West Virginia Academy's foundational principles are rooted in research-based practices that promote effective educational outcomes. These principles guide the school's operations and curriculum:
Providing Growth Experiences:Â WVA prioritizes experiential learning opportunities, such as field trips, community service, and extracurricular activities, to foster student growth and development.
Teaching to Mastery: WVA emphasizes a mastery-based approach, ensuring that students achieve a deep understanding of concepts before moving on to new material.
Promoting Universal Accountability:Â WVA holds all stakeholders, including students, teachers, and administrators, accountable for achieving high standards.
Attracting and Supporting a Diverse Student Body:Â And WVA is committed to creating an inclusive environment that welcomes students from all backgrounds.
Every Friday is a dedicated Experience Day at West Virginia Academy. Student learning go beyond the classroom through hands-on learning projects, visits to historical sites and museums, intra-mural competitions, specialized assemblies, and community service. WVA wants the time on these experience days to be as fulfilling and effective as possible, therefore we have prioritized our funding, programs, and class schedules to maximizes the number of experiences for each grade. Computer software and virtual experiment environments can provide new opportunities for inquiry-based learning and teaching. We have researched and connected with two education technology (ed-tech) companies, Victory XR and Aloe VR, that have been proven to not only increase student academic performance but also enhance their emotional resilience as well.
With the generous contribution from Hope Gas, WVA will now have a Portable Virtual Reality Lab that will contain all the materials necessary for a class to have a complete educational lesson in a virtual setting. Teachers will be able to check out or reserve the cart for an Experience Day activity, such as visiting the Roman Colosseum, or getting an up-close look at the body's nervous system.
Not only can these programs offer insightful hands-on learning, but they can also teach students to control their emotions and practice de-escalation techniques in a safe environment. A set of headsets will be housed in the Student Success office to help students that need these crucial self-management techniques.
West Virginia Academy is honored to partner with Hope Gas in bringing this amazing opportunity to our students every day.
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