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Bridge to Hope Academy will be a micro school serving ninth through 12th graders who are in recovery from substance use disorder and experiencing other mental health issues.

‘Recovery comes first’

Tina Ramirez, director of at Marshall Health, and Pastor Chris Kimbro of in St. Albans serve as volunteers on Bridge to Hope Academy’s leadership team and led a discussion Wednesday, welcoming Miller and others to share ideas and answer questions about Community Bridge and Bridge to Hope Academy.

The idea for a recovery high school has been in place for several years, Ramirez said, and thanks to a partnership with Community Bridge and the support of the Office of Drug Control Policy, it can be fully realized, hopefully opening this fall.

Ramirez and others involved with Bridge to Hope Academy recently toured the Emerald School of Excellence, a recovery high school in Charlotte, North Carolina, to get inspiration.

“It was amazing, like a living room, a living environment,� Ramirez said. “It wasn’t your standard high school. Recovery comes first, and I think that’s the biggest thing we have to think about with these kids because they’re not going to care about math that day if they’ve had a huge traumatic experience the night before.�

With its projected homeschool model, Bridge to Hope Academy can cater to the needs of its students. Initially it will be virtual, but as they secure funding, they may have teachers on site.

“What we found out in West Virginia, just within a couple of years, about 1,500 under the age of 18 had suspected overdoses,� Ramirez said. “We do a good job of tracking adults’ overdoses, and we know when kids overdose and suspected overdose, but we lose them once they go into recovery; a lot of times they are sent out of state, they come back here and you send them back to the same high school and wonder why they relapse.�

Bridge to Hope Academy will have group, individual and family therapy on site, in partnership with and , West Virginia behavioral health providers.

“We have to get the recovery under control, we have to help their families, we have to do these whole wraparound services with them — and we also have to get them through high school,� Ramirez said.

Various learning tracks and peer support

After therapy, students will go into their curriculum, four days a week in class, but not all of it will be virtual. There will be community partnerships to offer them hands on learning opportunities.

“The great thing about homeschooling is if they wanted to be a mechanic, then instead of just doing math and stuff all day, they could go shadow with a mechanic; a lot of times, these kids are very smart, they just have a different way of learning,� Ramirez said. “Homeschool gives you that flexibility of setting up the curriculum, what’s going to be best for the students and really giving them opportunity to be productive members of society, even before they graduate.�

Mostly volunteer based, a peer recovery coach and other avenues of peer recovery support will also be on site at Bridge to Hope Academy, though Ramirez said they are also seeking a learning coach and director, which will be salaried positions. Following a homeschool model, the school’s curriculum will consist of online modules, and the role of the learning coach would be to keep students on track. The director would help recruit, look for grants and take care of the day-to-day tasks.

Starting small

Bridge to Hope Academy will most likely accept about two students from Putnam County and two from Kanawha County, with plans to expand in the future.

“We could probably easily outgrow this space as soon as the word gets out,� Ramirez said. “With the homeschool microschool model, you can take them at any time. It seems like once you get the curriculum, it’s very flexible with the things that you can do.�

Miller said she would do her part to look into funding and other grants Bridge to Hope Academy may qualify for, as well as show her support any way she is able.

Thanks to Community Bridge, a branch of King’s River Ministries, Ramirez said they hope they never have to charge the students anything. Bridge to Hope Academy will eventually become its own nonprofit organization and is not an affiliated religious organization.

“We know that there is certain funding for religious organizations; this is housed here, but it won’t be a religious curriculum,� Ramirez said.