Plaza Academy

Plaza Academy takes in students unable to excel in a traditional educational setting, often on the verge of dropping out, and gives them the tools and opportunities to be successful, productive citizens. Every teen deserves the opportunity to succeed in life, and we know that means overcoming outside obstacles and self-created stumbling blocks. While those born into unfortunate circumstances often don’t get second chances, at Plaza Academy every student receives education focused on discovering their true potential so they can define success for themselves, and achieve it. Our students face challenges with mental health, physical health, learning disabilities, family trauma and bullying; that’s why we address the whole child. Our full-time licensed therapists offer resources for mental and emotional health; we conduct counseling for social and family issues; and, we provide educational, career and college guidance, as well as post-graduation support. Everything we do is administered in our educational setting to make coming to school more enticing, engaging and meaningful than any other point in our students’ lives. Our holistic, therapeutic, alternative approach proves to transform even the toughest individual. In 1974 Gary Seabaugh founded Plaza Academy to prove that the best way to educate students was to train them to be self-motivated. Today, his legacy is thriving with former student and Executive Director, Ward Worley (Plaza Academy class of 1985) having accelerated the school’s progress since taking over in 2013 at Seabaugh’s retirement. We are extremely proud of how far our school has come in eleven years. After decades of renting, we purchased and renovated our own building, which gave us security and stability, and solidified our place in the community. We boast a 97% retention rate for our certified professional staff over the past six years. Our wealth of talent and diversity makes Plaza Academy a special place.