Agape Boarding School

They have finally closed!!!! Thank goodness! This place was a devastating pit of abuse. I am not speaking as former student, a sibling or a parent. I am speaking as the wife of a former student.
My husband had the unfortunate experience of attending this horrible "school" for five years. Every review here documenting the abuse is absolutely accurate so I won't rehash it but let's talk about the long term repercussions. Because of this violent hell hole my husband has major PTSD. He has been treated for depression, anger issues and anxiety. He fought drug addiction and thankfully came through it. Thankfully now he has overcome his abuse and become a successful husband and father, but the cloud of what he went through at Agape hangs over us always. When we first got together he had no idea how to communicate, have a healthy relationship or even how to eat correctly. We would sit down at dinner and he wouldn't speak, put his head down and shovel in his food because he had never been allowed a relaxing meal. He was beaten down at this institution, he was humiliated, he was destroyed and he was given nothing for it. This has caused him a lifetime of issues and struggles. It has caused challenges in our marriage that didn't have to be there. It's been well over 20 years since my husband escaped Agape and he still fights the repercussions. I am so sorry for every boy that went through what my husband did. They have burdened these men and their families with a lifetime of challenges.

I thought I should write a review not as a former student or as a parent, but as a sibling. My brother was sent here back in 1999-2000. It was a very sad time for our family as my mom was a single working mom trying to raise 2 kids.
My mom is not a subpar parent either....we were raised going to catholic school and had an amazing support system around us...my brother just got mixed with the wrong set of friends which created a slippery slope for him.
I went to visit my brother one time while he was in this place and I will never forget it. I cried that entire time watching how this place operates. I knew it wasn't a good place but my brother was not allowed to inform of us of anything until he was out. EVERYTHING is monitored. Your mail, your phone calls...everything. My brother got put on the wall (this is where they make you stand facing the wall all waking hours...even while you eat) just for asking someone for a pencil without his big brother (mentors for new students) present. He was on the wall for 2 weeks for that. I chose to not go back to visit until his graduation and I couldn't wait to hug him and hear from him what really goes on in this place.
But here is the thing...we never got much out of him. He was so traumatized that he still to this day won't speak about this place. I tried asking him questions for years and he would just say that he wouldn't send his worst enemy there. Horrible things go on there and then he would just shut down and say he didn't want to talk about.
I will say that he did graduate on honor role but then again my brother has always been exceedingly intelligent. He came home and was about to go right back down the same path until HE decided he didn't want to anymore. The school did not help him...I just wish my mom had a better knowledge on what to do instead of being brainwashed by family and friends to send him here.
I have a few friends who also happened to go here and they have been way more vocal with me about what goes on in this place and it is awful!! I would ask my brother if he witnessed these things and he said yes. Abuse...physical...sexual...you name it...it is happening here. "Ma'am" (that is what you called the lady in charge) scared the living daylights out of me. I feel so sad my brother had to experience this for 3 years! I can't even imagine the trauma he has sustained from it that he can't even speak about it 20 years later. Breaks my heart.

This school has had a history of abuse trailing through multiple states and they hide it all underneath the guise of a religious institution.

I was a student (15yrs old) at this school and my first night there I was thrown on my back by a staff member and punched in the face multiple times. It took 3 staff to pull this staff member off me. All this happened because my arms were too weak to do the pushups I was given as a punishment, and I had said Gosh. No formal report was taken and my family was not told about the incident. That same staff member would continue to threaten to "knock me out" after that if he saw me smiling or laughing. He apparently didn't like my teeth, and they bothered him. Or at least that's what he said. He would run up to me and grab my shirt with his other fist clenched, and yell "you better hide those teeth before I knock them out." Agape denies such stories and says that any of us that claim such things are just disgruntled ex-students. But to Agape's demise, there's countless ex-students and ex-staff members that have come forward sharing their stories.

I am just one of hundreds of guys that have gone through this school and come out with a long list of issues. Thankfully I've found a way to navigate life despite those few years of being at Agape that left me with severe PTSD. I've had countless friends from the school that have committed suicide, turned to drugs, and just hate God all together because of what happens at Agape.

If you're a parent reading this and you don't know what to do with your son. I can only imagine how helpless you must feel to consider having a bunch of strangers take over raising your kid for you. But no matter how pretty a picture Agape's marketing and the Agape staff paint, I can assure you, it is nothing like that once they get their hands on your kid. They will drive you and your child further apart, and their only goal is to keep your child in their program as long as possible. The longer they have your kid the more money they make. Charging around $4,000 a month per kid, and having around 150 kids in their program, that's $7M+ a year. This is a for profit school. They are not incentivized to "fix" your kid. If they are able to turn your kid into a respectable young man after a month, they will still aim to keep him there till he graduates.

Google search Kansas City Star and Agape. Even the legislators in Missouri are standing up against these kinds of schools.

The experience felt more or less like that of a penitentiary. Finally turned 18 and on the second day, after a year and a half of mind games, bullying, and harassment choose to finally leave. Brian Clemenson himself told me to my face I would not graduate if I choose to leave and that such a choice would ensure my permanent loss of a high school diploma. I didn't listen, and walked out regardless. Brian himself took it upon himself to take out personal items from my luggage as I was vacating the premises, and didn't even give me a dollar let alone any food for the long trek he knew I had to make with no help back to Virginia. It was January 17th, and undoubtedly the worst time to walk out but nothing was gonna stop me. After getting dropped off per Brian's orders at a random truck stop in Missouri with no food, water, money, or even phone from him, I made it back to Virginia in less then 2 days. If God wasn't with me the entire time I don't believe I would have made it through Chicago, and some other very rough places unharmed, and we'll fed, with transportation guaranteed. After only 4 months of being home I graduated with my class earlier then even expected at agape, and am now admitted to Penn State with all of no thanks to this sorry excuse for a human being.

