West Virginia’s first charter schools are reporting some enrollment gains as they move toward opening this fall.
West Virginia Academy in Morgantown has the highest enrollment so far with 458 students, officials said today.
Eastern Panhandle Preparatory Academy has 303 “verified enrollments.”
West Virginia Virtual Academy has 204 enrolled students so far.
And Virtual Prep Academy has 62 approved enrollments and 146 applications in progress.
Those figures were reported during a meeting today of the West Virginia Professional Charter Schools Board.
“So overall, across all four schools, there are more than 1,000 enrollments so far and another 500 to 1,000 expected by fall,” said James Paul, the executive director of the professional charter schools board.
West Virginia has had no charter schools until now, after passing a state law allowing them in 2019. Charter schools would receive financial support from the state’s public education system and would be given greater operational latitude in exchange for the possibility of losing their right to operate if they fail.
Another school that had been approved, Nitro Preparatory Academy, is still looking for a location for classes and is planning an extension to open next year instead.
Paul also provided an update on starting dates for the schools.
West Virginia Academy opens August 2 for its secondary school and August 8 for its primary school.
Paul said the other three schools are opening on August 22.
Stride, the national company running the West Virginia Virtual Academy, said it expects enrollment will grow as the start date approaches.
“We have thousands of people that have expressed interest, so we are very confident that we will have a very decent enrollment for our first school year,” said Doug Cipoletti, head of schools for the West Virginia Virtual Academy. “From there, we just see it growing and growing.”
.@kevinpchavous and Doug Cipoletti join @HoppyKercheval to discuss how Stride INC. will impact the WV Virtual Academy. WATCH: https://t.co/yCFQ3nDJuy pic.twitter.com/m0INv9KGkL
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) June 29, 2022