Netflix recently released a fascinating yet horrifying documentary titled The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping. It delves into the exploits of The Academy at Ivy Ridge.
The director of The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping, Katherine Kubler, is a former student of the infamous school. According to Tudum by Netflix, Kubler belonged to a conservative family. However, in high school, she began pushing boundaries by experimenting with alcohol and cigarettes.
Due to her habits, the boarding school she studied at expelled her in 2004. Initially, Kubler believed her father would pick her up and take her back home. However, two men handcuffed her and took her to The Academy at Ivy Ridge in Ogdensburg, New York. This institution advertised itself as a school to rehabilitate troubled teens. Unfortunately, Kubler and several other students lost their freedom on arrival.
Students of The Academy at Ivy Ridge were not allowed to smile, talk, or go outside. Nor did the institution allow them to communicate freely with the outside world or leave the premises until they turned 18. According to Katherine Kubler, The Academy implemented severe corporal punishment and abuse.
Kubler spent several months in this institution before her father eventually got her out of there. However, for years she reeled from its trauma. She says, “They really drill into you this complete sense of shame, and that you’re this horrible person for being there, so I felt like I had this disclaimer I needed to say to people.”
On Netflix, the synopsis of The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping reads, “Years after being sent to a disciplinary school, a woman still haunted by her experiences exposes the corruption and abuse of the troubled teen industry.”
How long was Katherine Kubler at the Academy at Ivy Ridge?
Katherine Kubler was at The Academy at Ivy Ridge for 15 months. According to her, after graduating from film school in 2010, she read Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids by Maia Szalavitz. This inspired her to narrate her painful story and expose the dark side of behavior modification facilities.
Kubler shared, “There were no shortage of survivors willing to come forward to share their story for this documentary. There are so many incredible, important, powerful stories out there that people are finally ready to share with the world.”
The Academy at Ivy Ridge closed in 2009. However, Kubler learned that all student files were left behind by the powers that be. She further came to know that her file was also there in the abandoned institution. This motivated her to connect with ex-students, showcase her story, and make this documentary.
Unfortunately, even after 15 years of extinction, many schools use the exact blueprint of The Academy at Ivy Ridge for their modus operandi. In Kubler’s words, “There are glimmers of hope, but these places are like whack-a-mole. You get one shut down and it’ll open again under a new name, sometimes in the same building with the same staff.” Perhaps the emergence of such stories would eventually bring an end to the terrifying conduct of such institutions.
According to IMDb, Katherine Kubler is the owner and executive creative director of Tiny Dino.