Don't be fooled, this place is an absolute nightmare. I was there from 2003-2005, graduated valedictorian, yada yada, but I won't lie- it's essentially a purgatory run by fanatics. Any "parent" who thinks otherwise is delusional, or isn't a "parent" at all. The vast majority of "parents" who sent their children here simply don't want to be parents, and see Agape as an easy, simple way out of parenting. Send your kid away and let others deal with them.

MOST of the boys there don't belong there in the first place. You can tell by the way the parents act when they visit, and the fact that most of them come from Southern California- a good indicator of the "my teenager is hindering my social life" type of "parent".

"Christian jail" is about right.... Run and managed by some well-intentioned, and some brutally evil people. They have a carpeted room where they beat the snot out of kids from reasons ranging to "looking at their daughter" to "talking back". They've broken bones and dislocated shoulders doing so, along with slamming kids into the ground.

Trust me, I'm not sour or bitter about it, I'm just explaining the reality. I was a junior staff member there, minded my P's and Q's, and didn't experience the horrors some other kids had to deal with.

There are a few good, caring staff, but the majority are similar to officers of Nazi Germany- taking orders, restraining kids and beating the snot out of them "for their own good". There's a reason this place is located in Missouri. And this is coming from an advocate of strict parenting... Agape just goes too far.

From my experience, it hasn't actually "helped" any of the kids that were sent there, except for the feeble minded and those who were on the literal brink of death. And before you think your kid is "uncontrollable" or "rebellious", you really need to view that objectively, relative to ALL other boys their age. Unless they're actually killing people or shooting up heroin, they don't belong here. BE A BETTER PARENT- it will be far better for them in the long run.

By "purgatory" I mean that, this will simply delay your child's actions- it won't "change" them. They'll burn the most critical years of their development "waiting" to leave and go right back to what they were doing. It doesn't make them mature or learn, it simply delays that process.

Do the right thing and sit your son down and talk about it. Be a good parent and discipline them properly so they don't have to go through a horrible experience like this... Agape stunts the growth and maturity of 95% of kids there. (5% really do belong there and need help).

This is NOT a "boarding school." This is jail. If you want to harm your children and don't want to take responsibility for your parenting, you can send them here. They'll remember that for the rest of their lives

As a former student who was here for 3 years, this place will damage your child mentally and physically in the long term. A lot of horrible things happen or have happened at this place and it's either covered up or swept under the rug. If you are a parent looking to send your child to get help and change his life, this is not the place for your child. For more information, please read the Kansas City Star or watch the Hammer Podcast on YouTube with many former student testimonies . This review will be probably be deleted due to Agape getting it taken down like many other reviews but I just want the abuse to stop.

I just brought my son home from Agape Boarding School. He was in there for over a year. He has grown up and has started taking responsibility for his actions. When I sent him there he was abusing drugs, stealing and not caring about school. This program has helped him by giving him real purpose and self pride. It taught him things I could have never taught him. The staff is caring and warm. They are strict and provide a safe environment. This is a great place for your son if you are like me and are out of options and need a desperate change to save your son's life. I especially want to thank Brother Brian and Brother Julio for the time and love you invested in my son. You really do make a difference!

I was a student there for a year. All I am going to say is that this "school" should not be operating . Do not send your kids there

Every now and then I check the web for updates to Agape. I attended Agape from 2001-2002 as a sophomore in High School and boy was I in for a rude awakening. From what i can see on the internet, the school has changed tremendously and seems to be moving in the right direction for new students. Like many of my peers who attended this school during my time, we can all testify that this was one of our most difficult times in our then short lived life and I can only speak to what I experienced.

For those that do not know, Agape is a independent, fundamental, baptist church which positions them very conservatively, I would say too conservative. With the daily chapel services and the Full Sunday run down of the gospel, religion felt forced! I understand Agapes intentions were all good but to a student at the time, this is way too much! Soo much that it pushed me away from religion but it did not push me away from believing there was one God and a higher power does exist.

The ONE thing that motivated me when I was at Agape was succeeding at school and not because I wanted to gain knowledge but more because my parents "promised" me an exit once I finish my schooling. Agape utilizes self pace schooling which is done more independently at the students own pace. This allows for some students to take advantage of there "free time" doing pace work and finishing quicker.

During my time there, I was low key and did not cause much trouble but from time to time I found myself on the wall which is a form of punishment. I am not sure what kind of punishment is being implemented now a day but the punishment experienced during my time(2001) was very severe and could even be considered assault. Let me make this clear, you were only punished if you did wrong and I did not see unjust beatings.

All in all, I did not learn or care much for religion but what I did learn was to respect your elders and more importantly, respect yourself. Overall, would I send my kid to Agape one day? That questions remains unanswered as I have never been in that position and til you find yourself in those parents shoes, its hard to give a definitive answer.

I forsure had a pretty rough time when I was at agape. I was definitely bullied and the staff were 100% condoning it. I was a pretty tough kid but didn't want to stand up for myself because the consequences wouldn't have been worth it. They put kids who have been there longer in charge of other kids who some times take advantage of that instead of taking them under their wing. If you can't do the hundreds of push ups they make you do, they will restrain you aka ( beat your ass in the all padded room). You will come back up bruised and black and blue, no exaggeratin! I did find God while I was there however it was probably because I was in such a dark time in my life I felt no where else to turn. I got out and progressively got worse ending up in juvenile hall, to county jail, to then prison. Not saying that's agapes fault I was out of control, just letting you know it started there. I am doing great now, rebuilding my life and back in church and A.A. But parents please find another alternative than this!