Cutting the dedication ribbon are (from left) Stephen Richerson, president and executive director of HopeTree Family Services; Thor, a resident; George Fletcher, chair of HopeTree's board of trustees; Shaleigh, a resident; and Tommy Barber, education director of HopeTree Academy. (Photos courtesy of HopeTree)
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SALEM — HopeTree Family Services’ on-campus school has been renamed and housed in a new 32,000-square-foot facility.
HopeTree Academy — formerly the Gus Mitchell School — educates students in grades 6-12 whose emotional or educational needs require an alternative setting not readily available in public or other private schools.
The new education center, dedicated in a Sept. 11 ceremony on the Salem campus, provides space for academic and vocational programs, administrative offices, dining and meeting facilities and a greenhouse.
About 20 students began classes in the center on Sept. 8. They had been meeting in a building constructed in 1912.
The Virginia Baptist-affiliated HopeTree Family Services provides Christian residential and support services to at-risk children and youth, and to adults with developmental disabilities.
The academy originally was established for the family services ministry’s residents. Last February it received permission from the Virginia Department of Education to admit day students from the community.
George Fletcher (left) introduces the academy's new sign, held by Stephen Richerson.
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“HopeTree Family Services knows there is more than one road to ‘success’ and more than one way of learning …,” Stephen Richerson, president and executive director of the agency, wrote recently. “We have dedicated ourselves to providing our residents with equal opportunities for academic and vocational education while they also grow spiritually and socially.”
HopeTree Academy’s programs are licensed by the state to award seven types of high school diplomas, as well as the General Equivalency Diploma (GED). Through dual enrollment in Virginia Western Community College in Roanoke and through apprentice agreements with area businesses, students have access to job training in more than 20 career fields, ranging from nursing to auto mechanics to culinary arts.
Educational goals are based on the academy’s self-concept development curriculum and on the Virginia Board of Education’s Standards of Learning. It is licensed by the Commonwealth of Virginia and accredited through the Virginia Association of Independent Specialized Education Facilities.
“We have a proven track record of successfully educating young people who need a special school environment and, in these times, education, both academic and vocational, is more important than ever for someone to be successful in society,” Tommy Barber, the academy’s education director, said last February when day students were accepted.
Mark Early, HopeTree Family Services’ director of communications, said the academy’s name was changed to reflect the agency’s efforts to continue improving academic and vocational offerings. But he added the original name – based on a generous bequest from a judge in the area – would not be discarded. The multipurpose room which houses dining and meeting facilities and performance classrooms has been designated Gus Mitchell Hall.
Additional information about HopeTree Academy is available here.
Robert Dilday is managing editor of the Religious Herald.