Voices of West Virginia Academy

Note: the following message and attachment was sent anonymously to the full list of WVA parents.

Apologies for using this list, I’m sure many have left the Academy, but it’s the only one Holly shared with everyone. I am writing to make you aware of continued problems at West Virginia Academy. Unlike some people who have sent anonymous messages, I want the school to stay open, as I know first hand how good it can be and how good some of the teachers are. But the teachers are good despite the leadership at the school, not because of it. The reality is that Heidi Treu cannot be trusted to run a school. She’s less qualified than most of the teachers, and she never acknowledges that anything she says is wrong. Just ask Connie Eli, who was way more qualified to do Heidi’s job, but got fired for refusing to do the crazy things Heidi ordered her to do.

Holly Honeycutt only enables this behavior by being nice to people, and then tearing them down behind their back and reassuring Heidi that she’s always right. The board provides no oversight because Heidi’s husband, John Treu, runs the board and decides everything and listens to nobody. He also stalked and harassed at least one student, and in general he belittles and mistreats the female teachers and often stares at the older female students and makes them uncomfortable, so it’s pretty clear he shouldn’t be around children. That said, Heidi and Holly are the ones that interact most with the other teachers and the children, so they are the main problem.

The rumors that a 4^th grader claimed to have a gun in school and showed other students is true. Another 4^th grader told a teacher, but nothing was done that day, since neither Heidi nor Holly were even in the building and apparently weren’t even reachable. The student was spoken to later, but at any other school, the place would have gone on lockdown, the parents would be notified, and the child would be expelled. Not only aren’t parents notified here, but the administration just flat out lies about it ever happening.

It’s also true that students have brought alcohol to school and faced no consequences, until one student recently got completely drunk in class. Discipline is completely inconsistent, because teachers are afraid to involve the administration, because they know Holly will tell Heidi, and Heidi will flip out and start screaming in front of students. Over and over Heidi shows that she has absolutely no self control. It has gotten so bad that recently an older student punched a teacher in the face and hurt them badly. There is no consistent discipline as one student will get suspended for talking back to Heidi while nothing will happen to a student caught with a weapon in school. 

There is also no consistency at all as far as academic standards, since they are made up by Heidi for the most part, so everything depends on whether the teacher knows better than Heidi and teaches to the correct standards. Unfortunately there is not a single child who transfers out of WVA into another public school (and there have been so many) who reports they are on grade level. Every single one reports that they are way behind. Since the school loses so many kids, most people will know people who have left, so you should really talk to them.

If the school could ever just have a normal reasonable adult in charge, the teachers would be so much happier, and the students would do so much better. If you know any teachers well enough that they trust you, just ask. They’re all either looking for a better job, or in fear that they’ll get fired. It’s not normal for so many teachers to leave or get fired in the first few weeks. The turnover at this school is 10 times what it is anywhere else, and it’ll keep being a revolving door as long as the same people are in charge. 

As long as the current people are in charge, communication will never get better either. Also, they’ve been promising all these wonderful things for over 3 years now, but absolutely none of it has happened, and I doubt it ever will. I don’t know where all that money goes, but it obviously isn’t being invested into busing, the building, the desperately needed phone system to notify parents of last minute changes, or anything else that would contribute to student success. It’s sad, but it’s all true. I can’t attest to all of the things on www.westvirginiaacademy.com, but based on my experience and what I’ve seen, those things are probably true too. The only way things change is if parents demand it.