I went to Sedona Sky Academy for 8 months when I was 15 years old. I don't remember the exact date I attended but it's only been about 5 years since I was trapped in this place. On occasion, I like to look at my past programs and see how they're doing because my wilderness program was incredible and saved my life. I see Sedona Sky Academy is under new management but the treatment of girls confirms to be abusive and out right wrong. I'm a successful student who has obtained a social work degree since attending this horrible place. The only reason I was able to get into college was by condemning this place in a submission essay because everyone felt bad about the treatment SEDONA SKY ACADEMY has caused me. This has to stop. https://www.instagram.com/sedonaskyacademyccasurvivors?igsh=YWpib2FjMGZxdXY1 read more

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I was at Sedona Sky Academy for a little over 16 months. I got there August 7th, 2023, and graduated January 5th, 2025. This place was mentally abusive and controlling. My first month there one of the staff left for about 3 months for college. My second month Kevin M. who actually wrote a review dragged me off of a dorm swing because it wasn't MY dorm swing and we were on communication block with the other dorms, communication block was caused by drama, fights, and rumors spread by other girls there. Month 3 was a lot harder than before; I got a new roommate who would mentally control me and use things against me and sometimes hit because I didn't let her use my stuff that I had just gotten shipped from my mom. Me and the girl got another roommate who was 11 at the time and the girl and I were 12. The first girl had pushed the 11-year-old and accused her of talking bad about other students in our dorm. She then hit the 11-year-old and pushed her. Month 4 was my first time being at a graduation for other students, I was close with one of the graduates whom I am still in contact with. And they had told me somethings about one of the staff who had gotten fired for giving another student with drug problems cocaine and meth. They had done it together. In month 3 as well residential staff had locked us upstairs so another one of the students grabbed a sheet and went on the balcony and tied the sheet around her waist and jumped off and thankfully landed safely. She ended up moving to the 1-story dorm. In January of 2024 the staff threw us a new year's party and we had a lot of fun, then I think about 2 months later, so in March of 2024 5 staff members had left without saying goodbye and without notice or warning. It was hard on all the campus, and some of the kids even self-harmed and or got put on suicide watch. Month 4 which I forgot to mention the staff who had left for college came back and worked with my dorm which was the younger kids' dorm. Around early August or late July the owner Charlie Falatea had left Sedona Sky Academy to work with another residential for adolescents. The 3 staff whom he had hired in May of 2023 were the ones running the program with director Erin Smith. Well on August 26, 2024, those 3 staff had gotten terminated/fired because of a disagreement with Erin Smith. 2 days after we had found out those 3 staff were gone, they (the 3 staff) had come to say goodbye and give some of the kids they had gifts for their gifts. All the kids who had gotten something including me had gotten that stuff taken away and were told we weren't worthy of anything of them. A couple of months after they got fired, the new owner Moshie had decided to buy Sedona Sky Academy and change the name to EmotiHome Rimrock. After that meeting I had found out that I would be graduating in December, but because I had gotten in a verbal altercation with another one of the students, they had pushed my graduation date to January 5. I DON'T recommend bringing your daughter here. read more

Former employee here. Can confirm what Kinsley said about a male staff giving a girl drugs. I started working here in 2018 and was fired in 2024. At the start, it was a little rough. They were taking in a mixed bag of girls from Cort ordered to PPO insurance. Not a great mix. New owner came in and decided to just have PPO kids. Obviously more money there and would help keep things more calm in the milieu. I would say from about 2019 until epic behavioral bought it, things were pretty good. Except for occasional students who really needed a higher level of care and should have been transfered, it felt like things were going well. The treatment was fair but also held the kids accountable. It was focused on making meaningful change with normal consequences (if you don't attend school, you don't get to go on special outings, etc). Then, Charlie Faltea showed up with his crew of young guys to fix things (nothing was actually broken). These guys were inappropriate with the girls and had no desire to create any kind of order. In fact, things quickly disintegrated into chaos. They were very physical with the girls, putting them in unauthorized holds, putting them in holds for fun or as a joke. The houses were dirty, smelly and loud. Dallin who ran the program for the younger girls would develop inappropriate relationships with them. He would flirt with them pretty openly. I brought this up to management and nothing was done. In fact, I was targeted as a result. Retrospectively, these places should not exist. People should learn how to be good parents or don't have kids. It's a hard job and it's sad that the child gets punished for a parents shortcomings. I will never work at one of these places again. I am truly sorry for any harm I may have done to anyone. It was not my intention at all. I hope these places become illegal. read more

