West Virginia Academy named a semifinalist for Yass Prize

MORGANTOWN, W.Va (WDTV) - West Virginia Academy has been selected as a semifinalist for a million-dollar prize.

The charter school was selected as a semifinalist for the 2023 Yass Prize during this year’s Yass Summit.

“We do have uniforms, we have that private feel, small classrooms. We can really individualize the academics, but we still keep that public perception, we still have that public view,” said Heidr Treu, co-founder and executive director of West Virginia Academy.

Treu is a proud part of the trailblazer family and one of it’s founding members.

West Virginia Academy is relatively new to the local area, and it’s made strides to change the landscape of education throughout the state forever.

Because of those strides, the school has been named a semifinalist for the 2023 Yass prize.

The award recognizes organizations through out the nation that are transforming education, an accomplishment that Treu and other school officials hope will benefit WVA and future charter campus’s to come.

“We really see a lot of people starting to get on that charter bandwagon and seeing that there are other options out there. We would love to expand our campus. We’re getting a little tight in this location, so we would really appreciate more land, more area, and just more activities for the students. We would love to have a little pot of money to give back to the teachers as bonuses to help really promote what they’re doing in the classroom.”

With signs from the state looking to support more charter schools like WVA, the mission is to continue to raise the educational standard statewide.

“Nationally, with the way that the legislature is going right now as far as financing, as far as supporting charter schools, we feel like this is a wonderful movement, and we are excited to be a part of it. We are excited to be one of the first to forge a way to get students academically where they need to be. We’ve got to pull West Virginia up, and I think this is the best way to do it.”

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