritized by the Leadership Team.

I have made the decision that in order to better server our families, I have partnered with individuals who have considerable and extensive expertise as well as clinical and management experience to allow Lake House Academy to become the finest program of its kind in the country.

As I am not involved in the day to day operations of Lake House Academy and in any of the clinical programming, I ask those who are interested or have concerns about Lake House Academy’s current and future operations to contact Brooke Judkins, Ph.D., LPC, our Clinical Director, or Kimball DeLaMare, LCSW, our Interim Executive Director. Kimball is with InnerChange and has been involved in developing the programming and clinical systems at Lake House Academy since early this year and we anticipate his involvement to span several months to come.

The decisions that have been made over the past months have been in Lake House Academy’s best interest. As I stated above my goal for Lake House Academy is to provide it with the resources to be a superior and unique program in this field and I plan to continue investing to ensure the future of Lake House Academy and the families it serves and will serve in the future.

Please do not hesitate to contact Brooke Judkins, Kimball DeLaMare, or myself with any questions or concerns that you may have.

Brooke Judkins: bjudkins@lakehouseacademy.com

Kimball DeLaMare: kimball@innerchange.com



Sincerely,
Roy “Buddy” Cook

Lake House Academy
rbcook@lakehouseacademy.com


August 4, 2011: Lake House Academy (LHA) has entered into a new working relationship with InnerChange by which LHA can take advantage of the considerable experience and infrastructure of InnerChange to further improve services for the girls and families that are associated with the Academy.

Brooke Judkins PhD, LPC who oversees LHA clinical services and Bryan Tomes, Academic Director will work closely with Kimball DeLaMare, LCSW and other leaders of the InnerChange group to enhance internal operations, while continuing to deliver the strong clinical and academic programs of Lake House Academy.

Catherine Jennings, the founder of LHA, has left the school. We wish her success in her future endeavors.