confirm everything Reily stated. Reach out to me if you would like to know more. Do not send your child here. Positive reviews are from employees, Sierra Soto is one... I kept my notes.... My first day Hunter and Drew picked up a student underneath her arms. She was sitting on the floor crying, she was carried like this to another building where she was forced to remain quiet for four hours. No cryng, nothing. They did this to another sutudent the same day. That student would not stop talking so Wayne picked her entire desk up, turned it towards the wall and slammed it down. I was trained that are given three prompts then you make them do whatever it is and if that goal is not met they are forced to sit in silence in this bulding. Day two, found out a student had clogged their toilet with feces. Soulution, go use a dufferent building was how the staff handled it. I cleaned it with them on Wednesday the next week when the smell was too much and the hygenic worries were becoming real. Day three, I had to explain to the kitchen staff what Kosher is. The kithcen is not Kosher but a student requred Kosher meals. She was fed cereal. Why they could not be provided I don't know. Kosher is not a choice...it is requried. Day four, I decided to quit my other job and just work here. Overtime and staff that seemed to get things done. Then I was given a phone by a student. I gave that phone to Wayne. Turns out it was a school phone the students had for days and recorded sexually explicit act, pornography on it. The video was mailed out to one's boyfriend. Staff members actually walked in while they were filming and were so neglectful in their dutiess they just walked out and let this happen. They filmed sexual acts in a boarding school with a school phone. Day five, a suicide watch was left alone, and tried to harm his or her self. Ended up getting arrested in the hours in took to get medical attention. Day six, at this point I have given up any idea of staff being in control. I was told by staff that as long as they are not hurting anyone...don't worry. Day seven same thing, just unruly kids, stafff thay does not want to deal with them...etc. Day 8, I was assaulted. Child was physically assaultive and verbally abusive. Somehow that started an incident. I was assaulted and when I tried to stop the assault with a CPI hold Sierra joined in and wrestled the child away. She immediately escalated the child and then took that student to another child and escalted that one. She allowed both of them to walk towards me stating they were going to kick my ass. Made no attempt to stop them, ecoarged them I was told I was going to be hurt, after that, I was told to leave. Hunter was on his way in to "...those kids are about to get humbled..." last I heard from this incident. When I was leaving a student was walknig towards me with a golf club. I reported this to the YCSO and then was terminated in retaliation. I have all the text messages they sent during my time there, making fun of the trans kids. Actively looking for suicide watch kids they let walk of. Just This is an inurance mill. Complaints to DCS will be ignored as they place kids there. The school is actually run by one large family hired out of Utah that was hired to whip this place into shape. In that 8 days I worked 107 hours, they paid the OT offered me bonused to work doubles...DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILD HERE. I have messages from Monroe that state the child assaulted me. That it is because they let the other kids do it. I actually wanted to help these kids in anyway possible...they just want someone to look the other way. I was told for 7 days I was doing a great job, I have messages from my supervisor accepting responsibility for allowing me to be assaulted. As for me, I am a poor cultural fit, I believe that means I am the wrong color. That is my cause for termination, poor cultural fit. I will edit this as needed but keep your kids away. read more

