MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Classes at the first brick-and-mortar charter school in the state, the Morgantown-based West Virginia Academy, are underway.
This is the fourth year of classes at the facility located on Chestnut Ridge Road, according to Principal Holly Honeycutt. On WAJR’s “Talk of the Town,” she said all of the staff and a good portion of the student body were ready to get back to work.
“We as a staff were so excited to see all of the students walk through the doors yesterday,” Honeycutt said. “Some of the kids ran right through the doors as if they never were off for the summer, and of course there were those little sleepyheads that didn’t want to come in.”
Honeycutt said 280 students are currently enrolled, and there are still openings for families who are looking for a school. For pre-K through 6th grade students, a foundation of their learning is the Supplemental Tiered Education Program (STEP), where students are taught the main subjects at their ability level. In the afternoon that instruction is followed up with grade-level content.
“It’s all about school choice,” Honeycutt said. “Our families choose to bring their kids here; this is our fourth year, and every year our enrollment just keeps growing and growing.”
Fridays are special days on the academic calendar for each grade level. Students participate in exercises using the lessons learned throughout the week to provide an opportunity to practically apply the concepts they’ve been taught.
“We have experiential learning days on Fridays,” Honeycutt said. “So, Monday through Thursday we are bell-to-bell learning, and on Friday is our experiential learning day, where we put into practice what we’ve learned all week.”
The vaccine issue was settled by the board of the academy shortly after the governor signed the executive order earlier this year. Honeycutt said the school will honor the wishes of the family provided they have gone through the proper procedure.
“Students have to have proof of required vaccines to enroll,” Honeycutt said. “But, if they have an exemption letter from the West Virginia Bureau of Public Health—if they give that letter to us, they are allowed to be admitted to school.”
Last summer, the academy purchased a little less than 20 acres in the Falling Waters area near Cheat Lake for about $400,000 and is planning to construct a new campus. That project is expected to cost as much as $9 million and would accommodate up to 500 students and extracurricular activities.
“It’s going to be ready in a couple of years,” Honeycutt said. “A new campus-style environment for our scholars to be able to experience that full educational day of learning.”