INWOOD—For years, Inwood residents have speculated about what would fill the massive space where Food Lion used to be before it moved to its new location on Duella Drive. As of last week, that speculation came to an end since it was announced Berkeley County’s first public charter school will move in.
The MECCA Business Learning Institute (MLBI), a public charter school that has worked for over 10 years as a nonprofit providing career enrichment activities for students outside of school, is making their first foray into formalized education with the move, aiming to open in Fall of 2025. They had previously operated as a nonprofit at locations in Gaithersburg, Maryland and Morgantown.
According to the school’s founder, president and chief executive officer, LaChaundra Graham, the school teaches classes focused on business and entrepreneurship skills that she says will be useful when they enter the workforce.
“We feel that it is important to share the basic tenets because those apply to any career choice, whether you actually go into business or not,” Graham said. “There’s project management in any field, there are directors, there are leaders, CEOs, all of those people show up in all the industries where people may find themselves working.”
“The idea and the intent is to bring the opportunity for real world learning down to the middle school level,” Graham added.
It will serve sixth and seventh grade students, and new grades will be added as students move up.
Graham says when the school was invited by the state to come to West Virginia, leadership in the organization quickly identified Berkeley County as where they would like to be.
“We started immediately working with the community in Berkeley county to see the interest and to explore the opportunity for those students to start looking at spaces and things of that nature,” Graham said, “To determine what value we could bring, looking at the academic programming that is existing in the state, as well as specifically down in Berkeley county, and seeing how we could be of a benefit to the state as a whole.”
The former Food Lion location was chosen due to its size, since it’s one of the only spaces that Graham says is large enough for MLBI’s vision. They are planning on moving forward with renovations in early 2025.
Because the new charter school is authorized by the West Virginia Professional Charter School Board, they are open to any sixth or seventh grade student living in West Virginia who signs up, as long as they can make it to school. Transportation on yellow buses will be provided for students in close proximity.
To start, they’re hoping to enroll 300 students, 150 from each grade. If applications exceed the amount of seats, a lottery will decide who gets in, according to their website. There is no tuition for students attending the school.
The school’s curriculum will integrate core subjects like math, science, English and social studies with a “business-centered” approach, incorporating topics like financial literacy, entrepreneurship and leadership.
That state authorization also requires them to meet the needs of students with IEP’s, learning disabilities and other considerations. Graham says that staff will work with students and parents to find the best ways to accommodate their needs.
Graham says the school will give public school students a private school feel, with a lower population than county public schools leading to smaller class sizes and more time for personalized instruction. Their website says class sizes will be around 20-25 students.
Even though work on renovating the old grocery store hasn’t begun, applications for the new school are already open online, with the initial deadline to apply being Feb. 20, 2025. There will also be office hours launching in December for parents to find out more, as well as an informational session at a yet-unannounced time. They are also planning on hiring local teachers.
“This is a groundbreaking opportunity, and it is going to change lives in Berkeley County,” Graham said. “We are hopeful that everyone in Berkeley County will take advantage of this new thing that doesn’t exist anywhere and join in.”
More information about MBLI is available online at mbliwv.org.
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