I went to the school for a little bit around here. It was so helpful. Most of the reviews are posted by people that left halfway through. Yes it is an emotional roller coaster. And yes it is hard but it helps pool how strong you are I am now 12 and I feel so sad to see all the sad reviews and bad reviews about this place especially the ones saying not applying to the good reviews. This place is so much better than it used to be they made so much improvement people just need to give it a chance. This is such an amazing school, and they honestly saved my life. I know a lot of these people that posted the reviews and most of them are staff that laughed and just did not like the area, this should not be a complete reflection of the school. They give amazing care and care so much about each and everyone of their students. They have a great therapeutic and academic balance. Yes, it is hard to be there but yes it is amazing I graduated in July and now I'm having such a better life. read more

I worked as a Youth Mentor over a year ago & due to family passing away in my life I didn't leave a review sooner. I was told I would be given diligent & extensive training on how to work professionally & compassionately with the youth here. Months of training that never happened. I was immediately, first week working there, put in charge of groups of girls that didn't know me & that I didn't understand how to assist or know what to look for to supervise them. I tried reaching out to the person who hired me & no supervisor was around. A young girl self harmed in front of me & I didn't realize it until she came up to me to show me & I got a quick first aid kit to assist her & when the supervisor eventually came back - I told her what happened & she brushed me off. I quit the next day. Not only did that horrific moment happen, but I also had the youngest girl there - around 10 years old, tell me how to supervise the big group of girls while they went to get their medication because the girls would toss it in the bushes. Mind you, the building where they go get their medication was a long walk to a trailer on the property that was half lit and this process happened at night. I was given no explanation other than to release one girl out of the building at a time and they walked over to get their medication. Girls kept asking how long I would stay because everyone kept leaving & there was hardly any staff to manage the big group of girls. When I had my first meeting with the hiring supervisor, she told me that there was "a new owner" & that they were "re-staffing as quickly as possible". I'm a local to the area where this Academy is at & I had heard rumors of that tag line of "there being knew owners & things are imrpoved now" being told to all new hires for years. A new coworker of mine at another local business told me she was going to start working there this year, only 3 months ago & was told all of the same things. If this "new owner" TRULY & sincerely cared for children, they would shut down the company until they had the REQUIRED & proper staffing provided & set up for the young girls to work with, instead of there only being 2 people & asking the chef to look after your children. I dont think families would appreciate knowing that the chef that is part of the staff is left to look after your children. Mind you, a single chef who is UNTRAINED. I think it is incredibly deceiving, cruel, unprofessional, incompetent. unsafe & harmful to keep a business running like this running with little to no staff & with staff who don't do their jobs. I would highly recommend for people to NOT bring their children here, God forbid something terrible happens to them, but the risk if certainly there it saddens me to admit. I had high hopes to help make a difference, only to walk into a nightmare of a situation & seeing young girls going through extreme neglect. It was evident everywhere & people countering & not believing the girls who speak out & dismissing their experiences just because they are "troubled" is disgusting. There is much more that I saw in my brief time there & I brought this to the attention of the hiring supervisor, only for her to say "we deeply apologize, it won't happen again and please give us another chance". I've lived here in the area for 8 years & from time to time, due to inflation I've looked for extra side jobs on Indeed & guess who is always "urgently hiring"? Sedona Sky Academy. They don't keep people because it's a heartbreaking terribly run business that takes advantage of disadvantaged families. And after yet again seeing another slew of job opportunities coming available for this company online that I just came across, it led me to leave this review & now I'm going to make it my mission to report this company. This is THAT serious. read more

They failed to disclose to my educational consultant, nor to me, that they started taking kids from court, foster care, and Juvenal Hall. My heart goes out to those girls but they have very different problems then my daughter. My daughter had never been around that kind of violence and anger and she went downhill fast. Her roommate was attacked, jumped, and punched. My daughter was terrifred and would not go to school and would barely leave her room. I had to rush too pull her from the program and take her to another place after she needed to be taken to see the nurse for an anxiety attack, something she never had before. Five staff members quit in one night without notice. Care was thin and spotty. I was deeply concerned for her physical safety. She was ten times worse emotionally when I picked her up after three weeks then when I placed her. And they refused to refund any money for the unused six weeks that I paid upfront. This is a dangerous place!! read more

