Facility profile Mississippi

Eagle Point Christian Academy

Formerly Gulf Coast Academy, Bethel Baptist Children’s Home

Also known as Bethel Baptist Children's Home, Bethel Boys Academy, Bethel Academy

Closed Lucedale, Mississippi

Eagle Point Christian Academy was a christian specialty boarding school in Lucedale, Mississippi, operated by World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASPS). It operated from 1978 to 2005.

About Eagle Point Christian Academy

It was founded as Bethel Children's Home (1988); reopened as Bethel Boys Home after a 1990 closure; later renamed Eagle Point Christian Academy; most recent name Gulf Coast Academy.source 1, source 2, source 3 Property sold by Fountain family to Narvin Lichfield of WWASP.source WWASPS is the new parent company of Eagle Point Christian Academy.source

It was located in Gulf Coast Academy, 2147 Mill Street Ext, Lucedale, MS 39452.source 1, source 2 It also reportedly operated as Respect Camp, Cambridge Academy and Pine View Academy.source

It was accredited by Northwest Association of Accredited Schools (NAAS).source It was a member of WWASPS (World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools).source

As Bethel Boys Academy

WWASPS

Lawsuits

  • Cheryl Struble, et al. v. Herman Fountain, et al. 2004 | Filed | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Southern Division Names this facility

    Eight families of former students (called cadets) sued Herman Fountain, John Fountain Jr., Josh Fountain, Susan Churchwell and others who ran Bethel Boys Academy near Lucedale, Mississippi, in federal court, claiming federal Fair Labor Standards Act and state-law claims. The complaint alleges that staff and cadets forced by staff beat new arrivals, that boys were locked in footlockers, made to hold electric fences, held underwater at a swamp, denied bathroom breaks, sleep, food and medical care, and made to work up to 18 hours a day without pay. It alleges the academy misled parents about care, education and a staff nurse, and kept tuition and other payments. The enrollments described run from 2002 to 2003. The extracted text is missing the caption page, so the docket number, district and filing date are not shown, and the document shows nothing beyond the complaint.

News coverage

As Eagle Point Christian Academy

WWASPS

Lawsuits

As Gulf Coast Academy

Incidents on record

  1. September 20, 2007 Runaway

    Four children (two boys, two girls) went missing from Gulf Coast Academy in Lucedale; school administrator Harold Dabel said the escape was planned, though the school keeps boys and girls segregated.source

  2. October 2007 Investigation

    In October 2007 a parent campaigned to shut down Gulf Coast Academy in Lucedale over poor living conditions, alleged student abuse and escapes; she could not confirm the stories but saw broken glass and broken windows.source

Incidents on record

  1. November 9, 2007 Incident

    A November 9, 2007 CAFETY article reported parents wanted the academy closed; a November 22, 2007 Hattiesburg American article said the state should review allegations.source

News coverage

16 more articles

Videos

Bethel Documentary Short (2019) Watch on Vimeo
Bethel Documentary Short - YouTube (2020-01-31) Watch on YouTube
A Visit to Bethel Baptist Boys Home in Lucedale, Mississippi (2017-08-16) Watch on YouTube
CHILD ABUSE CONVICTION AT BETHEL BAPTIST BOY ACADEMY, A WWASP PROGRAM (2017) Watch on YouTube
Allen Knoll | Surviving Bethel Academy (IFB Reform School) (2020-11-27) Watch on YouTube
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Staff

Administration

Notable staff

Connections on the network map

The companies, people and programs our research map ties to this program. Open it on the network map.

Ownership

Acquisitions

  • Narvin Lichfield Acquired this program (acquired by)

Documents

From the Unsilenced archive

761 documents about Eagle Point Christian Academy that Unsilenced collected and Kids Over Profits does not hold a copy of. They open on Unsilenced's Google Drive. Their folders: Bethel Academy, Eagle Point Christian Academy.

Documents (761)

Wiki entries

Materials and links

External links

Survivor posts and discussion

Reference and research

From SCIAD NET.

Archived pages

Other links

Record updated . Generated from the Kids Over Profits facility database. Suggest a correction