The board overseeing charter schools in West Virginia approved a new one, WISH Academy in Huntington.
WISH Academy plans to serve pre-K through grade 3 at the planned opening date of August 2027. Organizers plan to eventually expand the school through fifth grade. The program will emphasize exposure to medical fields from an early age.
WISH stands for Wisdom, Innovation, Science and Health.
“What Wish Academy is proposing is that they have a heavy emphasis on medical and the medical field, and provide provide on-site opportunities and exposure to the various medical fields that are out there from an early age and an early grade,” said Barry Holstien, executive director of the West Virginia Professional Charter Schools Board.
Members of the West Virginia Professional Charter Schools Board voted in favor of the approval during a Thursday morning meeting.
WISH will join the seven public charter schools already authorized by the West Virginia Professional Charter School Board:
Five operate as physical brick-and-mortar campuses, including West Virginia Academy in Morgantown, Eastern Panhandle Preparatory Academy in Kearneysville, Workforce Initiative (WIN) Academy in South Charleston, Clarksburg Classical Academy in Clarksburg and Wisdom Academy in Morgantown.
The remaining two operate as statewide virtual public charter schools — Virtual Preparatory Academy of West Virginia and West Virginia Virtual Academy.
WISH Academy submitted a revised application.
“After the initial review, it was determined that there were some questions and revisions that were needed to bolster their application a bit and to clear clear up some issues,” Holstein said.
He added, “I think the Wish Academy has provided a a more a more robust application in this in their revised version.”
Today, the board approved approved WISH ACADEMY’s revised application, but it cannot begin operating until its charter is executed and its final budget is approved.
One remaining matter is WISH Academy’s finances, which the board characterized as still taking shape. That issue could be reassessed as the charter execution moves forward.
“What we have is enough money on paper in what they expect to get from donors, but they may or may not have that, and they have pledges more than the dollars,” said board President Adam Kissel.
He added, “So I don’t want to call it exactly a contingency in the language today, but to remind us that we’re not going to sign the charter until we’re satisfied on the fiscal side.”