My Name is Reilly Joyce and this is what this school did to me. i had a troubled upbringing and alot of trauma, my parents where recommended this school by trusted professionals and never could have imagined the horrors that where about to come. i attended the school from March 31st 2022 to August 6th 2022. to start here are some forms of punishment they used: public humiliation, Community Silence (you can talk to no one no one can talk to you), Taking away visitation/holidays being forced to sleep in the common room. among many more. i will never be the same person again. i will never forgive Jason Metzger, Becca, all the residential staff that refused to believe me, the Clinical team, Sabrina, Sara Kirwin, and many others. i do not care if not all of these people where bad but not one of them took my side in anything, they let me get bullied, harassed and ostracized by my peers that admitted to taking their own issues out on me. i will never forgive the majority of the student body for spreading lies about me till the point where i had a complete breakdown then blamed me for all of it afterwards, i will never forgive the cops who came in and handcuffed my bloody wrists bc the staff lied and told them i had fought another student, i have never physically hurt another human being in my life. i will never forget the rotten, under cooked food served by unsanitary individuals, i will never forget being told by a fellow student that when they ran and where taken to juvy they enjoyed that more than SSA, i will not forget being told i encouraged other students to self harm all bc i was doing it, being told my peers where afraid of me and i had to "manage people perceptions of me". i was not innocent in all of this i threw my main antagonists glasses in the dumpster and i deeply regret this action. it was cruel. and these other students even the ones i cant bare to think of where victims as well. we pitted ourselves against eachother in the hopes of regaining even the smallest bit of control. i am destroyed. when i was in attendance the school was severely understaffed and the staff that remained where more than unpleasant to say the least. you pushed and pushed and pushed me. and you all won. you broke me beyond repair. as i write this i am still shaking from the torment you put me through. this school deserves to burn to the ground. you cannot fix what was made evil, no matter what company buys the name. read more

Our 15 year old daughter has been at SSA for 4 months now and has been making marked improvements. The staff both professional and menial are all very helpful, polite and professional in the way they treat us and our daughter. There are about 15-20 girls at the school. And a good staff ratio. The girls we know come from all over- California, Hawaii, Florida, NY, Oregon, Washington, Pakistan. We have been to two parent workshop weekends which the school puts on. These have been very informative, supportive and a great opportunity to see our daughter and connect with other parents in similar situations. We went to the most recent graduation in August and it was encouraging and wonderful to see the progress these young girls has made. Each graduate and her parents spoke, either about their experience or situation. They were very emotional. They all expressed gratitude for their time at SSA. It was a great ceremony with some of the girls performing musically and SSA treated us to lunch. Our daughter loved the horses, and does horsemanship everyday. She has also done a class on ceramics. There are other various elective classes as well. Although our daughter was not behind in her academics, even with her illness. Their academics program is both a high rigorous standard and is programmed for each students needs. Our daughter is also on the x country team and has had three meetings all with great success for the school. She's in the student union and key club too. They do various community volunteer activities through out the year. The girls have group therapy daily and meet with their own councilor 1-2x / week. We also have a family session via zoom once a week. Each week the girls have many activities they can attend. Hot yoga, church, gym ice skating, swimming and seasonal outings. In summer they did white water rafting, hiking, trip to Grand Canyon. There are also daily and weekly expectations of them such as chores , keeping their living quarters clean and cleaning the horses. We can ring or email and will be able to speak to someone immediately or they return our communication. The grounds are beautiful, with a big soccer field, volleyball court and gorgeous trees. It's very appealing to look at. Each girl is there for there own reasons. It's not a vacation. There are expectations of them and consequences if they get out of line. We feel the program has been very beneficial for our daughter and appreciate the structure of the program. It has been a good experience for us and with the new administration and Fotu Soliai at the helm we are confident it is going in the right direction. Don't be afraid to take a look at SSA and compare it to others. It just may fit your needs as it has ours. Good luck. read more

