MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The second brick-and-mortar public charter school is preparing to welcome students in August of 2025 in the former headquarters building for Monongalia County Public Schools.
On WAJRs “Talk of the Town,” Chairman of Wisdom Academy, Javaid Syed, said they have renovated the 15,000 square foot building to add six to seven classrooms on each floor. They have also developed the Individual Performance Plan for Success (IPPS). The IPPS is described as a portfolio, or electronic database, that highlights student needs determined by the student, family, and Wisdom Academy and tracks the progress.
“We want to make sure our children are educated properly, that they are responsible, and that they understand the challenges that are coming,” Syed said. “So, it is a lot more than just academic education.”
Syed said teachers will report for the 2025-26 school year in late July, students in grades one through seven start classes Aug. 21, and kindergarten classes begin Aug. 25. There are currently 70 students and counting that are enrolled for the 2025-26 school year.
“We are starting the school with pre-k and going all the way to grade seven in the first year, and every year after that we will add an additional grade,” Syed said. “So, we are approved from pre-K to grade 12.”
The IPPS will be developed together with Wisdom Academy staff, students, and families and evaluated for progress four times each year during in-person meetings. Each individual plan will include assessment data, goals for academics, student learning style preferences, goals for character education, pathway progression, dual credit opportunities, awards and accomplishments, service projects, internships, shadowing, awards and recognitions, and community service activities.
“The hope is that we are going to be quite different,” Syed said. “We are more interested in making sure the parent and the child are working together because we hear a lot of families say they don’t know what their child is doing, and we don’t want to see that.”
The Wisdom Academy will have a particular focus on literacy through the Success for All (SFA) reform model, and curriculum materials will be provided by McGraw Hill. Both organizations will spend a week with faculty to ensure they understand how to administer the programs.
“They are providing an entire week of training to the teachers,” Syed said. “To make sure the teachers understand where they are coming from, why it is important, and how they can help the child.”
Interviews are being conducted now for teachers and administrators at the Wisdom Academy. Syed said they want to adopt a policy of aides in every classroom. The aides would work closely with teachers and learn on the job and ultimately have the opportunity to become a full-fledged teacher over time.
“We are looking for teachers who can be molded,” Syed said. “Because bringing in a teacher from an existing system and putting them into the same place where the teacher is not willing to learn a new thing or form new ideas, that will be a problem—we are looking for fresh minds.”