Morgan Academy

Because there is no such thing as a typical child, Morgan Academy was established in 2004 to offer personalized learning in a modern school based on the one-room schoolhouse concept. Students in grades K through 8 meet and exceed traditional educational objectives in a relaxed and happy classroom setting which encourages creativity, spontaneity, hands-on learning, and original thinking.

Morgan Academy was founded by two teachers with a combined twenty years experience teaching in public and private, urban and rural schools in Virginia, Michigan, and West Virginia. Bernardine Somers and Patty Neely developed Morgan Academy because they believe that children can have fun at school while excelling at an academically challenging curriculum.

“We work closely with each family to develop an individualized learning plan which meets and expands the interests, skills, abilities and goals of each student,” says Somers, a seventeen-year veteran teacher who has witnessed the benefits of this type of plan firsthand. “And because the school is small, we’re able to remain flexible, adaptable and responsive to changes in the students’ needs, and in the world at large.”

The one-room schoolhouse experience affords students the opportunity to interact with and learn from their peers, and it expands the usual classroom definition of “peers” to include students of various ages, abilities and frames of reference. Morgan Academy’s facility is located in a brand new addition to a church parish building nestled in an oak grove located off Route 45 about four miles west of Shepherdstown. The school has no religious affiliation, but does enjoy a friendly, cooperative tenant/landlord relationship with Marvin Chapel at their location at 130 Gosling Marsh Road. The school has facilities, which include a large meeting room that is used for Spanish lessons, art, music, drama, and as a communal area for children to eat lunch and snacks. There are classrooms for math, science, reading, and history. In addition to these are a computer room and a library (which continues to grow every day). The school makes use of its beautiful, natural setting, Morgan’s Grove Park, and the gym at the Clarion Hotel for physical education (sports, games, and yoga).

Morgan Academy also takes full advantage of its felicitous setting near a small college town just outside the nation’s capital. Regular visits are made to the Shepherdstown Library and the museums of the Smithsonian Institution, and other outings have included Shepherd University’s renowned theatre department for an acting workshop, a field study of the Potomac Watershed, skiing trips, pottery classes in Winchester, a three-day trip to the Colonial Williamsburg area, the Maryland Science Center, the Library of Congress, the White House, and a two day trip to Gettysburg, PA to further the students’ study of the Civil War. In addition, eighth graders are given the opportunity to choose an American city to explore for the Annual Eighth Grade Field Trip. Previous excursions have taken us to Philadelphia and New York City.

Students are divided into class groups by working level. A student might be with one group for math, with a different group for reading, and then with the entire group for a computer lesson that allows students to further transition to age appropriate activities. In addition, one-on-one time with teachers is both expected and regularly provided.

Flexible placement, based on meeting children at their own challenge levels, fosters a unique cohesiveness among all of the student body. “Students know each other as individuals and friends, paying little attention to which ‘grade’ a classmate is in,” says Neely, who has taught in both public and private schools since 1987. “Younger students acquire social maturity and coping skills from older students, who enjoy the opportunity to serve as role-models and mentors.” A high standard of personal and ethical behavior, as written in the Honor Code by the students and their teachers, is expected of each person at Morgan Academy.