please watch the documentary "The Program" before even thinking of sending a child here. The things that go on behind closed doors at these facilities are horrific. I implore you to read what is said by survivors of this place and listen to their story. Parents are manipulated by staff who lie about what is truly going on to keep the cash flow coming. Children are forced to appear happy in photos or face consequences. Children are monitored during phone calls and all mail is pre-read before being sent out to ensure they cannot speak up about what is happening to them. Many are willing to say whatever it takes to complete the abusive program because any minor infraction leads to more days being added on. Some survivors have been sent away for years on end because they refuse to play the part. Save your child from a lifetime of PTSD and hatred towards you. read more

Great program with a very caring staff. This program has changed significantly over the years and is committed to the young people they serve. read more

I do not typically leave reviews but I feel strongly about this. I was sent to SSA when I was 14 and was there for over a year. I underwent severe psychological and emotional abuse there, from staff in all roles of the program. I was groomed by house staff. I have C-PTSD from being sent to this school. I was treated like a prisoner- I had knowledge that other girls were being sexually abused and I could not report it because I was denied access to a phone or my parents even when I told "trusted" adults why I needed to make a call. All my communication with the outside world was censored and my friends at home thought I was dead. I was sent here with depression and anxiety and came out worse, with C-PTSD and an eating disorder. Do not send your daughter here. Explore outpatient therapy. read more

Most of the good reviews are from parents and the bad ones from women who really experienced it. Please understand that when we leave all we want is to forget about this place. We tell our parents that it's helping because all we want this to get out as fast as we can. We don't care about our mental health because it progressively gets worse the longer we're there. They gaslight you go the full extent that you truly have no other way but fake it. When I finally left that place I was not okay. I had night terrors for a whole year after... I still get flashbacks from certain songs that play from that time or even movies we watched there... it's not a safe place, so please ignore the parents and listen to us!! We beg you... don't put your daughter through this... read more

My niece went to Sedona Sky. She is getting the classes and therapy she needs. The communication with the staff is amazing. We got reports everyday of her progress. The academic director was able to give her the same classes She took at her high school. The girls go to a gym close by and volunteer with the youth and seniors in the community. The atmosphere is clean and inviting. It's like a sorority house. The girls have horsemanship also. She is working on the issues she has while getting a great education. The girls we spoke with who attended all went on to four year universities. Of all the places we visited this far surpassed all others. read more

I was only at SSA for 2 months & sometimes I question if it was even real. It feels like a fever dream. I went there in 2014 willingly after making poor decisions at my high school. Some of my memories there are truly great. I liked the structure, the girls were all pretty cool, and getting to ride every day was a big plus. I still don't know quite how I feel about my SSA therapist, Juniper. Juniper was a hard ass & worked at another office so she wasn't the easiest to open up to & relate with. She is no doubt a great therapist, but I think that they should be matching therapists & students with more consideration. I'm giving this 2 stars for a couple reasons. First, like others have said, you aren't able to contact your parents alone & when you do contact them everything is monitored. In phase one of the program you aren't even allowed to email your parents yet if I remember correctly. They can email you but not you them. They give the girls printed emails to them each night. We were allowed to type up emails after phase 2 but they were all read by staff before being sent. Though I didn't experience any abuse I have no doubt that others did & it pains me to think how hopeless they must have felt having no access to get help. The food here was terrible quality. The staff is up your ass but it's easy to get around. I got a prison tattoo on my ankle when I was in there & only got caught bc I felt guilty & turned myself in. There was also a big issue with what was called "war storying" where some of the more troubled girls would brag about their past & all these illegal & immoral things they would do. This place has the potential to be great but idk where all the money for tuition goes... it's definitely not worth the thousands of dollars of month that it was. When my mom came up for her first visit we had a great visit & as she was going to leave I started crying & we talked about everything & she agreed the best decision was to take me home. She threw all of my stuff into the back of her rental car & we never looked back. The school & my dad tried to convince her to bring me back but she said something in her gut was telling her not to leave me there. I sometimes wonder what kind of person I would be now if I had finished the whole program. To this day I still have dreams about the place & usually they aren't the most pleasant. I would love to connect with any old SSA "survivors" who are willing. As I'm sure those of you who are can understand, it's really hard to completely identify how to describe the experience to other people & it would be nice to talk with someone who knows. You can find me on Facebook, Molly Albright :) read more

