We are excited to announce that our Governing Board at West Virginia Academy was selected as the School Choice Advocate of the Year this past week by the Cardinal Institute as part of its School Choice Week Awards. It was truly an honor to receive this recognition for our ongoing efforts in establishing West Virginia's first ever charter school. Our board members have put in countless hours to advance our organization's mission of improving public education and school choice in West Virginia.
The Cardinal Institute for West Virginia Policy has been instrumental in advancing education choice in West Virginia and played an active role in championing the charter school law that was adopted by the West Virginia legislature in 2019. Garrett Ballengee, the executive director of the Cardinal Institute, stated the following about our organization prior to issuing the award:
"John Treu and his board at the academy really stepped forward and wanted to try to open up the first charter school in West Virginia up in Mon County and Preston County in particular...We thought it was important to recognize their contribution to education in West Virginia and what that may look like as the West Virginia Academy moves forward here in the state."
The full video of the awards ceremony is available below, with our acceptance at the thirty-three minute mark.