According to the boy's father, Ben Shyy, a longtime Cupertino dentist, just after midnight on April 12, when Dean was asleep in his room at the academy, a group of his fellow students broke in and knocked him unconscious by hitting him in the face with a broom handle.

Dean suffered a broken nose and many bruises.

A college-prep high school in Carlsbad, the academy has a student population of 300 young men in grades seven through 12. Approximately 270 students board on-campus.

Ben Shyy says he pays an annual tuition of $23,000 for each of his two sons attending the school.

Top students in their classes, Dean and his younger brother, Rambo, have decided to continue their education at the school despite the attack.

"They really like the school and the teachers there, and we really don't want a small group of bad students to ruin everything," said the boy's father.

"Both of my sons have strong personalities. I've always taught them to face, accept and solve the problem and not run away from it."

Nevertheless, Ben is disappointed at the school's lack of response.

"So far the school hasn't done anything for us. There was no apology, no sympathy or anything. It's hard for me to understand," said Ben Shyy.

The Cupertino Courier has contacted the school for an interview. However, Brig. Gen. Steve Bliss, president of the academy, responded with "No comment" to the questions posed to him.

Although Dean is recovering physically following nose surgery on April 18, he has not healed mentally, according to his father. Both boys are now seeing a psychiatrist.

"They are very traumatized," said Ben.

Although the school has expelled three cadets involved in the beating since it happened, the motives behind the boys' attack on Dean remain unclear.

"I don't know why they hit Dean," Ben said. "Both of my sons are very nice kids. They are humble and get along with everybody."

Ben suspects that Dean's roommate, who was not in the room that night, might have been the real target of the assault.

"Dean's roommate's mother called me after the incident and said they were really targeting her son, not Dean. They thought my son was his roommate," Ben said.

The assault was immediately reported to the police, who are investigating the incident.

Ben plans to consult a lawyer about possibly taking legal action against the academy.

Both Dean and Rambo Shyy attended Cupertino and Palo Alto schools before transferring to the academy in January.