I attended this boarding school back in 2011. Granted things can change in a few years, I've noticed by their website they have a lot of the same staff so I don't feel bad for writing this review. This boarding school was corrupt, traumatizing, and more concerned about getting what they can out of parents wallets than what they can do for their daughters. They will accept you for a variety of problems, some more serious like violence and drug use to others like depression, academic underachievement, and even problems as vague as "family dischord". ****It is important to realize that you will be placing your daughter in an environment where many of the girls glorify rebellion, being part of a gang, and especially drug use. I learned more about drugs from the girls here who constantly bragged and glorified their past drug use than I ever would have in the real world. And much like prison (the parallels are astounding), the success rate of reforming your daughter is extremely low. An overwhelming majority of girls I know that "graduated" the program ended up pregnant within one to two years of leaving the program or back to substance abuse (all of which I assume as a parent, you would prefer to prevent). If you want to prepare your daughter for college, this is NOT THE PLACE to send her. The academics, performing arts, and sports that they rave about on their website are all complete jokes. There were some cool teachers whom I have a lot of respect for, like Mr. Miller and Mr. Metzger, however the residential staff on this campus were horrible caretakers. Most of the staff we were exposed to the majority of the time treated us coldly, were untrained, and went on power trips, giving out work hours for the most menial of things. (A work hour is a punishment used in the program, involving an hours worth of floor scrubbing, leaf raking, an hour of labor). You can get a work hour for interrupting, putting too much food on your tray, not putting enough food on your tray, laughing, walking out of line, etc. I am not opposed to the concept of a "work hour", but rather the staff's arbitrary misuse of them. Your daughter will be put in a house of about 20-30 girls, share a room with between 3 to 8 girls, some of which have severe psychological/drug/behavior problems. She will wake up every morning and have a daily job/chore to do. We also had major clean days on the weekends where we cleaned excessively for several hours, followed by mandatory quiet time which they called "spiritual time". A typical day includes waking up around 6am, excessive cleaning, getting in many orderly lines throughout the day, going to class, coming back to the house for the rest of the day after class, working on homework, crocheting, a 5 minute shower, going to sleep, where you are checked on by a staff with a flashlight every 15 minutes to make sure none of the girls are escaping or having sex with each other. Many girls try to run away to the nearby neighborhood or the nearby forest to escape, and a few girls tried to commit suicide. We were not allowed to directly send our own emails to parents, and we have seen staff read our emails, certain emails of ours to our parents that were deemed "manipulative" were not sent to our parents. Most girls saw their parents probably once every other month. Many of these visits will consist of your daughter begging to go home, because it was all that could occupy our minds. On my first day the other girls told me much of this. They told me about the strict rules, restrictions, corruption etc and I thought they were all liars, they were trying to scare me. Of course, my parents thought the same when I told them this as well. You obviously love your child if you are contemplating such a difficult decision. You daughter deserves to be loved and cared for properly; this is not the place. This was a cold and unloving environment where I constantly felt scared and on the verge of being punished. My parents pulled me from the program after 9 months, and though I have a better relationship with them as the years have passed, I still resent them for ignoring 9 months of pleas to bring me home. I truly hope that the program can read my review and learn to take current students' grievances seriously and make effective changes to better their living situations. As the student council president, I met with the former Director PT several times and described many of our grievances, but nothing I said was taken seriously and no actions were ever taken to remedy serious issues. I learned that the position existed to make us feel like we had influence. It existed so we could feel that we were "winning" trivial freedoms like darker shades of pink nail polish and Burts Bees chapstick - ridiculous. I hope that your program can accept the genuine feedback of your current students to prevent negative reviews from students like me in the future. read more

