Isle of Wight Academy (IWA) is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

day school A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children are given instruction during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when compared to a regular s ...

located in

Isle of Wight County, Virginia Isle of Wight County is a county (United States), county in the Hampton Roads region of the U.S. state of Virginia. It is named after the Isle of Wight, England, south of the Solent, from where many of its early colonists had come. As of the ...

. It was founded in 1967 as a

segregation academy Segregation academies are private schools in the Southern United States that were founded in the mid-20th century by white parents to avoid having their children attend Racial segregation in the United States, desegregated public schools. They ...

. The school has students from

Pre-kindergarten Pre-kindergarten (also called pre-K or PK) is a voluntary classroom-based preschool program for children below the age of five in the United States, Canada, Turkey and Greece (when kindergarten starts). It may be delivered through a preschool ...

12th grade Twelfth Grade (also known as Grade 12, Senior Year, Standard 12, 12th Standard, 12th Class, or Class 12th or Class 12) is the twelfth and final Educational stage, year of Formal education, formal or compulsory education. It is typically the final ...

and is

non-sectarian Nonsectarian institutions are secular institutions or other organizations not affiliated with or restricted to a particular religious group. Academic sphere Many North American universities identify themselves as being nonsectarian, such as B ...

and

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

History

Isle of Wight Academy was founded in 1967 as a private academy by white parents seeking to avoid sending their children to racially integrated public schools. In the 1968–69 school year, the Isle of Wight County School Board sold a surplus school bus to the academy. The school board was later stripped of $99,000 in federal funds for aiding a racially segregated private school. In the 1980s, the school's tax exempt status was revoked over the school's refusal to comply with federal anti-discrimination standards. Up to the mid-1980s, Isle of Wight Academy had never had a black student, teacher, or board member.

Mission

The philosophy of Isle of Wight Academy is to "accept students of average or above average ability and develop them to their fullest potential by providing a quality program, which will build the student mentally, physically, and spiritually. The school emphasizes the honor, integrity, social development, and citizenship of the student."

Academics

As a college-preparatory institution, Isle of Wight Academy has courses emphasizing readying its students for a college education. To meet this goal, the school has a variety of dual-enrollment and Advanced Placement (AP) classes. IWA partners with Paul D. Camp Community College and Richard Bland College to offer the following dual credit courses at present: US History (6 credits), French IV ( 8 credits), Spanish IV (8 credits), Economics (6 credits), English (6 credits), and Statistics/Linear Algebra (6 credits). AP US Government and AP English Literature and Composition are the currently offered Advanced Placement classes.

Extracurricular Activities

Isle of Wight Academy has a number of extracurricular activities for Upper and Lower School students. For the Upper School, clubs — such as the Student Council Organization (SCO), Key Club, Drama Club, and Science Club — have the largest degree of participation. The Upper School also has a number of academic competition teams, such as the Scholastic Bowl, Battle of the Brains, Science Bowl, Blue Crab Bowl, and Envirothon teams. The Upper School has chapters in four national honor societies, the

National Honor Society The National Honor Society (NHS) is one of the oldest, largest, and most widely recognized cocurricular student organizations in American high schools, with 1.4 million members. The purpose of the NHS is to create enthusiasm for scholarship, to ...

National Junior Honor Society The National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) is an American international student organization with chapters in middle schools. The NJHS was founded by the National Association of Secondary School Principals, and today has chapters in the United Sta ...

, French National Honor Society, and

Spanish National Honor Society Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine ** Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

. The Lower School has the Junior Student Cooperative Organization (JSCO) and the Middle School Science Club to offer academic enrichment outside of the classroom. IWA offers half-credit courses in fine arts, such as Upper School Band, Chorus, and Audio Visual Technology. The Upper School participates in the Association of Virginia Academies (AVA) Forensics and Fine Arts competitions, where many students place high in their respective categories.

Athletics

Isle of Wight Academy is a member of the Virginia Colonial Conference and Metro Athletic Conference. In its history, IWA has won 70 conference season championships, 35 conference tournament championships, and 11 state championships (five in softball, five in football, and one in baseball). It sponsors the following varsity and junior varsity sports: football, basketball, volleyball, baseball, softball, cross country, soccer, golf, and winter and fall cheerleading. During his time at IWA in the mid-late 2000's, Daniel Brown was a three-sport athlete (basketball, football, and baseball). From 2005 to 2007, he helped the school win three consecutive state championships. He is a retired

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL).

Notable alumni

* Daniel Brown (Class of 2010), former professional football (Now Retired) player of the Baltimore Ravens, Chicago Bears, Kansas City Chiefs, and New York Jets

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Isle Of Wight Academy Private K–12 schools in Virginia Schools in Isle of Wight County, Virginia Segregation academies in Virginia Educational institutions established in 1967 1967 establishments in Virginia