POCAHONTAS COUNTY (WVDN) – A new private school option is open for area middle schoolers and their parents who may be seeking an alternative, innovative educational model.
The Yew Mountain Center, located in Pocahontas County, is debuting The Yew School in Pocahontas County this fall, a day school for middle-school aged students of all needs and backgrounds. They are accepting students from across the Greenbrier Valley.
Experiential learning is the focus of The Yew School, says Erica Marks, dean of academics. Students will be challenged by alternative methods of learning that some students crave and cannot get from established public programs.
It could be perfect solution for a student who is struggling or the perfect opportunity for an exceptional student who is bored, she says. This program can help a youth refocus on positive learning without losing momentum in the public school system or home school environment.
It can be a single year attendance or multiyear and is designed to stimulate the student attitude about learning in general plus give them an outdoor learning element they might be missing out on at home.
“We want to be all inclusive, so there are scholarships and parental partnership possibilities to defray tuition strain for those who need, Marks says. “We will be creating and evolving the program to meet the needs of the students.”
Deadline for a priority application is July 1, but there will be mid-term admissions as some students may wish to join the program at a second or third quarter point in their year. The school year will be Aug. 15-June 9. The Yew School will be mixed grades of primarily middle-school age youth.
“One to two dozen students the first year is our goal,” Marks says.
Marks’ background as a sciences educator will come in handy as a support for the STEM program, which will be taught by Shane Groves who has taught in several West Virginia public and private programs.
The head of school is Zachary Drennen who will also teach humanities and taught in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Kenya before coming to the Greenbrier Valley. Dean of students Margaret Worth is a long-time resident of Pocahontas County.
A new dedicated classroom structure is under renovation at this time. It will have a large wall of windows looking over the sanctuary pond and woodland covered hills of the 500-acre property. All these places will actually become classrooms, where students can learn and study outdoors.
Seed money for the project came from the Walton Family Foundation and was held several years because of economy issues during the pandemic but is now flowing into the veins of the new school.
Tuition will be $6,000 per year, a four-day education program with Friday optional activities and field trips.
The biggest obstacle to building the student numbers will be transportation by the parents to school.
Located 45 minutes from Lewisburg, the Yew Mountain Center is on Lobelia Road, about halfway between Droop Mountain and Hillsboro on the Lobelia Road loop. And winter road conditions will have an impact.
“We are hoping to organize carpooling among the parents and later there may be a bus, at least from Marlinton to start with,” says Marks. There is also a possibility of a school bus that will run from Lewisburg, says Marks, but this is still in the planning stages so details are not yet available.
There has been interest from Nicholas, Pocahontas, and Greenbrier County students already. The number of placements for this year will be capped at around 24. No student will be refused because of inability to pay tuition, there are scholarships for qualifying needs.
Parents can also supplement the school’s programs by participating in snack preparation or helping in other ways to better the program and the facility.
“We will include the parents as much as they are willing to help,” says Marks.
Those interested in applying for The Yew School or seeking more information can find The Yew Mountain Center on Facebook, at yewmountain.org/yewschool, email: theyewschool@gmail.com, or call 304-653-4079.