I am 24 now and was sent here at 16!! back then my parents didn't know much about therapy or other types of therapy. They just wanted me to get the help I deserved. I never blamed them for sedona sky painting a beautiful picture and them falling for it. I did too. only difference is I had to stay and endure the psychological and physical torture they put on us. Now i'm in dbt therapy which I recommend over sending your kids away from you where you have no control over what they do to them... I still wake up from night terrors from that place. I wake up sometimes underneath that hard as a rock bunk bed and sigh in relief when I blink and it was all just a dream... A place that still has this long lasting affect is not therapy ... it's torture and a money making scheme.. please listen to the actual stories of people who have gone here and not parents or the fake bots they use to put out fake reviews... read more

I am an "alumni" of sedona sky, or what ever you would like to call me. I was there for 13 months and graduated the program. This program did nothing for me. My therapist was great but we never worked on anything that would have truly helped me to this day. There was no after care help. My relationship with my family was even worse when I returned home. My experience was no where even close to what people would think deserves a 5 star rating. I wish there was and option to give a 0 star rating. I guess working with the horses was a nice thing about the program but it became a negative thing for me, towards the middle of my "stay". Its so hard to explain my experience there, but what I can explain is my time after graduating. I was so lost. I literally got back into everything that I was doing before and I developed many new negative behaviors. I also had to go to treatment again. The lack of support after the program was unreal. Coming from someone with no real support from my family I was basically just thrown back out there, into the real world where I was not safe from my self or my environment. Of course thats was what I wanted, I just wanted to go home and not feel locked up. l hated ssa. Some of the staff were good but I would never ever recommend someone to send their child their and waste their money like my parents did. I would never take back going there though because of what I learned on my own. Things that I have been through Have taught me a lot and I had to figure it out myself. No thanks to ssa no offense I am in a good place and supporting myself with out the help from others. You cant expect to send your child to a place where they say she can be "fixed". Im gonna tell you straight up who needs to change their ways is the PARENTS. Money cant fix your daughter and neither can a lock down school like ssa. Nature, love, connection, empathy , understanding and REAL therapy work will help her. If you are just trying to send them away because u can't "deal" with her and it's too hard and just let some other people (STRANGERS) deal with her shame on you. I've seen it at this school and you know us girls need the genuine love and understanding from their family. Good luck to you and your decision. I guarantee you most of the girls that I went to school with at ssa would 100% agree with me. If you truly want to help you daughter, don't choose a school like ssa. Work on your self on how to understand her, while she works on herself. It is a team effort. She needs you. In this situation money cant fix anyone. It is hard and therapy will help. There are many programs that can help your child that specialize in what she may need help with. Dont lock her up. Don't alienate her. She is screaming for you to listen to her. read more

One of our nieces went here last semester and thoroughly enjoyed it. The school assigns counselors to each girl and they meet daily. I'm not sure of all of the activities or subjects covered but they rely a great deal on horse therapy and art. We attended the graduation ceremony with her parents and there were many parents and grandparents present who gave glowing insights into some of the struggles they had prior to attending and how the school helped. It was our first look at a residential treatment center. If someone is looking to help a daughter or granddaughter this school should be on your consideration list. read more

