West Virginia Academy
Primary School
Mission
West Virginia Academy’s Primary School mission is to help our scholars achieve academic and personal success by becoming effective communicators, creative collaborators, dynamic leaders, and promising innovators for the state of West Virginia. We will train, support, and mentor our educators to use evidence-based educational instruction and interventions that promote each scholar’s well-being and academic progress.
Four Target Areas
Effective Communication
According to the National Center for the Improvement of Education Assessment (NCIEA, 2020), “communication is an expressive process demonstrated through production, which includes writing and speaking, and comprehension is an interpretive, decoding, and receptive process acquired through reading and listening.” Complex communication skills are a required expectation in the workforce and higher education. Our program provides multiple opportunities for student scholars to practice, self-assess, and receive constructive feedback in order to become effective communicators.
Dynamic Leadership
Leadership development is an important part of the educational experience. Thus, it is WVA mission to create meaningful, relevant leadership experiences that will be engaging, impactful, and tied closely to our curriculum and ambassador program. We know that helping our scholars become dynamic leaders will build confidence and aid their academic and personal successes throughout life.
Creative Collaborators
In order for our scholars to be academically successful, they must learn how to work with others. According to the NCIEA (2020), “intellectual gain and increased academic content knowledge and skill could be a bi- or co-product of collaborative activity.” Every student scholar will participate in our unique West Virginia Academy Ambassador program that helps promote meaningful and immersive engagement throughout the academy and our surrounding community.
Promising Innovators
Promising innovators are able to establish new ideas and solve problems in a unique way simply by thinking critically about everyday details and processes. The development of young professionals with the capacity to innovate must be intentional – it will not just happen. Our programs are designed to foster creative problem solvers so that innovation and improvement are central to our culture at West Virginia Academy.
Vision
WVA has a three-pronged vision that focuses on supporting our scholars and faculty, building a positive school culture, and serving the surrounding community.
Our vision is to create a primary and secondary school culture that fosters each scholar’s learning, leadership, strength of character, global awareness, and academic ability.
We strive to recruit, hire, develop, and retain a diverse faculty and staff that are fully committed to each scholar’s academic success and will contribute to our positive school culture with diligence, competence, and professionalism.
We aspire to develop a strong, positive community relationship that brings educators, parents, and professionals together for the benefit of each scholar’s growth and development.
Philosophy
Our objective as a public charter school generally aligns with the National School Boards Association's purpose of education, but our organization will improve upon the foundation established by traditional public schools by innovating in several areas identified as needed improvement in West Virginia. These innovations are reflected in our philosophy statement as follows:
01
Personalization
We value personalization. Each scholar comes to school with unique talents, skills and abilities. Therefore, we believe instruction needs to be adapted to accommodate those with unique learning styles. We also believe that each scholar can learn and master material when taught by highly effective evidence-based education and educators who are empowered through adequate training, support and materials.
02
Positive Learning Culture
We believe in a positive learning culture. Students are entitled to a learning environment that is safe, respectful, and academically rigorous. Each of our teachers will be using the same classroom management style. This approach is very positive and focuses on clear expectations.
03
Self-Management Skills
We believe in self-management skills. Self-management involves a student’s ability to be socially, emotionally, and behaviorally aware of themselves and others. Explicit teaching and focusing on social skills will help provide our scholars with the appropriate social behaviors they need to successfully interact with their peers and adults both in the school setting and beyond.