Isle of Wight Academy
| Isle of Wight Academy | |
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| Information | |
| Type | Private |
| Established | 1967 |
| Headmaster | Benjamin Vaughan |
| Grades | Pre-K - 12th |
| Mascot | Chargers |
| Website | iwacademy.com |
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Isle of Wight Academy (IWA) is a private non-profit day school located in Isle of Wight County, Virginia. The school has students from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade and is non-sectarian and coeducational.
The Isle of Wight Academy started in the space previously occupied by the Isle of Wight Elementary School, as a segregation academy. It was open for one year until, in the fall of 1968, a fire completely destroyed the school building, leaving only the original gymnasium (which remains the only building standing on the campus from the original school structure). With funding from the school community, the academy was able to rebuild with four permanent classroom buildings and a new gymnasium.
The academy was one of many such schools which lost tax-exempt status in the early 1970s because of racially discriminatory admissions policies. During the 1980s enrollment began to decrease.
After briefly losing its tax-exempt status again in 1985 it finally regained it June 1987. In 1988, The school enrolled three Black students out of 300, and in 1989 one. Headmaster Don Deaton told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that "We would like to have more black students but it's hard to attract them."
The early 1990s saw a reversal of fortune for the school. Enrollment began a steady increase and more programs began to be offered to the growing student body. Enrollment now stands at approximately 650 students, the most ever enrolled at the Academy.
On December 3, 2013 Smithfield Foods, a subsidiary of Shuanghui International Holdings Limited, pledged 1 million dollars to the school for facilities and scholarships.
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