Not Even worth a star. This place will try and tell u differently trust me, but before here i was somewhat in tact. If you ask about 97% of the students that went here what their lives are like now... You'd not even want to look at the website twice. This somehow makes us kids worse when we get out and u can't know what its like unless you go through it, but if i ever had a child i would definitely not make a decision like this that could ruin their lives forever. 1 tour.. to determine whether of not they'll be "fixed" or not. Please take this advice from someone who went through this terrible place about a year ago and o still speak to kids in there while they go home for a day and they are hopeless and helpless. read more

Do not under any circumstances send your child to this program. This is possibly the worst program out there. I was basically starved at Sedona Sky Academy. I was fed the bare minimum which derailed my progress because at the time me and other girls attending the program had eating disorders. Most nights we were fed stale tortilla chips topped with ground beef. We would only be allowed 2 servings. Whenever a girl would bring up the ground beef being pink we would all eat toast and fruit for dinner. A majority of the food we ate at SSA was close to expiration or we would eat it on the expiration date. Don't get your hopes up because the staff is no better than the food. I knew a girl who was personally victimized and bullied so brutally by a staff member that she had to be put on one-on-one with another staff while the staff that bullied her was working. She was told not to listen to a word the staff bullying said and to ignore her. That same staff member and many other would smoke on there breaks and came back smelling so strongly of tobacco that it would trigger the girl attending the program. I have personally got into argument with stay we're I have asked them to speak nicer to me and got the response "your never nice, why should I be". No action has been taken to talk to or fire any of these staff members. In fact in many situations the student ends up getting in trouble. At this program the girls attending are told to follow rules by hypocrites. I was put into a level one restraint to remove me from my room while I was experiencing a panic attack. Sedona Sky Academy claims that they do not use restraints unless a student is trying to hurt themselves or others which I can tell you first hand that is not the case. When leaving the program I brought these concerns to the head of the program which she responded that I was not actually in a restraint and that it was just a hold. I was picked up by both arms from two staff members and dragged down the stairs. Those same staff member spoke on their walky-talky saying that they had put me in a "level one restraint. I was kicked out of therapy multiple times because my therapist didn't want to have a session with me and my parents still paid for those sessions. I have so many more stories but to say the least this program has not earned the title as a treatment facility. read more

I was a student at sedona sky academy for 8 months. I was first told when I got to the school I would be able to participate in a plethora of fun and exciting activities, which soon come to find out, did not exist. For example, yoga and gymnastics were given as alternatives to the P.E. course over the phone, but upon arrival I was forced to participate in full body 75 minute work outs daily. The food, expired, cold, and outright disgusting. The amount of film left from oil and fat was clearly shown on the food that we received. There were multiple days where staff was asked to warm our food and blatantly ignored us. I once did not feel well and had just gotten back from a visit. I asked calmly and nicely to stay in my bed and the fire alarm was pulled while staff threatened to take my belongings away. I have talked to many girls that have been in the program with me and who have graduated and come to find out, that there were no helpful resources to stay sober when sent home. I myself relapsed twice and come to find out so have at least four of my friends. I'm continuing to work on myself through a new therapist and treatment plan and so are many of my friends that couldn't seek help at this program. Please contact other treatment places before sending your child here. read more

This facility is very punitive. Students are not treated therapeutically though this is said to be a therapeutic boarding school. Therapy staff are entry level and not equipped to deal with the issues presented by the students. Staff is cold and uncaring. Horrified by how the children, and they are children, are treated by the staff. High turn over rate as well. read more

Working with Sedona Sky staff has been an amazing experience. They are very responsive and helpful. Natalie was a huge help and worked really hard to always provide us with a lot of updates on what was going on at the program. read more

I was in the program from 2011 till 2012. All that was one of the most hardest parts of my life it was such a gift and it made me the person I am today. The staff is so supporting and loving and they tried their best to cater to the students needs. I met some great people and made even more amazing friends. The relationships that you form last a lifetime. I've been out of the program for a few years and I am doing great. Without the help from the people at the Sedona Sky I will not be as happy, successful, fun person I am today. I cannot think the staff, girls, and my therapist enough! read more