Dr. Mary Louise Cole, Bay Point’s founder, is a prominent figure in child and youth education. Dr. Cole earned a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Miami. She began teaching elementary and junior high school earlier in her career and later joined the faculty of the University of Miami, where she served as the assistant Dean of Continuing Education.

Dr. Cole became the Executive Director of the Children’s Home Society (CHS) – Southeast Division in 1981. During her 11-year tenure, CHS grew from a small adoption agency to a $12 million agency with nine children’s homes throughout Miami-Dade County. In 1992, Hurricane Andrew destroyed almost all of South Dade County. Dr. Cole established an Interfaith Coalition to organize and support hundreds of church volunteers coming to South Dade to help in the rebuilding effort. The Interfaith Coalition for Andrew completed its recovery effort after nearly two years and 1,600 rebuilt homes.

In 1994 Dr. Cole turned her attention to troubled adolescent boys. Noting the soaring statistics of youth crime and growing incidence of juveniles sentenced as adults, Dr. Cole took swift action and created Bay Point Schools.

“It is my dream that one day all children who have lost their way will have the benefit of a national program based on the Bay Point Schools model.” – Dr. Mary Louise Cole, President and CEO

Bay Point’s History

In 1995, concerned with the runaway statistics of youth crime, Dr. Cole created a radical and innovative approach that would later prove to capture national attention. The Bay Point property was purchased in 1994 by the Ethel and George W. Kennedy Family Foundation. Located on 48 acres within a mangrove ecosystem, this tropical setting in South Dade had previously been one of the army’s Hawk missile sites.

The Kennedy family supported Dr. Cole’s philosophy that troubled juveniles could be guided into becoming successful members of the community. Dr. Cole began Bay Point with an AmeriCorps grant and her own private funds. She received her first contract from the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) in 1995. Bay Point began as a pilot program for 36 at-risk youths with a unique model designed to be different from the usual juvenile detention or half-way house model.

The program became so successful that it has now expanded to four campuses with over 241 beds. Bay Point Schools also has a private student campus that invites parents to place out-of-control teenage boys into the successful Bay Point program.